City of Stairs

This book is excellent. Really excellent. It is very hard to explain the nature of the story, mainly because it manages to avoid the simplistic target audience/genre boxes that we are used to. It's fun. It is funny. It is deeply thought provoking while at the same time managing to be a thoroughly enjoyable story with a three dimensional and very human primary character. The plot is driven by a murder investigation not unlike an Agatha Christie novel, though the setting is a complex one borrowing elements from both fantasy and the more familiar 1920s. Every element is used carefully and with purpose. This is not a simple detective novel, fantasy adventure, or philosophical text – but at the conclusion I felt as if I'd enjoyed the greatest Hollywood blockbuster while seriously considering the meaning of life and my place in the universe...oh, and you'll have to read the book to find out “whodunit” (clue: not the butler).