The Waking Engine by David Edison

Synopsis: Welcome to the City Unspoken, where Gods and Mortals come to die.

Contrary to popular wisdom, death is not the end, nor is it a passage to some transcendent afterlife. Those who die merely awake as themselves on one of a million worlds, where they are fated to live until they die again, and wake up somewhere new. All are born only once, but die many times . . . until they come at last to the City Unspoken, where the gateway to True Death can be found.

Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls . . . and one very confused New Yorker.

Late of Manhattan, Cooper finds himself in a City that is not what it once was. The gateway to True Death is failing, so that the City is becoming overrun by the Dying, who clot its byzantine streets and alleys . . . and a spreading madness threatens to engulf the entire metaverse.

Review: I must say that I was completely drawn to the synopsis when I read it. The book is categorized as science fiction and it is true that it is a particular genre, so I was a little anxious not to get into the story. But with such a synopsis, I could not pass up and I must say it was a very nice discovery. But for me this novel is not really science fiction but rather a mix of several genres which allows us to have a completely original story. So, yes a little of fantasy, science fiction, and urban fantasy, but in reality it is a book with its own genre , or at least that’s what I think.

Cooper is a young man like any others who one day finds himself in a place in which he knows nothing about. On top of that, it seems that this place is not his world and his whole existence is much more than what he would have thought. Completely lost, he will be abandoned by the only person who finds him. Wandering in this incredible city, he will discover that death does not have the same connotation in this world. In fact, a person can be born only once but can die and come back to an age of his life to start again. Also, death has become a business here and even much more. But some are tired of being alive and this is why people from completely different worlds come to Unspoken City, where they hope to truly die. A large number of completely surreal characters are found here: Ancient dead queens such as Cleopatra, goddesses, angels, humans, and characters that must be discovered to understand what they are. And here, in this place he does not understand, he does not know what to do, the rules are so different from those on earth, and he will wander and try to understand what he need to do… the only man who was born but never died and that seems inappropriate in this place. A man who also seems to attract a large number of characters, but it remains to understand exactly why.

I confess that I was really intrigued by what was happening in this magnificent world. I think this book is well worth it just for that, it is fantastic to see the work that the author has managed to achieve. This city is completely unique and it’s fascinating to find out the details about it and I admit that I was really impressed. But that’s not all because even the characters are always more than they appear to be, some more twisted than others but so complex. But I loved them for many different things. Then, it’s true that everything is done in a rather peculiar way and we follow various characters all along the chapters and some appear later than others. It’s sometimes a little hard to understand what is happening but at the same time it makes us very curious about everything. I think that between everyone, I preferred to follow certain characters than others and it is true that I was eager to return to Cooper or to Asher. Because it is true that Cooper is trying to understand why he is here, to know the purpose of the person who put him there and what he could do. Moreover, he will discover a lot of things about this and will become a different person who’ll change the lives of many people.

I will not go further, but I think you understand that this book is a nice surprise. A very original mix. Many beautiful ideas.

4

mellianefini

 

13 thoughts on “The Waking Engine by David Edison

  1. Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls . . . and one very confused New Yorker. — I will read this for that alone. I love the premise! What a wonderful find, lady!

  2. I been really looking forward to this book as well. I haven’t had a chance of picking it up due to a busy schedual but after reading your review I am honestly feeling bad that I haven’t. The world and the story does sound like something I would really enjoy.

  3. This sounds really original wiht the city and the Wayfarers and pilgrims! I also like how well the city itself seems to be described and creative. And the mix of characters sounds equally fascinating!

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