Name: jess's review of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker
Item: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
Rating: 4
Author: jess

K. J. Parker

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it. A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all. To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job. Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten. For more from K. J. Parker, check out: The Two of SwordsThe Two of Swords: Volume OneThe Two of Swords Volume TwoThe Two of Swords: Volume Three The Fencer TrilogyColours in the SteelThe Belly of the BowThe Proof House The Scavenger TrilogyShadowPatternMemory Engineer TrilogyDevices and DesiresEvil for EvilThe Escapement The CompanyThe Folding KnifeThe HammerSharps

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

jess

Sandrin

I was going to give it 5 stars, however the ending was so not to my liking. It felt too open-ended without resolving anything. 

Everything else was amazingly written - the story is fast-paced, the author does a great job at keeping you on the edge of your seat not knowing whats going to happen next, plus some good banter. In terms of characters Orhan is one of the few that I truly believed to be smart. Some books try really hard to make you believe X is so clever, X is so intelligent, but actually fail miserably at it. Not here, tho. Orhan knows what the fuck he's doing even when he himself struggles to see it or acknowledge it. 

But boy does he have the worst luck. Like... His first day in the sieged city COULD NOT have gone any worse. 

Anyway, great plot, great characters, but shitty ending.

Janice Hopper

Well. This book. O.o

First off, it's competence porn. Though the narrator may be a bit unreliable (since he's the one recounting what happened), he's still the one tasked with defending the city. He's not a soldier, he's an engineer. He brings his talents to bear to defend the City.

It's entertaining and a bit irreverent. I do enjoy a story about competent people.

Others have mentioned the racist basis of the societies depicted, so I won't. I understand why people are bothered. I could enjoy the story in spite of it.

I did think it ended abruptly. Honestly, though, give the plot and the setup, the way the author chose to end the book might be the only way to end it.

K.J. Parker is an excellent writer. Sometimes I don't quite trust him, though. There were a couple of times during the story where I thought "He's doing to make this character do something I don't want him to do" and I had to put the book down for a bit. Never mind that most of the time the bad thing didn't quite happen, but still. He makes me nervous. :/

If I had a nickel for every non-fantastic medieval fantasy book with a siege as a centerpiece, I'd have three nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened three times. Honestly? I love me a good siege sequence. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is a solid, straightforward siege -- nothing too flashy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Our narrator of the siege is Orhan, colonel of the Empire's engineers, who is ... certainly an interesting guy. He's snarky, a liar, a cheat, and pretty self-aware of his faults and undermines the fact that he'd assumed command of a city under siege with terrifying ingenuity. He's certainly not the most savory of fellows, but he's not a bad guy -- I'd put him on the lighter side of morally grey, honestly, and he's amusing enough to want to stick with for the whole book. 

The worldbuilding is pretty simple, and pretty blatantly lazy. The Empire is the Byzantine Empire; the City is Constantinople with its Theodosian Walls, the Themes based off of the chariot racing teams of of the early Byzantine Empire. The history and worldbuilding is vague enough to -- at least, with my scant knowledge of Byzantine history -- not be based off any one siege of Constantinople, but then again, Constantinople has come under siege thirty plus times. 

I'm a sucker for tactics, and this book contains a lot of them. 

Definitely enjoyed it as a quick, straight-to-the-point fantasy without a whole lot of complex worldbuilding and a snarky main character. It feels a bit like Ranger's Apprentice for adults, actually.

dead line

Great book. Feels fresh.

I just wish the writing had a bit more passion. But I'm aware that the narrator is a no-nonsense engineer, so it might have been a deliberate choice.

Good fun regardless.

Lewis John Fisher

I couldn't not read this with a massive smile on my face the whole time! More!

Caelan

Ben Cardy

Spaceghost 

Elizabeth Alderman

Brian Alderman

bluepython508

Scott Robertson

Laura

'Full of invention and ingenuity . . . Great fun' - SFX 'Parker's settings and characterisations never miss a beat' - Publishers Weekly K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it. A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all. To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job. Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten. *** Other books by K.J. Parker: Fencer Trilogy The Colours in the Steel The Belly of the Bow The Proof House Scavenger Trilogy Shadow Pattern Memory Engineer Trilogy Devices and Desires Evil for Evil The Escapement Two of Swords The Two of Swords: Part 1 The Two of Swords: Part 2 The Two of Swords: Part 3 Novels The Company The Folding Knife The Hammer Sharps

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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker

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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker