Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: The Sheltered City

AUTHOR: John Tristan

PUBLISHER: Carina Press

LENGTH: 231 pages

BLURB:

Amon Vraja, last of the halfdead, tries to stay out of sight. His kind, twisted by the gift that grants them superhuman strength, are loathed and shunned. Under the enchanted leaves of the Last City, ruled by imperious elves whose love of beauty leaves little room for his ugliness, he’s not much more than the ghost of a dragon-haunted past.

When the young, headstrong elf-lord Caedian takes an interest in Amon, however, Amon’s days in the shadows may be over. Caedian needs Amon to find Caedian’s missing twin, and a halfdead brothel guard can’t just refuse an elf’s desires. Throughout the search, Caedian and Amon rely on each other’s strength and generosity, and Amon is struck by an impossible yearning for his elvish patron.

As they peel away layers of deceit and spiral closer to one another, they also near the horrifying truth of the elves’ protection. And when they discover it, they’ll face a choice: step outside the shelter of the world’s last city, or die where they stand.

REVIEW:

When I enter a book by this author, I know it’s going to be rich in world building and plot. And there is no disappointment in that respect. Once again, we’re given a fantasy world where the setting is as much a star as the people who inhabit it.

This sheltered city, The Last City, is ruled by elves, beautiful, cold, distant, who live among the limbs of ‘The Tree’ (this setting reminds me of the author’s other fantasy, ‘The Glass Forest,’ with its tree-dwelling people.). Under it’s enormous, protective canopy-dome of leaves and vines, and with some help from ‘elf magic,’ the ancient tree acts as a barrier, a protective bubble, for its inhabitants against the caustic outside world. That exterior, full of poisonous air, rain, and sun, nurtures the dragons that roam freely there. The dragons and drakelings mean death to most of the inhabitants under the dome. So, this is as much a story about these fierce leather-winged creatures and how they’ve shaped this world.

The other citizens of the dome live on the surface, under the immense canopy. For many, living on the perimeter-edge of the dome is hard-scrabble, always colored by the distant red glow of the sun, and always, in reverence, even fear, of the elves. Amon, is called ‘halfdead.’ A kind of anti-hero— introverted, lumbering and brutish, black veined and tongued, with skin the color of ash— he is the polar opposite in looks and manner from the elves (maybe a grayish Hulk?). Yet, he is also treated with caution and a kind of awe by his human neighbors.  He is the last of his kind, one in a long line of dragon hunters. Raised out of his element, he works constantly to cage his natural instincts, to live in peace in a world that barely accepts him. Amon lives meagerly, a shadow existence, really… until one evening when a mysterious man appears at the bar/brothel where Amon works as a bouncer.

Caedian is the most beautiful creature Amon has ever seen. He is the epitome of the elves: white-haired, slender, strong and graceful (I’m thinking, Legolas). And he wants something from Amon— Caedian’s twin brother has mysteriously gone missing. Elves just don’t mingle much with the lesser folk, so we suppose it’s Amon’s quiet strength that causes Caedian to turn to him. And perhaps it’s Caedian’s exotic pull that sets Amon to agree to leave all he’s known behind in the search. Their quest takes them on a long adventure full of peril and dragons.

The romantic aspect of the story started very cooly for me. Neither Amon nor Caedian are immediately compelling as possible romantic partners. But as their adventure unfolds, they grow into a kind of mutual respect and then fondness. Again, it is the world-building and plot that are at the fore in this story; the romance is very adult in its ‘there are more important things to tend to’ kind of feel.

I knew this would be a well-written story to keep me turning pages. While the development of the romance was satisfying, and Amon’s commitment to Caedian pulled at my heart, my biggest disappointment was at the ending which came rather abruptly. There is a resolution to their quest but it seems a kind of half-way ending for the romance. Still, this author’s special brand of fantasy is captivating and I can only hope for more of Amon and Caedian’s story to come. If you love dragons (not the sweet, sparkly kind), you’ll want to give this a try.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Carina Press

Amazon