Ian Whates

The City of a Hundred Rows — (2010-2011) Publisher: The first in a series of novels set in one of the most extraordinary fantasy settings since Gormenghast — the vertical city of Thaiburley. From its towering palatial heights to the dregs who dwell in The City Below, it's an incredible creation. When Tom, a teenage street thief from the depths, ventures into the uppermost levels to impress a girl, the last thing he expects to do is witness a murder. Accused of the crime, he must use all of his knowledge of the ancient city to flee certain death.

City of Dreams and Nightmares

Thaiburley is a sprawling city carved into a towering mountain. For everyone but the privileged few that live in the upper rows, Thaiburley is a city of nightmares. Those that live in the City Below do their best to survive gangs and poverty, sometimes scavenging the scraps thrown down from the heights. Street-nicks like Tom, on the other hand, take what they need.

When Tom, who has a knack for stealth, leaves the lower levels to spend a night exploring the City Above, he is shocked to witness arkademic Magnus murdering his protégé. Fleeing from the murderous arkademic, Tom is nearly caught by Tylus, a Kite Guard. Tom escapes, only to fall off one of the highest walls in Thaiburley. Fortunately, Tom is saved from death by a group of netters, but he finds himself lost in the City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian Whates’ first novel about The City of a Hundred Rows.

Meanwhile, Tylus returns to base, only to be chewed out by his sergeant for failing to catch Tom, who is suspected of murdering the arkademic. Before Tylus can be punished, he is summoned by Magnus, who sends the Kite Guard to arrest Tom. What Tylus doesn’t know is that Magnus has also sent Dewar, a “man-for-all-tasks,” after Tom as well. Who will find this resourceful street-nick first?

Even without the pursuit of Tom that drives Whates’ narrative, City of Dreams and Nightmares would be a joy to read so long as it explored the seedy streets of Thaiburley. However, Whates spoils his readers by keeping an insistent pace while Tom and his acquired guide, Kat, navigate their way between the territories of rival gangs. Although it’s fun to follow Tom and Tylus through the darkest parts of the Thaiburley, our most memorable tour guide is the assassin Dewar.

If fantasy is a genre that is prone to recycling old ingredients to make something new, then Whates has clearly proven himself with City of Dreams and Nightmares. Fantasy veterans will find plenty of familiar tropes, including the young street rat that discovers a secret power. At one point, a demonic pack of hounds chases Tom and Kat through the city. Don’t forget about the parasitic creatures that infect the minds of their hosts by burrowing into the spine. There is also a “Dog Master” that remakes dogs by splicing them with other parts, biological and mechanical. These ideas may feel familiar, but they allow Whates to touch on many of fantasy’s most enjoyable motifs.

Ultimately, Whates’ greatest achievement is the gritty streets of Thaiburley. Tom lives in a dangerous and violent inner city, an impression belied by Whates’ curse words — “This is for Rayul, you crazy brecker.” It’s just plain crummy that Whates has chosen to water down an otherwise mature setting filled with battered prostitutes, gang violence, and genetically altered abominations. Perhaps the PG-13 demographics are more lucrative.

Regardless, City of Dreams and Nightmares is one of those rare books that doesn’t need a blurb on the back cover to motivate the reader to carry on. Just turn to the first page. Whates wastes no time setting up his opening gambit and delivers on his promises with Thaiburley, a mountain city that’s as much fun as snakes and ladders. The towers and turrets of City of Dreams and Nightmares are a maze that hides corrupted leaders, desperate street thieves, and an overworked police force trying to make sense of it all.
—Ryan Skardal

City of Hope and Despair

In City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian Whates introduced us to Thaiburley, a mountain city where the rich literally live at the top of the mountain and the poor make do in the City Below. When Tom, a street-nick with a burgeoning gift for magic, ran afoul of a scheming arkademic, Magnus, he only just managed to escape being killed at the hands of Magnus’ versatile assassin, Dewar. Give credit where it’s due, Tom survived thanks to Kat, a girl who is pretty deadly when armed with her twin short swords. By the end of City of Dreams and Nightmares, readers might have expected to see Tom leave the city below in order to enter the upper echelons of the arkademics and politics. However, throughout City of Hope and Despair, Whates chooses to take the road less taken.

In fact, Whates’ first order of business is to send Tom out of the mountain city and into the countryside. The Prime Master of Thaiburley has taken an interest in the events of City of Dreams and Nightmares. He hires Dewar and takes Tom under his wing. The Prime Master sends Tom on a quest to find the goddess of Thaiburley, suggesting that Whates is grooming Tom for “Chosen One” status. However, for now, Tom is not particularly dangerous. In fact, he does not understand his powers and he can barely manage to swing his sword without hurting himself. Still, Tom is accompanied by a beautiful priestess-healer, a telepathic giant, and, ironically, the assassin Dewar, so it seems like nothing will stop Tom from reaching the goddess.

However, as far as pilgrimages through the countryside go, Tom’s is actually a pretty exciting one, especially since a demon, a Rust Warrior, and a vengeful bartender have all made it their business to kill the former street-nick and his companions. The tendency in a cat-and-mouse fantasy is to invest a great deal of characterization in a ruthless villain, from whom the protagonist will narrowly escape again and again. Whates takes a different approach, killing his characters with gusto, only to introduce new assailants and allies along the way. The benefit of this approach is its novelty; on the other hand, who really cares about a garden that seduces you if you haven’t met the gardener?

Although Tom is on the road, Whates hasn’t entirely abandoned Thaiburley, his beloved City of Hope and Despair. No longer a guide, it seems that Kat is a former “Death Queen” — Whates appears to be aware how corny that sounds — which makes her the retired leader of an elite gang of thugs known as the Tattooed Men. When the story opens, Kat and her sister are content to kill one another. However, when the Soul Thief that killed their mother returns to prey upon the “talented” members of the City Below, Kat decides to come back from retirement. She teams up with her sister to once more roam the streets of Thaiburley as “Death Queens,” at least until the Soul Thief is found and destroyed.

When writing stories with characters like Tom — how many times have we read about the naïve adolescent with mysterious powers? — authors must be tempted to invest a lot of narrative coin in the adolescent character as he explores his powers. If Whates had given in to this temptation, City of Hope and Despair would have been much less interesting. Fortunately, Whates seems to understand that his most provocative characters are the villains, the assassins, and the… Death Queens. In other words, we’re all rooting for dreams and hope to win over nightmares and despair, but we prefer to see it happen from the point of view of characters that are living amidst despair and nightmares. Whates obliges.

Like its predecessor, City of Hope and Despair puts together all of fantasy’s most popular ingredients: extended duels between assassins, a teenager discovering his magical powers, and even hints of an ancient war (is it back?). Yes, there are elements of Whates’ narrative that feel familiar — Thaiburley feels like a PG-13 version of China Miéville’s New Crobuzon and the Rust Warrior recalls Tool from Gardens of the Moon. Still, City of Hope and Despair offers fantasy fans a quick read, a memorable adventure, and the promise of more to come. —Ryan Skardal

City of Light & Shadow

Ian Whates’ City of Light & Shadow is the third novel in the CITY OF A HUNDRED ROWS series. The series title refers to Thaiburley, a city of rows built on top of each other. The lowest rows are plagued by gang violence while the well-intentioned leaders at the Heights do their best to keep order. The previous novel, City of Hope & Despair, relied on its supporting cast of assassins and gang leaders to drive the plot forward. Here, our not-quite-a-chosen-one hero, Tom, takes center stage.

Tom is an adolescent uniquely blessed with the power to save the city from the corruption of the goddess Thaiss’ evil brother. We learn that this brother has corrupted the source of arkademic power — the core — in the city, and now people are dying of bone flu while Rust Warriors and Demons take over Thaiburley. In short, the plot has become considerably more epic. Tom is at the heart of this change: he meets a goddess, he is trained to use the arkademics’ power, and he is given more significant quests by the Prime Master. Through Tom, we are even introduced to Thaiburley’s magic system.

The shift from the local to the grandiose is not uncommon — or even unexpected — in the third installment of a series. However, I have found Whates’ focus on the smaller details to be the best part of this series. Although Dewar, the assassin, is still present, his plot is frustratingly inconsequential. He travels to his homeland in search of vengeance for past wrongs, only to return to Thaiburley. It’s too bad, since his carefully calculated plans are always fun to read. Meanwhile, the “Death Queen” Kat and the Kite Guard Tylus lead a band of soldiers and Tattooed Men into the “Stain,” an even more unsavory part of Thaiburley than the Pits. The Stain is populated by monsters that recall China Miéville’s remade, and they serve as unsympathetic pin cushions for our heavily armed heroes.

Between Tylus, Kat, Dewar and Tom, City of Light & Shadow offers more than its share of swords and sorcery. Demons, creatures, warriors, kings, and assassins are all vanquished. And given that Whates has managed to craft yet another relatively short read, he is forced to keep a fast pace as he directs his characters from one confrontation to the next. However, I found that the action in these sequences was less compelling, perhaps because the more grandiose narrative limits Whates’ pages spent storytelling.

Regardless, Whates has a knack for world building, and although I found the plot of City of Light & Shadow a disappointment compared to the previous two novels, it packs a lot of punch for action fans and it does offer a heck of an ending. —Ryan Skardal