House of Open Wounds

I loved City of Last Chances. It scratched an itch for me that I didn't know I had - where a revolution happens not due to any particular group of people or a cause or anything singular. Just one chance dice game, that sets up and intensifies the existing tensions within the city. It was unique and it was bold and it was funny at parts and I loved it for just that.

I love House of Open Wounds for completely different reasons. There are certainly gems of something I have always wanted for other books but nothing completely unique. Reading through House of Open Wounds reminded me of some of my favourite parts in the Malazan series with the irreverent (lol) bickering native to the corps. The ending as well tied together together the threads set up through out the book beautifully reminiscent of the Malazan books again.

What sets this book apart from its predecessor is the characters. City of Last Chances while having a decent size of characters did not make me endear to any one of them. House of Open Wounds brings together a motley group of freaks who all bounce off of each other in interesting and fun ways. The world as well opens up to more than just Ilmar and it benefits heavily from that. The Palleseen are no longer straight up villainous but just people with their flaws and motivations. I still think City of Last Chances had the better world building which allowed House of Open Wounds to leapfrog off of that into more interesting areas.

idk i loved the book.

The second book of the series takes just one character and changes from being quite wide scoped to more narrowly focused in time and place but is equally as satisfying. It is a bit weird, sometimes takes flights off topic but Tchaikovsky is a wonderfully talented writer. Looking forward to the third one.

The first book in this series, City of Lost Chances, was just OK. I was reluctant to try this one, but many of the reviews stated that if you had mixed feelings about the first book, you would truly enjoy House of Open Wounds.

They couldn't be more correct! This book was fascinating, heart-wrenching, well thought out, and ended satisfyingly. I recommend this book to anyone who was OK with the first book, enjoys Adrian's books in general, approves of the 'found family of outcasts' trope, or wants to read a (mostly) stand alone fantasy book that has an epic feel to it.

I loved book 1 (City of Last Chances) so much - this one was sometimes better sometimes worse, but I overall liked City better.

I've heard this book described as fantasy M*A*S*H, and I have to agree - funny quirky characters, but doesn't shy away from the reality of war. The first half was so good - intense, exciting, more amazing world building.

The second half felt a bit too episodic - some events just ended too quickly for me to take them seriously, even if they were still fun.

I love this world and how authentic the characters are. I'm not sure if there will be more in this world, but I'd read it if there was.