The City Stained Red (Bring Down Heaven, 1)

So I've had this book on myself for about 2 years it's been out longer than that.I have the whole trilogy on my shelf and it's been sitting there and I've been contemplating when to read it. Let me just say that I waited too long I should have read this a long time ago this is everything I love and reading total badassery from start to finish. If you love books because of characters, you have it here, if you love because of action ,you have that here also and if you love reading because you just want to read a good badass story that's here and then let me say it how many times in fantasy do you get to read about a dragonman, I know there's a few stories out there but this one is super badass and he just wants to kill everybody, and he's only one of the side characters the main character Lenk he wants to stop killing me but it just seems to constantly be around him no matter what,his love interest is a kind of like an elf and she's just as bad ass as everybody else and then you got a young lizard that likes to really mess a lot of shit up and then you got your not very ordinary Archer,that has a Demon possessed arm,all the characters in this book Kick-Ass I should have been reading all these Sam Sykes books a long time ago heck I bought them because a lot of people said they were good now I'm finding out how good they are I want to book 2 The Mortal Tally

Recently, a friend of mine criticized a popular superhero tv show as being boring because it was, according to him, "about perfect people repeating the same plots over and over." That stood out to me, because it got me thinking about the kinds of people we like to read about or watch on our screens, and the kind of stories we like to see them live out. I came to the conclusion that we like imperfect people. Because they're so FUN to interact with. And because where do we ever find perfect people in our lives? Nowhere, but we're surrounded by plenty of imperfections, both in ourselves and in those around us. In his book A City Stained Red and the precluding series The Aeons' Gate trilogy, Sam Sykes has perfected the art of writing about imperfect characters in a perfect way.Sykes's characters have the distinctive quality of being so imperfect as to be on the edge of unlikable, but such is Sykes's talent that he keeps readers on the edge of their seats and wanting to know more, even making these flawed heroes relatable to the audience. Each one has unique flaw(s)-be it arrogance, unchecked aggression, a lack of social connection and empathy, or a god complex. Or all of the above. And none of them are presented as flawed characters that need to be "fixed." They don't endure the hero's journey and come out on the other side as better, stronger persons. They don't need to. Sykes writes them in such a way that the reader is interested in their growth (and occasional lack thereof) without the plot necessitating a complete reversal in characters. Lenk and his friends don't grow into "perfect people"-they stay nice and imperfect throughout their journey and they're a heck of a lot more interesting for it.A consistent theme of this book is bad decisions. Like, really bad decisions. As in "OH MY GOD LENK DON'T DO THAT THING AW HECK NO YOU DID THE THING AND NOW EVERYTHING IS GOING TO HECK IN A HANDBASKET REAL DARN QUICK ALL BECAUSE YOU DID THE THING." And then you're onto the next chapter and saying "OH MY GOD DREAD DON'T DO THAT THING..." and it's basically a rollercoaster wreck of you wanting to cover your eyes but not being able to look away. See, Sykes writes his characters in a way so that they DO do the thing. And usually, doing the thing was a Very Bad Decision. But they did the thing and now they have to live with the consequences of doing the thing. And those consequences, and how the character chooses to deal with them, is what makes this book so freaking good. Because that's life, right? It's us going through our lives making good decisions and bad decisions and dealing with the consequences that come our way because of our choices. Sykes reflects this in upholding the tenet of "Actions speak louder than words." We as readers aren't TOLD what the character is like, we are SHOWN what they are like through the choices they make and how they react to those choices and the way they interact with the world and the characters around them. And it's that kind of writing and that kind of characterization that sets Sykes apart from other fantasy writers and makes me classify him as one of the greats of modern fantasy, along with Pat Rothfuss, Kevin Hearne, Brandon Sanderson, Scott Lynch, and Tamora Pierce. With 6 main characters, all of whom have a tendency to make Very Bad Decisions, the novel is wonderfully thrilling ride of one clustermess after another.Another strength of this novel lies in Sykes's worldbuilding. It's richly woven world with a complex tapestry of details such that it is completely believable and totally alluring. The landscapes are exciting and inventive, the languages new and smoothly incorporated, but it is the people and creatures that populate the world that stand out to me. They pop out both for their creativeness and their realness and the way they just work in the world. They are so smoothly written to seem as if they belong their-for indeed they do, as it is their world and it belongs to them. There's just enough detailed worldbuilding to create a believable world but not so much as to distract the reader from the plot or cause them to overthink it. Sykes is the master of balance in prose-enough imperfections in characters to make them interesting, not so much as to make them unapproachable; enough magic to keep a fantasy nerd happy and make the world new and exciting; not so much as to make magicbuilding the focus of the story; enough good things to give the reader a break from panic attacks, but enough bad things to keep them coming back for more.It should also be noted that this book is freaking hilarious and had me laughing out loud many times. By the end of the book, I had also sobbed a couple times, so darn it, it's an emotional rollercoaster. But that's the best kind of book. This is an amazing read and I highly recommend to anyone with a nose. It's fun that you don't want to miss out on and Sykes's talent will be sure to shine brightly with his future works.

The City Stained Red might be the first book I’ve read based solely on the author’s social media presence. And that’s not to say that I doubted the book’s quality (I didn’t) or that it didn’t sound interesting (it did). But just that Sam Sykes is one of my favorite personalities on Twitter and it made me curious to read one of his books, even if that book’s genre isn’t my #1 thing (more like a #5). Somehow coming across as both the lunatic and the wise man, Sykes offers wisdom on creative storytelling and also ponders whether or not manatees have strong opinions on anime. I love reading his latest bits of inspired madness. So, I bought his book.The City Stained Red is my kind of a fantasy novel. Instead of focusing on kings, manners at the table, the ranks of knights, and all the other stuff that the royals and their militaries are involved with, this book follows a small group of adventurers, a profession that’s not well regarded in-world.The adventurers are led by Lenk, a skilled swordsman who wishes to set aside his blade even though destiny keeps calling for further bloodshed. Lenk is joined by his kinda-sorta girlfriend Kataria, a shict (think: elf) who wants to remain with Lenk but only on her terms. They’re aided by the rogue Denaos, a man with a mysterious past and many discarded names. The priestess and healer Asper hopes to be the level-headed member of the group, though she deals with a secret worse than all the others. The most powerful among them is the young wizard Dreadaeleon, but he’s so immature he’s basically a child entrusted with a gun. And filling out the gang in the bruiser role is Gariath the dragonman, who’s basically a bad mood made flesh.The adventurers arrive in the socially and culturally divided city of Cier'Djaal hoping to collect gold for services rendered. Just getting into the city proves to be a problem at the start, as non-humans (“oids”) are not welcome through the gates. Then, the man who’s supposed to pay them essentially vanishes into thin air, and the gang of adventurers accidentally stumble into the middle of a small-scale holy war. The city of Cier'Djaal is a powderkeg just waiting to explode, so when you introduce a group like Lenk’s gang into the mix… Boom Goes the Dynamite. Hundreds of city folk die, demons crawl out of people’s throats, dragonmen throw down, giant spiders walk down the road like big ol’ cows, and there’s more than a couple moments of sexy fun time to enjoy. Sykes calls it “hot fantasy trash.” I call it 600 pages of fun and madness.The City Stained Red, like a lot of genre fiction, has a lot on its mind. Each character gets an arc and there’s a great deal of drama and character development. The world-building is rich and detailed, owing little to the giants of the genre (in my opinion, at least) by successfully doing its own thing. And Sykes clearly has something to say about religion and the blood that’s shed in the name of faith and god (any god). The book lets the reader make their own deductions on what to make of the themes, but there’s some deep thoughts lurking beneath the giant spiders and demonic throat coughs.Mostly though, it’s a fun book. Sykes’ sense of humor that he shows online comes through on the page. His characters deal with dark happenings but there’s always a twinkle of comedy in there somewhere, often with a witty comeback or one-liner. Never is it too goofy that it feels odd to laugh on one page and then recoil in horror on the next, though. Thematic substance is all balanced nicely, and nothing really feels out of place.The City Stained Red is that rare book where I enjoyed spending time with basically every major character because they were all interesting in some way. Even the one who I didn’t like (the boy wizard is a punk), still featured in some of the book’s finest chapters. The way the character team dynamics work reminded me a bit of a videogame RPG. The characters interact, go off on side quests, report back, and so on. I was reminded of Mass Effect, despite the fact that this was set in a city that owes its economy to giant spiders and was not in fact set in space.Also: The City Stained Red stars one of my new favorite characters: Gariath the dragonman is the coolest, funniest, meanest badass I’ve read in a long, long while. I would read a book all about Gariath complaining about humans, fighting crime, crushing heads, and saving the world, you know, if he feels like it. Seriously cool character with a surprising amount of depth beneath his hard exterior.More books need dragonmen.

Griping and different. Starts with a rag tag bunch of adventurers led by Lenk at the end of a journey, seeking to be paid. Ends with a city in shambles and a new quest / horrible problem. We jump between each of the 6 characters so there is a character for every reader. These characters came together in previous books. The book would benefit from a glossary of characters & aliens ("oids"), and perhaps a bit clearer exposition. All that said, I couldn't put it down. The characters are a vast panoply of derangement. Sykes has a unique voice and I will be buying the next.

I found the plot interesting and the writing to be well written and the pacing moved ahead at a good rate... Yet, I found it difficult to get fully engaged with the characters. I certainly would still recommend this book, as I think it would appeal to many readers. Likely, I was just not in the right frame of mind to enjoy this book as it should be enjoyed and I cannot fault the author for that fact. Mainly, I found it took some time each chapter for me to figure out who the main character of the chapter was and to get back into their headspace and where they were at in the story. If you like the type of narrative where each chapter has a different main character I think you'll really enjoy the book as a whole.

I originally bought the paperback and dug in right away. It's big (you know those slightly bigger than average types) and cumbersome and hard to put down - I caved and got the e-book so I can keep reading it every spare moment. Yes - it's one of those hard to put down tales.SO happy it's only the first in a series.Just get it. Read it. See for yourself.

Okay Sam, I bought your book.And I'm hooked.City Stained Red reads like a D&D adventure with a group of your most cynical friends liberally sprinkled with dark humour. The kind of rare memorable session where the roleplaying is more engrossing than the combat. And the combat is pretty awesome.Sam Sykes does something I've rarely encountered here. He weaves a world that feels equal parts epic fantasy and Howardesque sword & sorcery. His main characters really are a bunch of bastards but he still has me rooting for them.I've made this sound pretty grimdark, but it's not, really.The minute I finished this, I downloaded The Mortal Tally because I really want to know what happens to these characters next.That's two hostages you owe me, Sam.

I've been reading fantasy books my whole life, but it wasn't until I read the City Stained Red that I found one where I instantly felt immersed. The language he uses is modern and clean, which makes the inner monologues and banter of the characters feel natural and, well, conversational; you don't feel like you're reading a fantasy novel, you feel like a stranger sitting just off to the side of the action listening in on the trials and tribulations of some very determined - and very damaged - but very real people.As if that weren't enough, Sykes uses fresh approaches in his world building as well; from the warring species of dragonmen, to the wild fanged elves waging a guerrilla war against humans, to the cow-sized spiders who create priceless silk, the entire setting of the novel feels at once unique and familiar.Tl;DR: I bought book 2 and book 3 before I'd even finished book 1, because it's THAT good.