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The Siege #1
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
This 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.
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.
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.
350 pages, Paperback
First published April 9, 2019
About the author
K.J. Parker
128 books1,529 followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,392 reviews
February 27, 2021
A solid meh on my enjoyment scale.
Historical military fiction with a snarky first person narrator. Engineers will likely love this ode to their profession and ingenuity, and fans of military strategy should enjoy the details as well. The story centers on a former slave, Orhan, who is now the leader of a large group of engineers in the army of his oppressor, the Empire of Robur. When bad things start happening to the Empire, he finds himself working to defend it using all his ingenuity and guile. Lying, tricking, killing--all will be used in the defense of the Empire. There's a lot of detail about ropes, beams, siege machines ,and strategies against fortified walls, leading to the titular 'sixteenth way,' the way used when there's absolutely no hope at all. For those into historical military fiction, I'm told the Robur Empire is the Byzantine Empire and the capital is its Constantinople.
The mordant humor is what may redeem the book for many. I'm no stranger to twisted humor, but this is not in a Murderbot kind of way, where someone talks a tough game but actually goes around saving people. This is "I legit did a bunch of shitty things and I'm going to keep doing them in a somewhat inept" kind of way. A more flawed narrator I have not seen since Glotka in Abercrombie's series, so take that for what you will.
A further damning note for fantasy readers: there is nothing fantastical about it at all, except Parker makes the oppressing people black blue and the MC 'milky' in skin tone, an authorial move that may or may not be problematic, but certainly seems tone deaf. Since this is essentially lazy historical fiction, I'll further note that slave status based on color and women treated like chattel are the norm.
The theme is pretty rough and depressing as well. Basically, people suck and even as you try to help, they'll misunderstand and undermine you. I'll note that a number of reviewers felt the ending was truncated and disappointing. I'll agree; it was almost like both Orhan and Parker were tired out. Me too.
I'm definitely done with this series.
Historical military fiction with a snarky first person narrator. Engineers will likely love this ode to their profession and ingenuity, and fans of military strategy should enjoy the details as well. The story centers on a former slave, Orhan, who is now the leader of a large group of engineers in the army of his oppressor, the Empire of Robur. When bad things start happening to the Empire, he finds himself working to defend it using all his ingenuity and guile. Lying, tricking, killing--all will be used in the defense of the Empire. There's a lot of detail about ropes, beams, siege machines ,and strategies against fortified walls, leading to the titular 'sixteenth way,' the way used when there's absolutely no hope at all. For those into historical military fiction, I'm told the Robur Empire is the Byzantine Empire and the capital is its Constantinople.
The mordant humor is what may redeem the book for many. I'm no stranger to twisted humor, but this is not in a Murderbot kind of way, where someone talks a tough game but actually goes around saving people. This is "I legit did a bunch of shitty things and I'm going to keep doing them in a somewhat inept" kind of way. A more flawed narrator I have not seen since Glotka in Abercrombie's series, so take that for what you will.
A further damning note for fantasy readers: there is nothing fantastical about it at all, except Parker makes the oppressing people black blue and the MC 'milky' in skin tone, an authorial move that may or may not be problematic, but certainly seems tone deaf. Since this is essentially lazy historical fiction, I'll further note that slave status based on color and women treated like chattel are the norm.
The theme is pretty rough and depressing as well. Basically, people suck and even as you try to help, they'll misunderstand and undermine you. I'll note that a number of reviewers felt the ending was truncated and disappointing. I'll agree; it was almost like both Orhan and Parker were tired out. Me too.
I'm definitely done with this series.
March 20, 2023
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An absolute blast from beginning to end!
This book is just a blast from start to finish, and while I understand after reading some negative reviews of this what people may not like about it, this one just clicked perfectly for me. You will likely know within the first chapter if you are going to like the writing style here, because I fell in love almost instantaneously.
It tells the story of an engineer who suddenly finds himself in charge of defending his city from an enormous siege. He comes across all problems from the outlook of an engineer rather than a political leader, and it's such a refreshing look on someone who is so supremely capable just taking the reigns and doing what is needed to survive.
It's funny, entertaining, thrilling, and endearing all wrapped up into a nice tight package. Check this one out!
An absolute blast from beginning to end!
This book is just a blast from start to finish, and while I understand after reading some negative reviews of this what people may not like about it, this one just clicked perfectly for me. You will likely know within the first chapter if you are going to like the writing style here, because I fell in love almost instantaneously.
It tells the story of an engineer who suddenly finds himself in charge of defending his city from an enormous siege. He comes across all problems from the outlook of an engineer rather than a political leader, and it's such a refreshing look on someone who is so supremely capable just taking the reigns and doing what is needed to survive.
It's funny, entertaining, thrilling, and endearing all wrapped up into a nice tight package. Check this one out!
May 6, 2020
This was so much fun. I could tell that K.J Parker had a real laugh when writing it. Orhan is a great character, and although he is hilariously out if his depth his keen mind allows him to pull through a rather tricky situation, though not without several awkward blunders.
Orhan is an engineer, not a military man, and he finds himself leading the defence of a city he doesn’t really care about. He’s got no real experience giving battlefield orders; he’s used to organising men to build bridges and walls not commanding them to defend a city. And he knows about his own short comings, but he steps into command because there’s nobody else to do it. He doesn’t want to be in charge, he simply has to or the city will fall and everybody in it will be put the sword. He is forced to act the role of general in an Empire he hates.
So, it makes for a somewhat unusual situation which only gets more complicated when he learns exactly who is leading the invading army. I shall give no spoilers, but it certainly makes the siege more difficult, a siege that would have been over in a matter of hours had Orhan not taken charge. He is cunning, resourceful and a born liar which gives him a unique skill set. A military man, driven by honour, may not have possessed the savviness to bring a city full of cut-throats to heel. It’s no easy job because Orhan is a white-skin, a second-class citizen, trying to rule over the elite blue-skins that hate his guts. He must get creative to succeed.
The book is told in the first person and is driven entirely by Orhan’s personality. Both book and protagonist are not afraid of breaking the rules. Orhan admits to being a liar, and he even admits that his story may have been exaggerated. He’s telling it so why not give himself a little bit more glory? Why not make himself sound more dangerous? There’s certainly a streak of unreliable narration running through it giving it an added edge. I could make several guesses over which points were true and which were false, which bespeaks the level of immersion I felt whist reading. However, this type of writing is a double-edged sword. Without wanting to go into any specific details, I found the ending a little frustrating. It leaves it at a bit of a cliff-hanger as Orhan’s part in the story comes to an end. It would have been good to know what happens after even if it was only a summary paragraph of some sort. But, again, this is trying to be different. I’m pretty sure K.J Parker set out to challenge his readers with those final few paragraphs, though I have come away a little annoyed as I want to know what happens next! It works though, Orhan's personality demands such a selfish action.
All in all, this is a quick and fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously. Recommended for those that prefer books about military strategy rather than those that crave strong fantasy elements.
Many thanks to Orbit for sending me a (surprise) review copy and introducing me to an author I may have otherwise missed.
_________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
__________________________________
Orhan is an engineer, not a military man, and he finds himself leading the defence of a city he doesn’t really care about. He’s got no real experience giving battlefield orders; he’s used to organising men to build bridges and walls not commanding them to defend a city. And he knows about his own short comings, but he steps into command because there’s nobody else to do it. He doesn’t want to be in charge, he simply has to or the city will fall and everybody in it will be put the sword. He is forced to act the role of general in an Empire he hates.
So, it makes for a somewhat unusual situation which only gets more complicated when he learns exactly who is leading the invading army. I shall give no spoilers, but it certainly makes the siege more difficult, a siege that would have been over in a matter of hours had Orhan not taken charge. He is cunning, resourceful and a born liar which gives him a unique skill set. A military man, driven by honour, may not have possessed the savviness to bring a city full of cut-throats to heel. It’s no easy job because Orhan is a white-skin, a second-class citizen, trying to rule over the elite blue-skins that hate his guts. He must get creative to succeed.
The book is told in the first person and is driven entirely by Orhan’s personality. Both book and protagonist are not afraid of breaking the rules. Orhan admits to being a liar, and he even admits that his story may have been exaggerated. He’s telling it so why not give himself a little bit more glory? Why not make himself sound more dangerous? There’s certainly a streak of unreliable narration running through it giving it an added edge. I could make several guesses over which points were true and which were false, which bespeaks the level of immersion I felt whist reading. However, this type of writing is a double-edged sword. Without wanting to go into any specific details, I found the ending a little frustrating. It leaves it at a bit of a cliff-hanger as Orhan’s part in the story comes to an end. It would have been good to know what happens after even if it was only a summary paragraph of some sort. But, again, this is trying to be different. I’m pretty sure K.J Parker set out to challenge his readers with those final few paragraphs, though I have come away a little annoyed as I want to know what happens next! It works though, Orhan's personality demands such a selfish action.
All in all, this is a quick and fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously. Recommended for those that prefer books about military strategy rather than those that crave strong fantasy elements.
Many thanks to Orbit for sending me a (surprise) review copy and introducing me to an author I may have otherwise missed.
_________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
__________________________________
September 19, 2021
This was hot garbage to my sensibilities. I'm sorry, I know many found it "funny' or exciting or whatever, please don't read on. I have plenty of problematic faves, so as long as you recognize that the jokes come with the cost of being sexist, racist, and queerphobic, and can find points to enjoy anyways, good job, you've found joy in art, continue to enjoy the things you like. If you haven't contemplated those ideas yet, allow me to undermine it all.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Things that made this somewhat interesting:
-POV. Engineer instead of soldier could have been great.
-Sawdust. If she'd been given any more thought, she'd have been the real hero here.
The problems:
I'm not even sure which one is most pressing, so in no particular order...
-Sexism. The two extremes that go hand-in-hand; putting women on a pedestal in a dark place so that all of them are incapable, shallow, hateful, dumb, or pristine beautiful things that Need Tew Be Protecc, and the extreme violence of confined masculinity as defined by people who protect women in front of their peers, minimize them to their faces, and can only think of them as mothers, daughters and conquests. This is gross. Women are whole people, with all the same valor and depravity as anyone else. If you can't keep that in your mind, keep them out of your "art." Don't even get me started on the terrible death of a sister as HIS personal uh...backstory?? (No, too late--it actually starts with, it's not important to this story. THEN THANKS FOR TELLIN US, Taintgibbon!)
-Racism. Holy shit. So... this author tried to get past the racism angle by making white people the victims. I'm just gonna...let that sink in for a second. But wait, there's more. This white person was enslaved, forced into labor, but (of course) managed to get to the top because of his own merit, doesn't hate his oppressor--in fact he likes milk, so the milkface "slur" is just kinda cute, and so many of his friends are black! I mean...blue! You know, the kind of blue you turn when you're covered in mud and thinking how you're almost finally like them, except they're all taller and more athletic and attractive. Y-I-K-E-S!!! Oh noble savage, oh, kindly master, oh trauma to make someone badass. This was revolting, and I'm just about shaking with anger thinking about what absolute white nonsense this is. This is an abhorrent understanding of racial politics and identity and I'm livid that this got greenlit.
EDIT: This is only the second time I've updated a review because of other people's comments, and I'm angry that I have to defend myself for having thoughts, and that I have to dedicate any amount of energy to either responding to or choosing to ignore the attacks on my intelligence and character. You may freely stop here in your reading and go do something else with your life that doesn't just make us both miserable! If you insist though on rolling your eyes because of my own personal anger at the thing I read and paid money for, I encourage you first to think what it is that you're really angry about and fuck off to someone who can help you work through that, and/or read this:
-Queerphobic. There's exactly one mention of a gay person. And yes, he's a big damn hero, but the only time it comes up, the other dude in power rolls his eyes and says in effect "those black people and their gross ideas." So, that was great /sarcasm.
-Gary Stu/deus ex machina. This former slave knows like 5 languages, 600 years of minute history in his captor's citadel, everyone around him is an idiot, and he singlehandedly thinks of about another 300 years of technical innovation inside of a month. Give me. A fucking. Break. Also, all the women wanna throw down with him because, like, how else can you measure what a man you are if you can't mention how at least three women wanted your dick inside of 300 pages. Character has an answer for everything, thinks of things well before everyone else and is surrounded by incompetents, because mediocrity only shines if everyone you know has the capacity of teacup.
-When you have a hammer... This dude punches allies, kills his own people, betrays the trust of anyone who ever liked him, and is in every way basically bottomfeeder scum as a human. And I'm supposed to cheer for him? No. No. Glad you died, hope your story burns. I guess, if the intention was to remind people that most heroes are pricks, job well done. But I don't need a reminder of that, and I get the feeling that wasn't actually the intention here, given that so many people liked him, the traumas we're supposed to see molded him into a mediocre dude with a sense of entitlement, and that so many went to bat for him even after he'd taken a literal bat TO them. We were going for some sort of edgelord "antihero" and I have only one wish for that archetype.
Don't waste your brain cells or risk your eyes getting stuck midroll. Just keep walking, because I don't care how high you can count, there are no defenses for this sort of thinking in the 21st century.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Things that made this somewhat interesting:
-POV. Engineer instead of soldier could have been great.
-Sawdust. If she'd been given any more thought, she'd have been the real hero here.
The problems:
I'm not even sure which one is most pressing, so in no particular order...
-Sexism. The two extremes that go hand-in-hand; putting women on a pedestal in a dark place so that all of them are incapable, shallow, hateful, dumb, or pristine beautiful things that Need Tew Be Protecc, and the extreme violence of confined masculinity as defined by people who protect women in front of their peers, minimize them to their faces, and can only think of them as mothers, daughters and conquests. This is gross. Women are whole people, with all the same valor and depravity as anyone else. If you can't keep that in your mind, keep them out of your "art." Don't even get me started on the terrible death of a sister as HIS personal uh...backstory?? (No, too late--it actually starts with, it's not important to this story. THEN THANKS FOR TELLIN US, Taintgibbon!)
-Racism. Holy shit. So... this author tried to get past the racism angle by making white people the victims. I'm just gonna...let that sink in for a second. But wait, there's more. This white person was enslaved, forced into labor, but (of course) managed to get to the top because of his own merit, doesn't hate his oppressor--in fact he likes milk, so the milkface "slur" is just kinda cute, and so many of his friends are black! I mean...blue! You know, the kind of blue you turn when you're covered in mud and thinking how you're almost finally like them, except they're all taller and more athletic and attractive. Y-I-K-E-S!!! Oh noble savage, oh, kindly master, oh trauma to make someone badass. This was revolting, and I'm just about shaking with anger thinking about what absolute white nonsense this is. This is an abhorrent understanding of racial politics and identity and I'm livid that this got greenlit.
EDIT: This is only the second time I've updated a review because of other people's comments, and I'm angry that I have to defend myself for having thoughts, and that I have to dedicate any amount of energy to either responding to or choosing to ignore the attacks on my intelligence and character. You may freely stop here in your reading and go do something else with your life that doesn't just make us both miserable! If you insist though on rolling your eyes because of my own personal anger at the thing I read and paid money for, I encourage you first to think what it is that you're really angry about and fuck off to someone who can help you work through that, and/or read this:
-Queerphobic. There's exactly one mention of a gay person. And yes, he's a big damn hero, but the only time it comes up, the other dude in power rolls his eyes and says in effect "those black people and their gross ideas." So, that was great /sarcasm.
-Gary Stu/deus ex machina. This former slave knows like 5 languages, 600 years of minute history in his captor's citadel, everyone around him is an idiot, and he singlehandedly thinks of about another 300 years of technical innovation inside of a month. Give me. A fucking. Break. Also, all the women wanna throw down with him because, like, how else can you measure what a man you are if you can't mention how at least three women wanted your dick inside of 300 pages. Character has an answer for everything, thinks of things well before everyone else and is surrounded by incompetents, because mediocrity only shines if everyone you know has the capacity of teacup.
-When you have a hammer... This dude punches allies, kills his own people, betrays the trust of anyone who ever liked him, and is in every way basically bottomfeeder scum as a human. And I'm supposed to cheer for him? No. No. Glad you died, hope your story burns. I guess, if the intention was to remind people that most heroes are pricks, job well done. But I don't need a reminder of that, and I get the feeling that wasn't actually the intention here, given that so many people liked him, the traumas we're supposed to see molded him into a mediocre dude with a sense of entitlement, and that so many went to bat for him even after he'd taken a literal bat TO them. We were going for some sort of edgelord "antihero" and I have only one wish for that archetype.
Don't waste your brain cells or risk your eyes getting stuck midroll. Just keep walking, because I don't care how high you can count, there are no defenses for this sort of thinking in the 21st century.
April 26, 2019
👏👏👏
Parker is back at it! What an absolute pleasure! All the things you love about his writing and then some!
Unreliable narrator, deeply flawed yet genius protagonist, dry intelligent humour, immersive setting and characters. I mean... this is a top shelf read. Highest possible recommendation! 5 🌟
This is a stand-alone novel too - so no pressure to commit to the series. But if you tried this... you will be after The Two of Swords, and Savages, and Sharps, and The Folding Knife... it is addictive! (You have been warned)
Special shout out to those who enjoyed Sarantine Mosaic by Gavriel Kay. Try this book now. I reckon they pair wonderfully.
PS: Orbit, why do you release Parker in these cheap print paperbacks only??! Massive dissonance between the quality of writing and the quality of print it comes on. This my only complaint:)
***
KJ Parker is fantastic! An auto-add and auto-purchase decision for me.
In the meantime, enjoying greatly my hardback copy of The Father of Lies and re-issued paperback omnibus edition:
> The Two of Swords, Volume One,
> The Two of Swords, Volume Two,
> The Two of Swords, Volume Three
Parker is back at it! What an absolute pleasure! All the things you love about his writing and then some!
Unreliable narrator, deeply flawed yet genius protagonist, dry intelligent humour, immersive setting and characters. I mean... this is a top shelf read. Highest possible recommendation! 5 🌟
This is a stand-alone novel too - so no pressure to commit to the series. But if you tried this... you will be after The Two of Swords, and Savages, and Sharps, and The Folding Knife... it is addictive! (You have been warned)
Special shout out to those who enjoyed Sarantine Mosaic by Gavriel Kay. Try this book now. I reckon they pair wonderfully.
PS: Orbit, why do you release Parker in these cheap print paperbacks only??! Massive dissonance between the quality of writing and the quality of print it comes on. This my only complaint:)
***
KJ Parker is fantastic! An auto-add and auto-purchase decision for me.
In the meantime, enjoying greatly my hardback copy of The Father of Lies and re-issued paperback omnibus edition:
> The Two of Swords, Volume One,
> The Two of Swords, Volume Two,
> The Two of Swords, Volume Three
February 14, 2019
First person narration, funny, irreverent, lots of twists - being a huge fan of the author and reading pretty much all his books, I saw some ahead of time as those occur frequently throughout his work, but it still managed to surprise me quite often.
While the ending has a conclusion so to speak, I really hope this is the start of a new series as advertised. There is an epilogue that sort of connects it with other works at least as some naming like met d'Oc, or events like Perimadeia's destruction, and the siege of Mezentia etc go, though all those are in the far future of the events here which are set in the author's faux Byzantine setting, though this time the empire's dominant race is named as the Robur - otherwise the City has the usual Byzantine stuff including the blue and green factions (though here they fight in the arena Roman style in addition to chariot racing), the bureaucracy, Senate, emperor etc
The main hero, colonel Orhan, chief of engineers is the only "barbarian" that has some moderately high rank - he is even a member of the "security council" of the empire in this quality but he is rarely invited to the meetings of course (the usual name for most barbarians is "milkface", though the term is illegal under Robur law as is "blueskin", the derogatory term the subjugated people of the Empire use for the Robur, though of course while prosecutions for using milkface are non-existent as after all the Robur would never ever use such a term, the ones for using blueskin happen often as Orhan informs us, since as all know the milkfaces are uncouth, coarse and deserve their roles as subjects, indentured servants - the empire abolished slavery but replaced it with the even better, indentured servitude, manpower for the armies and menial work, or for their women to work in the "entertainment business" as again Orhan puts it so nicely); as the book goes on we find out Orhan's past (at least in so far we can trust his narration - as KJ parker's heroes go he reminds of Saloninus though he is much less self-important and amoral), how he got to be a colonel and commander of engineers (the short of it, he is really good at doing stuff despite the bureaucracy and engineers for once are the ones where stuff really needs to be done) and much more; and then stuff happens and as the blurb has it Orhan has to defend the City against an unknown enemy that seems to have annihilated all the Imperial armies, destroyed or blockaded the Imperial fleets and isolated the City without any real soldiers inside, few war weapons (as blades and the like are galore of course), few provisions, no ships arriving at the docks and no one in authority present (the Senators, of course, don't count as they know only how to talk...), enemy that seems bent not on conquest but on total destruction...
But big events present big opportunities, so Orhan who is somewhat of an idealist at heart may be able to use this to bring on the "just society" where everyone from the low to the high (even including milkfaces and women) has a stake - though the people of the City still don't like jumped up milkfaces...
A few choice quotes:
"The Robur pride themselves on their good manners, and, besides, calling a milkface a milkface is Conduct Prejudicial and can get you court-martialled. For the record, nobody’s ever faced charges on that score, which proves (doesn’t it) that Imperials aren’t biased or bigoted in any way. On the other hand, several dozen auxiliary officers have been tried and cashiered for calling an Imperial a blueskin, so you can see just how wicked and deserving of contempt my lot truly are."
"It’s just occurred to me that maybe you don’t know very much about the Themes. It’s possible if you’re from out of town. Maybe all you know is that there are two rival groups of supporters in the Hippodrome, one lot with blue favors, one lot with green, and they cheer for their side in the sword fighting and the chariot races. Which is true. It started that way, certainly. Then, about two hundred and fifty years ago, the Blues took up a collection for the fighters’ widows and orphans. Naturally, the Greens did the same. A bit later, they extended the fund to look after the dependants of Theme members; you pay a few trachy every week into the pot, and if you fall on hard times you get a bit of help till you’re on your feet again. Well, an idea that good was bound to catch on; just as bound to go wrong. Before long, the Theme treasuries controlled huge assets, invested in shipping and manufacturing since commoners can’t own land. Money brought power, which wasn’t always used wisely or honestly. Then the Greens started organizing the labor at the docks, the Blues did the same in haulage and the civil service, lower grades. Wasn’t long before the government got scared and tried to interfere, which got us the Victory riots—twenty thousand dead in the Hippodrome, when the City Prefect sent in Hus auxiliaries. Since then, the Themes have kept a low profile. What they do, the funds and all the activities that go with them, is strictly illegal, but since when did that stop anybody from doing anything? Besides, if you get sick or break a leg in this man’s town, it’s the Themes you turn to, or starve to death. Her father was a trustee of the Greens fund, and quite a big man in the movement; did a lot of bad things and a lot of good ones, until he neglected to sidestep in the Hippodrome and got skewered. I’d assumed he’d creamed off enough to set his daughter up for life, but it turned out he gambled it away as fast as he embezzled it. As far as she knows, there was enough left to buy her the Dogs. Actually, there wasn’t, and regimental funds had to come to the rescue. Well, it was that or three thousand regulation shovels, and we have plenty of shovels. I was always a Blue, incidentally, until I met her father. So, you see, people can change their minds, on even the most fundamental issues of conscience."
Excellent stuff and highly recommended and again I really, really hope the story continues soon
While the ending has a conclusion so to speak, I really hope this is the start of a new series as advertised. There is an epilogue that sort of connects it with other works at least as some naming like met d'Oc, or events like Perimadeia's destruction, and the siege of Mezentia etc go, though all those are in the far future of the events here which are set in the author's faux Byzantine setting, though this time the empire's dominant race is named as the Robur - otherwise the City has the usual Byzantine stuff including the blue and green factions (though here they fight in the arena Roman style in addition to chariot racing), the bureaucracy, Senate, emperor etc
The main hero, colonel Orhan, chief of engineers is the only "barbarian" that has some moderately high rank - he is even a member of the "security council" of the empire in this quality but he is rarely invited to the meetings of course (the usual name for most barbarians is "milkface", though the term is illegal under Robur law as is "blueskin", the derogatory term the subjugated people of the Empire use for the Robur, though of course while prosecutions for using milkface are non-existent as after all the Robur would never ever use such a term, the ones for using blueskin happen often as Orhan informs us, since as all know the milkfaces are uncouth, coarse and deserve their roles as subjects, indentured servants - the empire abolished slavery but replaced it with the even better, indentured servitude, manpower for the armies and menial work, or for their women to work in the "entertainment business" as again Orhan puts it so nicely); as the book goes on we find out Orhan's past (at least in so far we can trust his narration - as KJ parker's heroes go he reminds of Saloninus though he is much less self-important and amoral), how he got to be a colonel and commander of engineers (the short of it, he is really good at doing stuff despite the bureaucracy and engineers for once are the ones where stuff really needs to be done) and much more; and then stuff happens and as the blurb has it Orhan has to defend the City against an unknown enemy that seems to have annihilated all the Imperial armies, destroyed or blockaded the Imperial fleets and isolated the City without any real soldiers inside, few war weapons (as blades and the like are galore of course), few provisions, no ships arriving at the docks and no one in authority present (the Senators, of course, don't count as they know only how to talk...), enemy that seems bent not on conquest but on total destruction...
But big events present big opportunities, so Orhan who is somewhat of an idealist at heart may be able to use this to bring on the "just society" where everyone from the low to the high (even including milkfaces and women) has a stake - though the people of the City still don't like jumped up milkfaces...
A few choice quotes:
"The Robur pride themselves on their good manners, and, besides, calling a milkface a milkface is Conduct Prejudicial and can get you court-martialled. For the record, nobody’s ever faced charges on that score, which proves (doesn’t it) that Imperials aren’t biased or bigoted in any way. On the other hand, several dozen auxiliary officers have been tried and cashiered for calling an Imperial a blueskin, so you can see just how wicked and deserving of contempt my lot truly are."
"It’s just occurred to me that maybe you don’t know very much about the Themes. It’s possible if you’re from out of town. Maybe all you know is that there are two rival groups of supporters in the Hippodrome, one lot with blue favors, one lot with green, and they cheer for their side in the sword fighting and the chariot races. Which is true. It started that way, certainly. Then, about two hundred and fifty years ago, the Blues took up a collection for the fighters’ widows and orphans. Naturally, the Greens did the same. A bit later, they extended the fund to look after the dependants of Theme members; you pay a few trachy every week into the pot, and if you fall on hard times you get a bit of help till you’re on your feet again. Well, an idea that good was bound to catch on; just as bound to go wrong. Before long, the Theme treasuries controlled huge assets, invested in shipping and manufacturing since commoners can’t own land. Money brought power, which wasn’t always used wisely or honestly. Then the Greens started organizing the labor at the docks, the Blues did the same in haulage and the civil service, lower grades. Wasn’t long before the government got scared and tried to interfere, which got us the Victory riots—twenty thousand dead in the Hippodrome, when the City Prefect sent in Hus auxiliaries. Since then, the Themes have kept a low profile. What they do, the funds and all the activities that go with them, is strictly illegal, but since when did that stop anybody from doing anything? Besides, if you get sick or break a leg in this man’s town, it’s the Themes you turn to, or starve to death. Her father was a trustee of the Greens fund, and quite a big man in the movement; did a lot of bad things and a lot of good ones, until he neglected to sidestep in the Hippodrome and got skewered. I’d assumed he’d creamed off enough to set his daughter up for life, but it turned out he gambled it away as fast as he embezzled it. As far as she knows, there was enough left to buy her the Dogs. Actually, there wasn’t, and regimental funds had to come to the rescue. Well, it was that or three thousand regulation shovels, and we have plenty of shovels. I was always a Blue, incidentally, until I met her father. So, you see, people can change their minds, on even the most fundamental issues of conscience."
Excellent stuff and highly recommended and again I really, really hope the story continues soon
March 12, 2024
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I’m going to need more K.J. Parker books to devour.
What a total delight! Written in a chronicled, sardonic tone, this was like a mashup between Abercrombie and Pratchett. There were a few brutal elements, but the levity of the tone always kept it from feeling too dark.
And I laughed out loud. A lot.
Mostly at the dry, situational humor. And it’s not just WHAT he said, it’s HOW he said it that made it funny. The writing style was easily my favorite thing about the book. Written in a chronicling fashion, it truly read like some bloke recounting a story about “that one time I…” and whatnot. The narrative switches tenses, talks to the reader, and even confuses pronouns. It’s what makes me want to read more of Parker’s works asap. I love it when authors get creative and break rules, especially when it’s done this deftly.
The main character was great, with a self-preservation streak as long as the bridges he builds, but compassionate enough to root for. And complex enough to make me internalize some of the hard decisions he faced. Superb. Parker struck the balance perfectly of slightly over-the-top characters without making them stupid. This book is such a strong perspective piece and it’s clear all of the supporting characters were made more amusing due to how the main character viewed them all. Truly immersive.
I’m really close to fangirling. I can’t wait to read more Parker and am excited to have found a new author to geek out about. Allen from the Library of Allenxandria was right!
Recommendations: If you’re having withdrawals from Abercrombie, de Castell, or Pratchett, read this book.
Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Jen, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, and Elizabeth! <3
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
Other books you might like:
I’m going to need more K.J. Parker books to devour.
What a total delight! Written in a chronicled, sardonic tone, this was like a mashup between Abercrombie and Pratchett. There were a few brutal elements, but the levity of the tone always kept it from feeling too dark.
And I laughed out loud. A lot.
Mostly at the dry, situational humor. And it’s not just WHAT he said, it’s HOW he said it that made it funny. The writing style was easily my favorite thing about the book. Written in a chronicling fashion, it truly read like some bloke recounting a story about “that one time I…” and whatnot. The narrative switches tenses, talks to the reader, and even confuses pronouns. It’s what makes me want to read more of Parker’s works asap. I love it when authors get creative and break rules, especially when it’s done this deftly.
The main character was great, with a self-preservation streak as long as the bridges he builds, but compassionate enough to root for. And complex enough to make me internalize some of the hard decisions he faced. Superb. Parker struck the balance perfectly of slightly over-the-top characters without making them stupid. This book is such a strong perspective piece and it’s clear all of the supporting characters were made more amusing due to how the main character viewed them all. Truly immersive.
I’m really close to fangirling. I can’t wait to read more Parker and am excited to have found a new author to geek out about. Allen from the Library of Allenxandria was right!
Recommendations: If you’re having withdrawals from Abercrombie, de Castell, or Pratchett, read this book.
Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Jen, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, and Elizabeth! <3
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
Other books you might like:
December 13, 2021
I admit I was hook-line-and-sinkered with the title. Anything that logical and/or methodical tied to an epic fantasy title just screams niche-cool.
And I wasn't disappointed. Engineer-turned-hero tales, turning a hopeless situation (a dead army, useless leaders, and a bunch of screwed-over normal people) into something resembling hope is, I admit, all kinds of awesome. Don't we like McGuiver for the same reason?
Well, this isn't a small-scale adventure even if the voice of our dour, slightly sarcastic hero downplays his own achievements in the narration. Indeed, this has all the hallmarks of a grand low-fantasy turnaround. Impossible stakes with very little to work with but a whole city of scared people with nothing left to lose? Got it. It's time for the normals to pull off a miracle.
And they do. I really enjoyed this.
Of course, I read it just in time for Xmas because aren't most family visits kinda like siege warfare? Yep. So, merry Xmas!
And I wasn't disappointed. Engineer-turned-hero tales, turning a hopeless situation (a dead army, useless leaders, and a bunch of screwed-over normal people) into something resembling hope is, I admit, all kinds of awesome. Don't we like McGuiver for the same reason?
Well, this isn't a small-scale adventure even if the voice of our dour, slightly sarcastic hero downplays his own achievements in the narration. Indeed, this has all the hallmarks of a grand low-fantasy turnaround. Impossible stakes with very little to work with but a whole city of scared people with nothing left to lose? Got it. It's time for the normals to pull off a miracle.
And they do. I really enjoyed this.
Of course, I read it just in time for Xmas because aren't most family visits kinda like siege warfare? Yep. So, merry Xmas!
Read
December 10, 2019A sort of strategy adventure set in an alt-Byzantium, where a mid-ranking engineer finds himself in charge of saving not-Byzantium from the beseiging hordes. It's very good on the practical details of ancient siege warfare and logistics (if this sounds dull, it really isn't, Parker is terrific at this stuff and it's a much more interesting look at warfare than as a matter of people hitting other people). The City is brilliantly depicted, and the sense of claustrophobia and fear are fantastic, as are the stupidities, cruelties, achievements and treacheries.
Orhan, the narrator, frequently presents himself as being several steps ahead of everyone else in a way that borders on Mary-Sue. He's unreliable, so is this him bigging himself up? Unclear. There are rather more treacherous and unreliable women (three out of the four with speaking roles) than seems quite necessary though again, this may be the unreliable narrator at work, or a sidelight on the necessities of surviving in a patriarchal society. I sort of like this about Parker: everyone is shitty and you can't trust anyone to tell you the truth including the narrator. It makes for an unsettling reading experience where you question a lot of stuff including the author, but in these lie-filled times, that's probably good practice.
What did not work for me was the racial element. The idea is that the Empire is a racist society ruled by brown people, with white people discriminated against and not allowed to drink from the City water fountains. The besiegers are white people sick of their brown oppressors and determined to put an end to their oppressive colonisation and exploitation. And the white narrator, Orhan (snatched from his parents and made a slave in service of the Empire) is the saviour of the city of brown people who basically would be wiped out without his leadership and brains. Yeeesh. I don't think that's consciously intended--there's no unequivocal heroes here; Orhan is a weasel and the besieging forces are horrifically savage and don't have the Empire's fractionally redeeming cultural glory--but I found this aspect distracting and problematic. It would have worked to concentrate on the issues of empire and colonisation without creating a stark racial binary which isn't even that plausible for an alt-Mediterranean empire.
Orhan, the narrator, frequently presents himself as being several steps ahead of everyone else in a way that borders on Mary-Sue. He's unreliable, so is this him bigging himself up? Unclear. There are rather more treacherous and unreliable women (three out of the four with speaking roles) than seems quite necessary though again, this may be the unreliable narrator at work, or a sidelight on the necessities of surviving in a patriarchal society. I sort of like this about Parker: everyone is shitty and you can't trust anyone to tell you the truth including the narrator. It makes for an unsettling reading experience where you question a lot of stuff including the author, but in these lie-filled times, that's probably good practice.
What did not work for me was the racial element. The idea is that the Empire is a racist society ruled by brown people, with white people discriminated against and not allowed to drink from the City water fountains. The besiegers are white people sick of their brown oppressors and determined to put an end to their oppressive colonisation and exploitation. And the white narrator, Orhan (snatched from his parents and made a slave in service of the Empire) is the saviour of the city of brown people who basically would be wiped out without his leadership and brains. Yeeesh. I don't think that's consciously intended--there's no unequivocal heroes here; Orhan is a weasel and the besieging forces are horrifically savage and don't have the Empire's fractionally redeeming cultural glory--but I found this aspect distracting and problematic. It would have worked to concentrate on the issues of empire and colonisation without creating a stark racial binary which isn't even that plausible for an alt-Mediterranean empire.
August 1, 2022
This is not a review. This is a cry for help. If anyone know who has cursed me and my new book picks this year, please let me know how to break this curse, because I am so tired of picking up books that seem like I should love them only to chuck them in the donation box the instant I flip the final page. I will burn sage. I will light candles to St. Jude. I will also go re-read “Les Misérables”, because I am hitting a point where I’d rather make my way through that magnificent brick instead of reading books that keep letting me down.
“Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City” is supposed to be a historical/fantasy retelling of the siege of Constantinople from the point of view of a curmudgeonly engineer who is always at the wrong place at the wrong time but who manages to pull through out of sheer ingenuity and bravado. That should be good. And I admit that I was curious enough to figure out how Orhan makes it to the end of the book that I kept reading. But when I was done, I was relieved.
The prose is on the unremarkable side, the racial commentary is… interesting but somewhat ham-fisted and clumsy. But as I feel the point of this book was to be quick and fun military escapism, I can’t hold it against Parker if he wasn’t taking himself too seriously and rounded off a few corners. That said, it was just not what I look for in a book: I got no sense of atmosphere, I didn’t get invested in any character, I had no idea what the City they are defending was like at all (I knew it was supposed to be Constantinople, but if I hadn’t known that, that would have been even worst)…
My opinion is obviously in the minority, as this book is generally well-reviewed. So forgive me if you are a fan of this series, but I don’t get it. If anyone knows of a good witch doctor who can help lift this curse, I would appreciate their phone number.
“Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City” is supposed to be a historical/fantasy retelling of the siege of Constantinople from the point of view of a curmudgeonly engineer who is always at the wrong place at the wrong time but who manages to pull through out of sheer ingenuity and bravado. That should be good. And I admit that I was curious enough to figure out how Orhan makes it to the end of the book that I kept reading. But when I was done, I was relieved.
The prose is on the unremarkable side, the racial commentary is… interesting but somewhat ham-fisted and clumsy. But as I feel the point of this book was to be quick and fun military escapism, I can’t hold it against Parker if he wasn’t taking himself too seriously and rounded off a few corners. That said, it was just not what I look for in a book: I got no sense of atmosphere, I didn’t get invested in any character, I had no idea what the City they are defending was like at all (I knew it was supposed to be Constantinople, but if I hadn’t known that, that would have been even worst)…
My opinion is obviously in the minority, as this book is generally well-reviewed. So forgive me if you are a fan of this series, but I don’t get it. If anyone knows of a good witch doctor who can help lift this curse, I would appreciate their phone number.
January 18, 2021
This was fun. A great grumpy but competent engineer main character has to defend a fantasy Rome from its destruction. I listened to this one and thought the narrator matched the story perfectly.
July 22, 2019
The worms declared war on the lions, and all the animals in the forest were sure the lions would win. But the lions couldn’t catch the worms, because they dug down into the ground and wouldn’t come out and fight. But at night, when the lions were asleep, the worms crawled through their ears and ate their brains and killed them, every one. It’s a popular story, where I come from, though the Robur have never heard of it. And when I tell it to my Imperial friends, I always ask them first, which would you rather be, a worm or a lion? And they all say, lion, of course – except Artavasdus, of all people. Why? Because, he said, I’m an engineer, and worms dig really good tunnels.
Orhan, the narrator of this here wartime chronicle, is an engineer. A combination of unfortunate circumstances left him in charge of the defense of the City, the centuries old capital of the Robur Empire, just as a mysterious adversary, a tactical genius, has annihilated all the defensive forces that were supposed to guard it. Without any resources or troops, Orhan must invent a new way to defend this walled city from the massed forces of this adversary.
I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems, and I fix them. I’m an engineer; my answer to any and every problem is a gadget, a trick, a device. I don’t consider the politics or the ethics. If a bridge needs to be built, I rig something up with logs and ropes. If the system is so hopelessly fucked up that I can’t get pay or supplies for my men, I manufacture coins and seals. If the City is threatened with a fate it richly deserves, I modify and improve catapults, improvise armour out of bedlinen, manufacture, sorry, forge (both senses of the word) new communities – fake ones, naturally, authorized by a fake seal. I fix broken people with things, with stuff; with tricks, lies, devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront, I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death.
I don’t like it when readers compare any new fantasy book with ‘Game of Thrones’ , but I’m willing to make an exception in this case by linking Orhan to Tyrion Lannister. Orhan may not be a midget cripple, but he is still a pariah in the eyes of the Robur because his skin is the wrong colour. He is only accepted and promoted through the ranks because he is truly very good at what he does, but the Robur still see him as a dirty, pale-faced savage.
My enemies have always come through for me, and I owe them everything. My friends, on the other hand, have caused me nothing but aggravation and pain. Just as well I’ve had so very few of them.
Even if this is a first person narrative, and Orhan doesn’t try to hide the fact that he self-serving by white washing his public image, readers unfamiliar with the work of K J Parker might be shocked by the complete amorality of his actions. Orhan would do anything, use everybody and pay any cost in order to achieve results. What makes the account truly memorable is not only the cleverness of his devices, but mostly Orhan’s black humour and sharp sarcasm directed at his Robur overlords.
‘You know how the Robur think? If they win, it’s manifest destiny; spare the conquered, grind down the proud with war. Recognize that?’
Feel free to draw parallels to current events and real world politics. I left out most of the discussion in the quote above, but the social commentary is often acerbic and bitter as seen through the eyes of the downtrodden. I admire Orhan because he doesn’t wallow in self pity, neither does he use his intellect for petty revenge. He is a survivor and a troubleshooter who believes that there’s a way out of any predicament as long as you do your research well and you use the available resources as best you can.
I have strong views about not tempting providence and, as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it.
>>><<<>>><<<
For readers who are still unfamiliar with the novels of K J Parker, this is an excellent entry point, one of his most straightforward stories. A lively pace, an intriguing chess game with real people as pawns in a deadly siege, a humorous narration with a typical amoral engineer type of hero will probably hook you for more from this author. As a bonus, this is a standalone story framed within a huge worldbuilding project that encompasses most of the other works written while Holt was still hiding his real identity under a pseudonym.
When you know all the relevant facts, all you have to do then is figure out the solution.
June 13, 2019
"...as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn't work if you push it."
And just like that, I'm in.
Less fantasy than parable, K.J. Parker's clever little book is set in an alternate version of the Holy Roman Empire - which, frankly, is a fine milieu for the story of a siege. Told entirely in the first person by a nefarious engineer named Orhan, we are treated to a detailed defensive campaign against a bold and mysterious enemy possessed of overwhelming forces and the finest weaponry in the land. This is a fight that cannot be won, yet we proceed, assault by assault, through the misery of holding out for a miracle...or a crafty bit of strategic genius our crusty old goat hopes to develop on the fly.
The character work here is marvelous; the voice deceptively ambivalent, the action equipped with a keen understanding of tactics, the narrative rife with pockets of wisdom that delight and surprise:
So I went to the Old Flower Market. If you've never been to the City, take note; you can't buy flowers in the Old Flower Market. Like so many City neighborhoods, it defines itself in terms of what was done there a long time ago but isn't any more. For the avoidance of doubt, flowers are about the only thing you can't buy there. Life and death, yes, no problem. A simple bunch of roses, no...
It was a gamble, or do I mean an augury? I think that's the word; where you basically give God a choice - if you're on my side, let this happen, if not, do what you like. If we figured in His plans, the fleet would be on the river or in dock at Bel. If it was on its way back to town, He clearly didn't want us to save the City, and we'd be free to take whatever shipping we could lay our hands on and sail away...
I mention this because that's how the world changes. It's either so quick that we never know what hit us, or so gradual that we don't notice. It's only later, when books are written and scholars decide what mattered and what didn't, that the red lines are drawn - before this point, the world was this way, after this point, everything was different. You could be there and not have a clue. You could be asleep, or looking the other way, having a quiet shit or screwing in an alley, and an unseen pen draws a line. Here the Empire ended. Here the Dark Ages began...
This is one of those rare novels with the perfect title. If it happens to tickle your fancy? Chances are you're going to like where everything goes from there.
And just like that, I'm in.
Less fantasy than parable, K.J. Parker's clever little book is set in an alternate version of the Holy Roman Empire - which, frankly, is a fine milieu for the story of a siege. Told entirely in the first person by a nefarious engineer named Orhan, we are treated to a detailed defensive campaign against a bold and mysterious enemy possessed of overwhelming forces and the finest weaponry in the land. This is a fight that cannot be won, yet we proceed, assault by assault, through the misery of holding out for a miracle...or a crafty bit of strategic genius our crusty old goat hopes to develop on the fly.
The character work here is marvelous; the voice deceptively ambivalent, the action equipped with a keen understanding of tactics, the narrative rife with pockets of wisdom that delight and surprise:
So I went to the Old Flower Market. If you've never been to the City, take note; you can't buy flowers in the Old Flower Market. Like so many City neighborhoods, it defines itself in terms of what was done there a long time ago but isn't any more. For the avoidance of doubt, flowers are about the only thing you can't buy there. Life and death, yes, no problem. A simple bunch of roses, no...
It was a gamble, or do I mean an augury? I think that's the word; where you basically give God a choice - if you're on my side, let this happen, if not, do what you like. If we figured in His plans, the fleet would be on the river or in dock at Bel. If it was on its way back to town, He clearly didn't want us to save the City, and we'd be free to take whatever shipping we could lay our hands on and sail away...
I mention this because that's how the world changes. It's either so quick that we never know what hit us, or so gradual that we don't notice. It's only later, when books are written and scholars decide what mattered and what didn't, that the red lines are drawn - before this point, the world was this way, after this point, everything was different. You could be there and not have a clue. You could be asleep, or looking the other way, having a quiet shit or screwing in an alley, and an unseen pen draws a line. Here the Empire ended. Here the Dark Ages began...
This is one of those rare novels with the perfect title. If it happens to tickle your fancy? Chances are you're going to like where everything goes from there.
February 3, 2020
Orhan was the greatest voice I’ve read in many a year. Fabulous!
March 29, 2019
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is quite a different book and I absolutely loved it. In some ways it is like a practical application of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War because the telling of the story relies on strategy, forethought, knowing one’s enemy and intelligent application of the techniques of battle rather than anything decidedly heroic or magical. Orhan can do more with a mile of rope, a bucket of nails and some support beams stolen from an old church than most men can do with a whole army. He knows this and also knows his story lacks the glorious elements of most heroic adventures so he’s telling it himself and no doubt spicing it up a little for us the readers.
He is a fantastic character with a bone dry sense of humour, a heart and soul that force him to make hard decisions however unpleasant, the nuance and humility to deal with people of different classes; and talk about being perfect for the job. I love a reluctant hero as much as the next person but there is also something incredibly satisfying as seeing the exact man for the job get the actual job, especially when the circumstances dictate anyone who may try and take over his job because of wealth, position etc is not around to do so.
“I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems and I fix them. I’m an engineer; my answer to any and every problem is a gadget, a trick, a device. I don’t consider the politics or the ethics. If a bridge needs to be built, I rig something up with logs and ropes. If the system is so hopelessly fucked that I can’t get pay or supplies for my men, I manufacture coins and seals. If the City is threatened with a fate it richly deserves, I modify and improve catapults, improvise armour out of bed linen, manufacture, sorry, forge (both senses of the word) new communities – fake ones, naturally, authorised by a fake seal. I fix broken people with things; with tricks, lies, and devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront. I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death”.
I loved the intense focus on the aforementioned elements and the absence of distracting romantic or political subplots. It’s a tight and exciting story based on logic, clever ideas and razor sharp wit and it moves at a tumultuous pace.
There is some nice discussion about identity and racism as Ohran, referred to as a ‘milk-face’ lives and works among a systemically superior race known as the Robar who have blue faces. Though he is a respected engineer with friends and men of both races there are places he cannot go and people he cannot speak to simply because of the colour of his skin. At one point after a particularly brilliant counter move that turns the enemy back he is unrecognisably filthy and goes to wash himself where he is chastised by a blue for using a ‘blue only’ fountain. His instant and instinctual response to completely accept his lower social rank despite being the only thing stopping the death of every man woman and child in the castle spoke volumes about the sort of dehumanization he had become accustomed to when he had every right to kick that guy in the balls and wash his own in that damn fountain.
I for one hope that a few more volumes of Orhan’s memoirs survived destruction and will one day be uncovered. It’s an incredibly interesting viewpoint from which to watch a siege and I’d be interested to see how he would do in a less fortified position like being caught in transit as well as possibly being forced to lead an attack.
I'd highly recommend Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City for lovers of fantasy and military stories and to anyone looking for something to mix up their TBR list. As a stand alone at roughly 350 pages it asks very little but delivers so damn much and I'm grateful for receiving an ARC from the publishers.
He is a fantastic character with a bone dry sense of humour, a heart and soul that force him to make hard decisions however unpleasant, the nuance and humility to deal with people of different classes; and talk about being perfect for the job. I love a reluctant hero as much as the next person but there is also something incredibly satisfying as seeing the exact man for the job get the actual job, especially when the circumstances dictate anyone who may try and take over his job because of wealth, position etc is not around to do so.
“I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems and I fix them. I’m an engineer; my answer to any and every problem is a gadget, a trick, a device. I don’t consider the politics or the ethics. If a bridge needs to be built, I rig something up with logs and ropes. If the system is so hopelessly fucked that I can’t get pay or supplies for my men, I manufacture coins and seals. If the City is threatened with a fate it richly deserves, I modify and improve catapults, improvise armour out of bed linen, manufacture, sorry, forge (both senses of the word) new communities – fake ones, naturally, authorised by a fake seal. I fix broken people with things; with tricks, lies, and devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront. I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death”.
I loved the intense focus on the aforementioned elements and the absence of distracting romantic or political subplots. It’s a tight and exciting story based on logic, clever ideas and razor sharp wit and it moves at a tumultuous pace.
There is some nice discussion about identity and racism as Ohran, referred to as a ‘milk-face’ lives and works among a systemically superior race known as the Robar who have blue faces. Though he is a respected engineer with friends and men of both races there are places he cannot go and people he cannot speak to simply because of the colour of his skin. At one point after a particularly brilliant counter move that turns the enemy back he is unrecognisably filthy and goes to wash himself where he is chastised by a blue for using a ‘blue only’ fountain. His instant and instinctual response to completely accept his lower social rank despite being the only thing stopping the death of every man woman and child in the castle spoke volumes about the sort of dehumanization he had become accustomed to when he had every right to kick that guy in the balls and wash his own in that damn fountain.
I for one hope that a few more volumes of Orhan’s memoirs survived destruction and will one day be uncovered. It’s an incredibly interesting viewpoint from which to watch a siege and I’d be interested to see how he would do in a less fortified position like being caught in transit as well as possibly being forced to lead an attack.
I'd highly recommend Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City for lovers of fantasy and military stories and to anyone looking for something to mix up their TBR list. As a stand alone at roughly 350 pages it asks very little but delivers so damn much and I'm grateful for receiving an ARC from the publishers.
July 23, 2023
This is the story of how Orhan, an engineer with no army and no military experience, came to be in charge of saving a city from destruction by a horde that just keeps growing. Orhan is a reluctant savior who knows his limitations, but in this book he wittily recounts how he used his intelligence, skill for scheming and luck to wrangle the city’s grumbling citizens and keep the horde at bay.
I really enjoyed this book. It had humor and action and Orhan was a terrific character. I found this trilogy at the right time, because it is complete so I don’t have to wait to see what comes next. However, it seems that each book can be read as a standalone. I have already put a library hold on book two. 4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It had humor and action and Orhan was a terrific character. I found this trilogy at the right time, because it is complete so I don’t have to wait to see what comes next. However, it seems that each book can be read as a standalone. I have already put a library hold on book two. 4.5 stars
April 20, 2021
"Orhan." Nobody called me that. "You're a clever man and you use your brain, which makes you unique in this man's town, but you've got to do something about your attitude." "Attitude? Me?" pg 16
Through a series of unfortunate events, Orhan, the leader of a group of military engineers, finds himself in charge of the defense of "the City", the capital of the Robur empire. The Robur empire seems to have been loosely based on the Roman empire, which, in its conquering of the world, took diverse sets of people and organized them into useful groups under its overarching control.
Orhan is one of these conquered peoples. But he has a unique set of skills, all of which will be put into use during the siege that is to come.
"My meteoric rise, from illiterate barbarian serf to commander of an Imperial regiment, is due to the Hus, the Sherden, the Echmen and, last but not least, the Robur, who are proud of the fact that over the last hundred years they've slaughtered in excess of a million of my people." pg 5
The story is told entirely from Orhan's point of view in first-person narrative. This invites the reader to step into Orhan's shoes and makes the tale quite exciting and immediate.
On the other hand, Orhan is emotionally bereft and runs his life through merciless logic, which doesn't always serve him, or the people around him, very well.
"That's one thing about human beings I don't see the point in: love. It does nobody any good. You love someone, and either they let you down or they die. Either way, you end up crucified." pg 55
He is an impatient and, occasionally, violent character, who literally punches people when they don't conform to his view of the world fast enough.
In other words, wearing Orhan's shoes for the length of the story is an uncomfortable ride for anyone who uses a modicum of emotional intelligence in their lives.
That being said, K.J. Parker (pen name for Tom Holt) has done a brilliant job of creating an unforgettable, if unpleasant, narrator. By the end of the book, even though I didn't like him, I found myself rooting for Orhan anyway because that's the kind of reader I am.
But if you have trouble connecting with stories where you don't like the characters, this might not be the book for you.
The one moment where I did connect with the narrator was when he discovers his importance in the siege that is to come.
"If, as I was horribly afraid, I was the senior military officer in the City, I needed confirmation or a warrant or something. If there was someone higher up than me, I desperately wanted to hear about him and ask him for orders." pg 78
I used to have similar feelings when I first started working as a reference librarian at the library. Prior to that, as a circulation assistant, if I had any question about anything having to do with the library or technology or research, I'd call up whoever was sitting at the reference desk and they'd supply me with the answer.
It was my own version of chain-of-command. There was an unspoken faith that I carried- if I didn't know the answer, the reference librarian would so there was never any reason to worry.
The day that my training was done, my supervisor went home, and I was left alone at the reference desk, that was my Orhan moment. If I didn't know or couldn't find the answer, there was no one else for me to turn to.
It is humbling to realize that it all rests on your shoulders, but it is also a character making moment. How you respond to the pressure says so much about you. And that is the strength of this story, the slow revelation of Orhan's character under pressure.
Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction. Though this is classified as a fantasy too, I feel like it veers more into a parallel universe than a true fantasy world where magic is real and otherworldly creatures are running around. I'd be curious to know what other readers think about its genre.
Through a series of unfortunate events, Orhan, the leader of a group of military engineers, finds himself in charge of the defense of "the City", the capital of the Robur empire. The Robur empire seems to have been loosely based on the Roman empire, which, in its conquering of the world, took diverse sets of people and organized them into useful groups under its overarching control.
Orhan is one of these conquered peoples. But he has a unique set of skills, all of which will be put into use during the siege that is to come.
"My meteoric rise, from illiterate barbarian serf to commander of an Imperial regiment, is due to the Hus, the Sherden, the Echmen and, last but not least, the Robur, who are proud of the fact that over the last hundred years they've slaughtered in excess of a million of my people." pg 5
The story is told entirely from Orhan's point of view in first-person narrative. This invites the reader to step into Orhan's shoes and makes the tale quite exciting and immediate.
On the other hand, Orhan is emotionally bereft and runs his life through merciless logic, which doesn't always serve him, or the people around him, very well.
"That's one thing about human beings I don't see the point in: love. It does nobody any good. You love someone, and either they let you down or they die. Either way, you end up crucified." pg 55
He is an impatient and, occasionally, violent character, who literally punches people when they don't conform to his view of the world fast enough.
In other words, wearing Orhan's shoes for the length of the story is an uncomfortable ride for anyone who uses a modicum of emotional intelligence in their lives.
That being said, K.J. Parker (pen name for Tom Holt) has done a brilliant job of creating an unforgettable, if unpleasant, narrator. By the end of the book, even though I didn't like him, I found myself rooting for Orhan anyway because that's the kind of reader I am.
But if you have trouble connecting with stories where you don't like the characters, this might not be the book for you.
The one moment where I did connect with the narrator was when he discovers his importance in the siege that is to come.
"If, as I was horribly afraid, I was the senior military officer in the City, I needed confirmation or a warrant or something. If there was someone higher up than me, I desperately wanted to hear about him and ask him for orders." pg 78
I used to have similar feelings when I first started working as a reference librarian at the library. Prior to that, as a circulation assistant, if I had any question about anything having to do with the library or technology or research, I'd call up whoever was sitting at the reference desk and they'd supply me with the answer.
It was my own version of chain-of-command. There was an unspoken faith that I carried- if I didn't know the answer, the reference librarian would so there was never any reason to worry.
The day that my training was done, my supervisor went home, and I was left alone at the reference desk, that was my Orhan moment. If I didn't know or couldn't find the answer, there was no one else for me to turn to.
It is humbling to realize that it all rests on your shoulders, but it is also a character making moment. How you respond to the pressure says so much about you. And that is the strength of this story, the slow revelation of Orhan's character under pressure.
Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction. Though this is classified as a fantasy too, I feel like it veers more into a parallel universe than a true fantasy world where magic is real and otherworldly creatures are running around. I'd be curious to know what other readers think about its genre.
October 5, 2022
5 stars
This looped a rope around my ankle and zig-zagged me down the rabbit hole. Hours disappeared as I cackled my way through a bizarre medievalesque alternate fantasy world led but an unreliable and self-deprecating narrator. It was a whirlwind, a masterpiece, a satire, a heist. Can you tell I LOVED it??
Concept: ★★★★
Character: ★★★★★
Sense of Voice: ★★★★★
Witty Humor: ★★★★★
Oooookay. From the lead-in, I hope you gathered that I have completely converted into an absolute superfan for this novel. Don't expect any level of balanced critique—for me, this was perfect. (I know, I'm shook. too. Who'd have thought a book with a cover like that and a battle-focused concept would live on my shelf of greats.)
Orhan is an engineer. More specifically, a colonel of engineering bridge-builders. He and his team of 4,000 men travel across the Empire building bridges. This is what they do.
When the Empire starts to fall to a cleverly executed and unknown invader, however, Orhan's life as a bridge-builder starts to end. The Empire's navy has been lost to the sea. The military's robust defensive supplies and stores are gone. The 13,000-man army has been massacred. And the walled City is now at risk—with no one to defend it.
To the surprise of literally everyone—including Orhan's own men—Orhan decides he might as well give it a go. Protecting the city, he means. It's either be slaughtered trying to run away, or die quickly while defending a well-built siege city. As a former slave to this same Empire in trouble, it's an odd choice for Orhan to make, but Orhan often makes seemingly odd choices. (Even though he's telling the story, who's to say it's the right one.)
So the siege begins.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is, to put it simply, AWESOME. K.J. Parker is known for his irreverent humor, his wry twists of concept and story arc and unreliable-yet-begrudgingly-likeable narrators. I thought I was a potential fan with Prosper's Demon. I knew I was a fan with Inside Man. And now I'm sure of it—I'm going to read every novel Parker has ever written under this pseudonym. I must!
Don't go into this novel with more background than the above. (It's more fun that way.)
Blog | Instagram
This looped a rope around my ankle and zig-zagged me down the rabbit hole. Hours disappeared as I cackled my way through a bizarre medievalesque alternate fantasy world led but an unreliable and self-deprecating narrator. It was a whirlwind, a masterpiece, a satire, a heist. Can you tell I LOVED it??
Concept: ★★★★
Character: ★★★★★
Sense of Voice: ★★★★★
Witty Humor: ★★★★★
Oooookay. From the lead-in, I hope you gathered that I have completely converted into an absolute superfan for this novel. Don't expect any level of balanced critique—for me, this was perfect. (I know, I'm shook. too. Who'd have thought a book with a cover like that and a battle-focused concept would live on my shelf of greats.)
Orhan is an engineer. More specifically, a colonel of engineering bridge-builders. He and his team of 4,000 men travel across the Empire building bridges. This is what they do.
When the Empire starts to fall to a cleverly executed and unknown invader, however, Orhan's life as a bridge-builder starts to end. The Empire's navy has been lost to the sea. The military's robust defensive supplies and stores are gone. The 13,000-man army has been massacred. And the walled City is now at risk—with no one to defend it.
To the surprise of literally everyone—including Orhan's own men—Orhan decides he might as well give it a go. Protecting the city, he means. It's either be slaughtered trying to run away, or die quickly while defending a well-built siege city. As a former slave to this same Empire in trouble, it's an odd choice for Orhan to make, but Orhan often makes seemingly odd choices. (Even though he's telling the story, who's to say it's the right one.)
So the siege begins.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is, to put it simply, AWESOME. K.J. Parker is known for his irreverent humor, his wry twists of concept and story arc and unreliable-yet-begrudgingly-likeable narrators. I thought I was a potential fan with Prosper's Demon. I knew I was a fan with Inside Man. And now I'm sure of it—I'm going to read every novel Parker has ever written under this pseudonym. I must!
Don't go into this novel with more background than the above. (It's more fun that way.)
Blog | Instagram
February 26, 2021
I liked this book a lot. I found myself totally engrossed in the defense of the City, led by an unlikely hero with an extremely smart mouth. Orhan's narration is funny, and it fits perfectly with the realities of the situation. Under siege, you're dealing with the enemy, sure, but mostly what you're dealing with is the shifting allegiance of your own people.
Some things I really liked:
The world:
On the ending: What a feat.
Some things I really liked:
The world:
On the ending: What a feat.
September 5, 2020
"The worms of the Earth against the lions."
The sweetly realized success of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City really hinges on its witty depiction of the protagonist, Orhan, head of the Imperial army engineers, with all his myriad inconsistencies and personal faults, including an innate cowardice. An outsider, having faced racial discrimination his whole life, he's reluctantly thrust into a position of authority when he'd really rather be building bridges and making gadgets.
The story becomes one of Orhan's ingenuity trying to outfox an enemy army whose troops vastly outnumber his own and buy another day for the citizens of his besieged city. Which, with his engineer's mind, he does in some unorthodox and amusing ways, despite the growing resistance and hatred by the very people he's trying to save. The story takes some unexpected twists and turns, and soon Orhan is confronting old ghosts and is forced to confront a lifetime of suppressed resentments and decide where his loyalties lay and whether he wants to be a worm or a lion.
The sweetly realized success of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City really hinges on its witty depiction of the protagonist, Orhan, head of the Imperial army engineers, with all his myriad inconsistencies and personal faults, including an innate cowardice. An outsider, having faced racial discrimination his whole life, he's reluctantly thrust into a position of authority when he'd really rather be building bridges and making gadgets.
The story becomes one of Orhan's ingenuity trying to outfox an enemy army whose troops vastly outnumber his own and buy another day for the citizens of his besieged city. Which, with his engineer's mind, he does in some unorthodox and amusing ways, despite the growing resistance and hatred by the very people he's trying to save. The story takes some unexpected twists and turns, and soon Orhan is confronting old ghosts and is forced to confront a lifetime of suppressed resentments and decide where his loyalties lay and whether he wants to be a worm or a lion.
April 28, 2019
“According to the books (there’s an extensive literature on the subject) there are fifteen ways to defend a walled city. You can try one of them and, if that doesn’t work...What the books don’t tell you is, there’s a sixteenth way. You can use it when you’ve got nothing; no stuff, no men, and nobody to lead them. Apart from that it’s got nothing to recommend it whatsoever.”
I’ve discovered KJ Parker late in my life, through his brilliant novellas. I became a believer. Brilliant minds impress me and Parker’s books shine with wit, humor, and clever ideas. He doesn’t delve into magic. Instead, he focuses on politics, finances, and logistics of war.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City narrated by Orhan, an engineer turned emperor, tells the story of the Great Siege. The Walled City has poor perspectives, what with thousands of enemies around it, plus lack of food and water. But little things like that won’t stop a Colonel of Engineers.
Orhan colorizes the events and his role in them, but I couldn’t help but root for him. I have a soft spot for cynics, especially when they discover they can still act for a higher good (no matter how stupid and pointless in a longer run). Even when they lie and cheat along the way. Orhan’s actions stem mostly from logic, calculation, and luck. Somehow the fates favor him and allow him to wriggle out of the fix.
The story doesn’t demand a lot of world-building, but we get gives a sense of the current state of affairs at large. Apart from interesting military and personal conflict, Orhan presents also a racial and class differences that divide the society even in the face of almost inevitable doom.
With a steady pacing, solid, lean writing and variety of twists, the novel keeps on surprising the reader, but it doesn’t prepare him for an abrupt ending. What can I say? I wanted more. heck, I still want more.
Highly recommended, especially for readers enjoying sarcastic, witty, irreverent, and unreliable narrators.
September 1, 2019
This is a historical fiction about the siege of Constantinople, masquerading as fantasy, and written as a witty personal account. While the cover praises the author as “one of the fantasy primer voices”, there are no ‘classical’ elements of fantasy present: no magic or magic beasts, no non-human races and no gods, which actively interfere.
The story is narrated by the head of Imperial Engineers, Orhan, who, despite being a slave and milkface (a derogatory term used by blueskin Roburs – a nation equivalent to Byzantians or Romans as they called themselves) due to people dying left and right and being good with his hands was able to rise to quite high positions. After some initial (mis)adventures, he finds out that the imperial army that ought to protect the capital is massacred and his auxiliaries are the only (semi)military group able to organize the defense.
There are a bit of intentionally anachronistic pieces like precise mass produced equipment, which is there I assume as a homage to XX century military fiction that depicts bureaucratic stupidity of the army like Catch-22.
While it is not what I expected from the cover, it was an interesting read with some unexpected twists. The pleasure of reading increases if a reader knows a little of Byzantium history.
An old man I met in the slave camp told me once, always be positive. He died of gangrene, something it’s hard to be positive about, and he spent his last week on earth whimpering, but I’ve always tried to follow his advice, even so.
You know that saying, may the best man win? It doesn’t make sense, when you stop and think about it, it’s nonsense. The best man always wins, because the winner’s always the better man. By definition. It’s that simple. If you beat me, you’re the better man. If I come out on top, I am.c
I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems, and I fix them. I’m an engineer; my answer to any and every problem is a gadget, a trick, a device. I don’t consider the politics or the ethics. If a bridge needs to be built, I rig something up with logs and ropes. If the system is so hopelessly fucked up that I can’t get pay or supplies for my men, I manufacture coins and seals. If the City is threatened with a fate it richly deserves, I modify and improve catapults, improvise armour out of bedlinen, manufacture, sorry, forge (both senses of the word) new communities—fake ones, naturally, authorised by a fake seal. I fix broken people with things, with stuff; with tricks, lies, devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront, I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death.
The story is narrated by the head of Imperial Engineers, Orhan, who, despite being a slave and milkface (a derogatory term used by blueskin Roburs – a nation equivalent to Byzantians or Romans as they called themselves) due to people dying left and right and being good with his hands was able to rise to quite high positions. After some initial (mis)adventures, he finds out that the imperial army that ought to protect the capital is massacred and his auxiliaries are the only (semi)military group able to organize the defense.
There are a bit of intentionally anachronistic pieces like precise mass produced equipment, which is there I assume as a homage to XX century military fiction that depicts bureaucratic stupidity of the army like Catch-22.
While it is not what I expected from the cover, it was an interesting read with some unexpected twists. The pleasure of reading increases if a reader knows a little of Byzantium history.
An old man I met in the slave camp told me once, always be positive. He died of gangrene, something it’s hard to be positive about, and he spent his last week on earth whimpering, but I’ve always tried to follow his advice, even so.
You know that saying, may the best man win? It doesn’t make sense, when you stop and think about it, it’s nonsense. The best man always wins, because the winner’s always the better man. By definition. It’s that simple. If you beat me, you’re the better man. If I come out on top, I am.c
I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems, and I fix them. I’m an engineer; my answer to any and every problem is a gadget, a trick, a device. I don’t consider the politics or the ethics. If a bridge needs to be built, I rig something up with logs and ropes. If the system is so hopelessly fucked up that I can’t get pay or supplies for my men, I manufacture coins and seals. If the City is threatened with a fate it richly deserves, I modify and improve catapults, improvise armour out of bedlinen, manufacture, sorry, forge (both senses of the word) new communities—fake ones, naturally, authorised by a fake seal. I fix broken people with things, with stuff; with tricks, lies, devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront, I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death.
January 19, 2021
A nice diversion from the other two books I am reading. (a Russian novel written and set in the 1930's Soviet Union and a section in a biography of Churchill detailing how the world was going to hell in the 1930's). Told from the perspective of an Imperial engineer who finds himself in defense of the capital city of an Empire loosely based on Rome and Byzantium the story is fast paced and full of (in my opinion) delightful asides and anecdotes. While mostly concerning itself with how to defend the city and keep its unruly population moving towards a common purpose, the story also examines systemic racism and the immorality of Empire.
This book is certainly not for everyone as I could easily see the writing style and main character being off putting for some folks. He is definitely a curmudgeon and most of the prose is his internal thoughts or observations, plus those delightful in-universe historical asides. That style works well for me but is certainly not a one size fits all.
I think what I liked most about the book was all the allusions to Roman or Byzantine society and history. I greatly enjoy reading history and Byzantium has always had a special place in my heart for whatever reason. The way Parker incorporated these elements into his Empire (the Blues and Greens, the well make up of the Imperial Army, the great Theodosian Walls, The Social Wars, the Great Harbor Chain, and so much more) just tickled me pink and I look forward to reading the next book in the universe.
This book is certainly not for everyone as I could easily see the writing style and main character being off putting for some folks. He is definitely a curmudgeon and most of the prose is his internal thoughts or observations, plus those delightful in-universe historical asides. That style works well for me but is certainly not a one size fits all.
I think what I liked most about the book was all the allusions to Roman or Byzantine society and history. I greatly enjoy reading history and Byzantium has always had a special place in my heart for whatever reason. The way Parker incorporated these elements into his Empire (the Blues and Greens, the well make up of the Imperial Army, the great Theodosian Walls, The Social Wars, the Great Harbor Chain, and so much more) just tickled me pink and I look forward to reading the next book in the universe.
November 12, 2020
A really hard book to rate. I loved many things about it - the low fantasy (no magic, or non-human creatures, basically an alternative siege of Constantinople history), the personal account, lots of dialogue, the strategy adventure, the unreliable narrator literary device.
But many things didn’t work. The humor was cringeworthy and awkward, juvenile even. The tone in the book is meant to be smug and humorous, because our narrator Orhan thinks he’s funny, but he’s really not, and unfortunately it sounds like the writer thinks Orhan is funny, too, so I can’t even chalk it up to the character himself. The binary story of the blue skinned hating on the green skinned and vice versa (white and dark skinned, if you hadn’t guessed), felt simplistic and lacked nuance, too many happy coincidenses, too many things going wrong but no one really cares. And then the actual fact that the story clearly makes Orhan out to be an unreliable narrator to the point where he says it himself in the end.
The problem is, I didn’t buy his unreliability at all. He comes off a bit of a shit, a weasel, a coward, but what exactly is he being unreliable about? His bloated ego? He’s fairly upfront about that. He writes this account of the battle to his friend on the opposit side of the battlefield, but wouldn’t Orhan be painting a much better image of himself if he really wanted him on his side? He doesn’t, he even says he can’t be trusted with anything, though this we don’t actually see any evidence of. When I think unreliable narrator there has to be a clear difference between what the narrator believes, or narrates, and what we as readers can see is the actual state of affairs, and I just didn’t see any discrepancy there. An unreliable narrator isn’t someone who claims to be that but then isn’t really being unreliable about anything.
So, three stars for all the elements, I just wish they had congealed into a better working story.
But many things didn’t work. The humor was cringeworthy and awkward, juvenile even. The tone in the book is meant to be smug and humorous, because our narrator Orhan thinks he’s funny, but he’s really not, and unfortunately it sounds like the writer thinks Orhan is funny, too, so I can’t even chalk it up to the character himself. The binary story of the blue skinned hating on the green skinned and vice versa (white and dark skinned, if you hadn’t guessed), felt simplistic and lacked nuance, too many happy coincidenses, too many things going wrong but no one really cares. And then the actual fact that the story clearly makes Orhan out to be an unreliable narrator to the point where he says it himself in the end.
The problem is, I didn’t buy his unreliability at all. He comes off a bit of a shit, a weasel, a coward, but what exactly is he being unreliable about? His bloated ego? He’s fairly upfront about that. He writes this account of the battle to his friend on the opposit side of the battlefield, but wouldn’t Orhan be painting a much better image of himself if he really wanted him on his side? He doesn’t, he even says he can’t be trusted with anything, though this we don’t actually see any evidence of. When I think unreliable narrator there has to be a clear difference between what the narrator believes, or narrates, and what we as readers can see is the actual state of affairs, and I just didn’t see any discrepancy there. An unreliable narrator isn’t someone who claims to be that but then isn’t really being unreliable about anything.
So, three stars for all the elements, I just wish they had congealed into a better working story.
December 30, 2019
The title is a bit misleading, there is no explanation about each way to defend a walled city. (doh!)
But from the title we can get the idea and expectation about the novel, and it is pretty accurate: It is a low fantasy about defending a walled city. We can expect humors as per we can expect fromTom Holt K. J. Parker. Well, with this author, we can already expect some things, and if you already familiar with author's other works, you don't need to read my next paragraph and just read the book.
There are many interesting characters, plot twists, and some technical terms that made this novel has some feel like The A-Team or MacGyver story. The combination made this book is good.
Why not five star? Well, it is not my best read of low fantasy so far, due to one part. But overall this book is still a good entertaining novel.
But from the title we can get the idea and expectation about the novel, and it is pretty accurate: It is a low fantasy about defending a walled city. We can expect humors as per we can expect from
There are many interesting characters, plot twists, and some technical terms that made this novel has some feel like The A-Team or MacGyver story. The combination made this book is good.
Why not five star? Well, it is not my best read of low fantasy so far, due to one part. But overall this book is still a good entertaining novel.
July 3, 2020
A wise man once said, it's not the despair that destroys you, it's the hope.
This was an absolutely brilliant read! I've always had a bit of a soft spot for a clever yet flawed underdog protagonist, who unreliably narrates his own story - Orhan, Colonel of Engineers was an excellent main character:
'My belief is, either you understand things or you understand people. Nobody can do both. Frankly, I'm happier with things. I understand stuff like tensile strength, shearing force, ductility, work hardening, stress fatigue. I know the same sort of things happen with people, but the rules are subtly different. And nobody's ever paid for my time to get to know about people.'
Each page of Orhan's story had me chuckling out loud at some wry observation or witty exchange of dialogue - I underlined sooo many passages in my Kindle.
I guess I'm joining the K.J. Parker fan club :-)
This was an absolutely brilliant read! I've always had a bit of a soft spot for a clever yet flawed underdog protagonist, who unreliably narrates his own story - Orhan, Colonel of Engineers was an excellent main character:
'My belief is, either you understand things or you understand people. Nobody can do both. Frankly, I'm happier with things. I understand stuff like tensile strength, shearing force, ductility, work hardening, stress fatigue. I know the same sort of things happen with people, but the rules are subtly different. And nobody's ever paid for my time to get to know about people.'
Each page of Orhan's story had me chuckling out loud at some wry observation or witty exchange of dialogue - I underlined sooo many passages in my Kindle.
I guess I'm joining the K.J. Parker fan club :-)
September 24, 2020
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2020/09/...
“…as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it.”
I have put off reading this book. I didn’t want to do it. The reason isn’t what you probably expect. You see, K.J. Parker is my favorite author, and I always have issues when reading his books, because I don’t want them to end. The best way to keep a book from ending? Don’t start it.
My logic is flawless.
Anyway, I decided enough was enough. It was time for me to get a move on and read this book already.
I personally think Parker’s strong suit as an author are his shorter works. His novellas never cease to amaze me, but I also love his novels. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is a novel in every respect, and I honestly think it’s probably one of his best published works to date. Everything I love about Parker is evident in this book, from his understated sarcasm, to his unique world, complex moral dilemmas, and that delightful gray area he loves to play around in so much.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is told via first person perspective by one Orhan. Orhan is an incredibly unreliable narrator, which Parker seems to excel at creating. In this sort of Byzantine-feeling world, the Robur people are the dominant ones, and Orhan basically is an outsider, the only “barbarian” or “milkface” of moderate rank in the Imperial army. This interesting tension between his Robur overlords and Orhan himself is very prominent throughout the book, and cleverly played upon. Orhan’s wit and sarcasm really serve him well, making him a rather caustic figure but also impossible to look away from.
“Of the people, by the people, for the people. I can’t remember offhand where that quote comes from; it was something to do with some bunch of wild-eyed idealists overthrowing the tyrant so they could become tyrants themselves. No good will have come of it, you can be sure. The people; God help us.”
Orhan is an engineer, and through a series of really bad events, he has to figure out how to defend a city from an unknown invading enemy that is mercilessly laying waste to basically whatever they set their sights on. Calling upon all of his talent and wit, he makes all sorts of interesting contraptions to keep the city defensible. He does some pretty horrible things throughout the book which might make any reader who isn’t familiar with Parker balk, but it’s all part of who Orhan is, and part of Parker’s style. This whole thing where people do horrible things in the name of whatever is not new to this book. It’s sort of a forte of Parker’s, and I like to think it’s part of how he dabbles with issues of morality as he writes.
As I’ve said above, Orhan is an unreliable narrator, and there are a few reasons for this. First, he is unashamedly out for himself. Whatever furthers him and his goals is just fine by him. He has no qualms with doing horrible things if they end up working toward his own desired end. Secondly, his public image is incredibly important to him, so he often tells stories through the lens of someone trying to sell his image to others. Think of him as a used car salesman. He’s both the salesman and the car in that particular scenario. While I tend to struggle with unreliable narrators, it’s mostly due to the writing of them. I think writing a really good unreliable narrator is extremely difficult, and Parker basically gives a masterclass on how to write one in this book.
“The way I see it, the truth is just barren moorland, all useless bog and heather. It’s only when you break it up and turn it over with the ploughshare of the Good Lie that you can screw a livelihood out of it. Isn’t that what humans do? They take a dead landscape and reshape it into what they need, and want, and can use. I’ve never hesitated to adapt the world to suit me, when I can get away with it.”
With all of Parker’s books, I tend to read them with one eye focused on the story, and the other eye focused on whatever he’s not saying. For example, there are parts of this book which distinctly reminded me of some current day, real world events. There are some parts that made me examine said events in a bit of a different light. Parker has a way with evening out the playing field, while caustically throwing shade at certain people/events/issues, and I really love that about him. His books work on multiple levels, and readers who enjoy trying to puzzle out cues and inferring things will probably really enjoy this one. There’s a lot here, from a story that’s just absolutely captivating and impossible to put down, to all those delightful layers that Parker works so well.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is set in a sort of Byzantine-ish empire which, as it happens, is the perfect place to set a siege. There isn’t a whole lot of worldbuilding here, but there doesn’t need to be. I think this book is more of a human story, set against a cityscape backdrop, steeped in empire. It’s more important that the people and ideas shine than the nuances of the larger world.
Parker knows what he’s talking about with all things military. Quite frankly, a lot of the details blew my mind. They were interesting and so intricate. Nothing is overlooked; no stone left unturned. While I’m not really a person who enjoys long, drawn out battles, that’s basically what this book is, and I ended up loving it. Partly because I was just fascinated by all these details, all this information that he so carefully inserted into his narrative, but also because, throughout the book, he’s sprinkled in these bits of wisdom and insight that just astounded me. So perfectly worded, with the ability to strike right to my soul and cut to the quick of any particular scene. This book tells a story, but it also, in some really unique Parker-esque way, shines a light onto conflict and the human condition. I didn’t really expect the marriage of all those elements to work as well as they did, but boy howdy, Parker really got all the cogs in this machine to work flawlessly.
“Being, in my own small way, a part of Authority, it never ceases to amaze me how much people believe in it and trust it. I see it from the inside, of course—inefficiencies, stupidities, corruption, bloody-minded ignorance and simple lack of resources to cope with the magnitude of the endless, ever-multiplying problems. But other people see it from the outside. They see the Land Walls. They see the emperor’s head on the coins, with Victory on the reverse. They see the temples. They see soldiers in shining armour. They see, and they believe, that the empire is big, strong, wise, unbeatable.”
The book was almost over as soon as I started reading it because it was impossible to put down. From the plot, to the prose, everything is *chef’s kiss*. Really, however, it was Orhan’s voice that was the icing on this particular cake. He’s one of the most unique narrators that I’ve come across in a while, with an unforgettable story to tell. He paints everything that happens in a cynical light, and still, I just couldn’t look away. He’s so incredibly, unashamedly human, and Parker shows all of him to his readers: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it, but I didn’t want it to end, so I decided it’s better to just not start it. Now, there’s another book out following this one and I’m halfway thinking I might turn a hundred before I get myself to read it. Parker is an author whose books I savor. I sip them slowly, and enjoy every word, every character, every nuance. I let them settle into my sinew and make a home in my bones. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is amongst his best work.
“…as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it.”
I have put off reading this book. I didn’t want to do it. The reason isn’t what you probably expect. You see, K.J. Parker is my favorite author, and I always have issues when reading his books, because I don’t want them to end. The best way to keep a book from ending? Don’t start it.
My logic is flawless.
Anyway, I decided enough was enough. It was time for me to get a move on and read this book already.
I personally think Parker’s strong suit as an author are his shorter works. His novellas never cease to amaze me, but I also love his novels. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is a novel in every respect, and I honestly think it’s probably one of his best published works to date. Everything I love about Parker is evident in this book, from his understated sarcasm, to his unique world, complex moral dilemmas, and that delightful gray area he loves to play around in so much.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is told via first person perspective by one Orhan. Orhan is an incredibly unreliable narrator, which Parker seems to excel at creating. In this sort of Byzantine-feeling world, the Robur people are the dominant ones, and Orhan basically is an outsider, the only “barbarian” or “milkface” of moderate rank in the Imperial army. This interesting tension between his Robur overlords and Orhan himself is very prominent throughout the book, and cleverly played upon. Orhan’s wit and sarcasm really serve him well, making him a rather caustic figure but also impossible to look away from.
“Of the people, by the people, for the people. I can’t remember offhand where that quote comes from; it was something to do with some bunch of wild-eyed idealists overthrowing the tyrant so they could become tyrants themselves. No good will have come of it, you can be sure. The people; God help us.”
Orhan is an engineer, and through a series of really bad events, he has to figure out how to defend a city from an unknown invading enemy that is mercilessly laying waste to basically whatever they set their sights on. Calling upon all of his talent and wit, he makes all sorts of interesting contraptions to keep the city defensible. He does some pretty horrible things throughout the book which might make any reader who isn’t familiar with Parker balk, but it’s all part of who Orhan is, and part of Parker’s style. This whole thing where people do horrible things in the name of whatever is not new to this book. It’s sort of a forte of Parker’s, and I like to think it’s part of how he dabbles with issues of morality as he writes.
As I’ve said above, Orhan is an unreliable narrator, and there are a few reasons for this. First, he is unashamedly out for himself. Whatever furthers him and his goals is just fine by him. He has no qualms with doing horrible things if they end up working toward his own desired end. Secondly, his public image is incredibly important to him, so he often tells stories through the lens of someone trying to sell his image to others. Think of him as a used car salesman. He’s both the salesman and the car in that particular scenario. While I tend to struggle with unreliable narrators, it’s mostly due to the writing of them. I think writing a really good unreliable narrator is extremely difficult, and Parker basically gives a masterclass on how to write one in this book.
“The way I see it, the truth is just barren moorland, all useless bog and heather. It’s only when you break it up and turn it over with the ploughshare of the Good Lie that you can screw a livelihood out of it. Isn’t that what humans do? They take a dead landscape and reshape it into what they need, and want, and can use. I’ve never hesitated to adapt the world to suit me, when I can get away with it.”
With all of Parker’s books, I tend to read them with one eye focused on the story, and the other eye focused on whatever he’s not saying. For example, there are parts of this book which distinctly reminded me of some current day, real world events. There are some parts that made me examine said events in a bit of a different light. Parker has a way with evening out the playing field, while caustically throwing shade at certain people/events/issues, and I really love that about him. His books work on multiple levels, and readers who enjoy trying to puzzle out cues and inferring things will probably really enjoy this one. There’s a lot here, from a story that’s just absolutely captivating and impossible to put down, to all those delightful layers that Parker works so well.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is set in a sort of Byzantine-ish empire which, as it happens, is the perfect place to set a siege. There isn’t a whole lot of worldbuilding here, but there doesn’t need to be. I think this book is more of a human story, set against a cityscape backdrop, steeped in empire. It’s more important that the people and ideas shine than the nuances of the larger world.
Parker knows what he’s talking about with all things military. Quite frankly, a lot of the details blew my mind. They were interesting and so intricate. Nothing is overlooked; no stone left unturned. While I’m not really a person who enjoys long, drawn out battles, that’s basically what this book is, and I ended up loving it. Partly because I was just fascinated by all these details, all this information that he so carefully inserted into his narrative, but also because, throughout the book, he’s sprinkled in these bits of wisdom and insight that just astounded me. So perfectly worded, with the ability to strike right to my soul and cut to the quick of any particular scene. This book tells a story, but it also, in some really unique Parker-esque way, shines a light onto conflict and the human condition. I didn’t really expect the marriage of all those elements to work as well as they did, but boy howdy, Parker really got all the cogs in this machine to work flawlessly.
“Being, in my own small way, a part of Authority, it never ceases to amaze me how much people believe in it and trust it. I see it from the inside, of course—inefficiencies, stupidities, corruption, bloody-minded ignorance and simple lack of resources to cope with the magnitude of the endless, ever-multiplying problems. But other people see it from the outside. They see the Land Walls. They see the emperor’s head on the coins, with Victory on the reverse. They see the temples. They see soldiers in shining armour. They see, and they believe, that the empire is big, strong, wise, unbeatable.”
The book was almost over as soon as I started reading it because it was impossible to put down. From the plot, to the prose, everything is *chef’s kiss*. Really, however, it was Orhan’s voice that was the icing on this particular cake. He’s one of the most unique narrators that I’ve come across in a while, with an unforgettable story to tell. He paints everything that happens in a cynical light, and still, I just couldn’t look away. He’s so incredibly, unashamedly human, and Parker shows all of him to his readers: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it, but I didn’t want it to end, so I decided it’s better to just not start it. Now, there’s another book out following this one and I’m halfway thinking I might turn a hundred before I get myself to read it. Parker is an author whose books I savor. I sip them slowly, and enjoy every word, every character, every nuance. I let them settle into my sinew and make a home in my bones. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is amongst his best work.
July 28, 2019
4.5 stars
I shook my head. “I’m not a court of law,” I said. “I’m not bound to do what’s just, or what’s right, or what’s in the interests of the human race. If I was, you’d be warming your hands by a nice big fire right now. But I’m not. And I reserve the right to be wrong, if I choose to be.”
This is my story, and if I choose to make myself look as good as I think I can get away with, why not?
I shook my head. “I’m not a court of law,” I said. “I’m not bound to do what’s just, or what’s right, or what’s in the interests of the human race. If I was, you’d be warming your hands by a nice big fire right now. But I’m not. And I reserve the right to be wrong, if I choose to be.”
This is my story, and if I choose to make myself look as good as I think I can get away with, why not?
May 15, 2023
Definitely an acquired taste. But I thought this was brilliant
December 13, 2022
Loved it.
For starters the title of the book was an excellent hook for getting my interest after a life in engineering, and as someone who still likes to tinker with and make gadgets. Of course I wanted to know about siegecraft skills and defending a walled city!
And it turned out to be an excellent read. A well told, first person, sharp, cynical and witty commentary by an officer of an Empire engineering regiment reluctantly forced into the defence of a major city as the Empire is attacked. The officer, Orhan, is a ‘whiteface’, a second class citizen in a culture dominated by ‘bluefaces’, so there are prejudices to be overcome too.
There’s a fair bit of casual discussion on the practical engineering issues he faces. But the story grows far beyond that. Although Orhan is a guy who loves engineering, loves his job, he hasn’t thought much about his role in this oppressive empire. Should he be helping an empire that has shown him contempt in the past? Who are the ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’? There are moments where he’s forced to consider this, which raises the story above an adventure tale about a siege.
There are twists, there’s excitement and intrigue. No magic. A one off book on this subject with a clear conclusion. Lovely dialogue too.
Sufficiently enjoyable that I’m going to check out more by this author.
REREAD 3 years on from the first:
Just as enjoyable for this reread as it was for the first read when this book introduced me to the author three years ago. It helped I’d forgotten large chunks of the plot but I also appreciated the extra depth I obtained from it this second time. Maybe I should reread favourites more often.
The narrator, Orhan, a colonel of engineers, reluctantly defending the capital city of the empire he serves, seemed even more conflicted and complicated than I recall. He really does see that the system he serves is unjust, prejudiced, and cruel to those outside, those it’s conquered. But he’s part of it despite being from one of the subjugated peoples and appreciates aspects of its civilisation and enjoys the opportunity it gave him to be a geeky engineer of modest status. The continual conflict he has between serving the empire, which includes many people he dislikes and a few he likes, and seeing its unjust and cruel nature, is truly poignant.
At the time of my first read I thought this book was a stand-alone but two other volumes linked to this storyline appeared subsequently. It resolved one aspect I was slightly uncomfortable with - that Orhan as an outsider is a ‘milkface’ and the Robur Empire he serves are predominately ‘bluefaces’ (I guess derived from the Viking name for those with darker skin hues than their own). If you’re from Europe or the US it can seem awkward that the prejudice explored here is based on pale skins being viewed as savages by those with darker skins. However, the third volume of this series reverses that racial scenario, with the lead character, an intelligent junior diplomat for the Roburs based in a distant posting, surrounded by pale skinned people who regard him as a savage! And they underestimate him to their serious disadvantage as a result. All in all, I believe the authors handling of the prejudice aspect in the storyline throughout the series to be excellent though this third volume made me more comfortable that you could feel it was relevant to our world too.
Once again, I recommend this book as an excellent introduction to the works of K.J. Parker if you’ve not been seduced by them thus far.
For starters the title of the book was an excellent hook for getting my interest after a life in engineering, and as someone who still likes to tinker with and make gadgets. Of course I wanted to know about siegecraft skills and defending a walled city!
And it turned out to be an excellent read. A well told, first person, sharp, cynical and witty commentary by an officer of an Empire engineering regiment reluctantly forced into the defence of a major city as the Empire is attacked. The officer, Orhan, is a ‘whiteface’, a second class citizen in a culture dominated by ‘bluefaces’, so there are prejudices to be overcome too.
There’s a fair bit of casual discussion on the practical engineering issues he faces. But the story grows far beyond that. Although Orhan is a guy who loves engineering, loves his job, he hasn’t thought much about his role in this oppressive empire. Should he be helping an empire that has shown him contempt in the past? Who are the ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’? There are moments where he’s forced to consider this, which raises the story above an adventure tale about a siege.
There are twists, there’s excitement and intrigue. No magic. A one off book on this subject with a clear conclusion. Lovely dialogue too.
Sufficiently enjoyable that I’m going to check out more by this author.
REREAD 3 years on from the first:
Just as enjoyable for this reread as it was for the first read when this book introduced me to the author three years ago. It helped I’d forgotten large chunks of the plot but I also appreciated the extra depth I obtained from it this second time. Maybe I should reread favourites more often.
The narrator, Orhan, a colonel of engineers, reluctantly defending the capital city of the empire he serves, seemed even more conflicted and complicated than I recall. He really does see that the system he serves is unjust, prejudiced, and cruel to those outside, those it’s conquered. But he’s part of it despite being from one of the subjugated peoples and appreciates aspects of its civilisation and enjoys the opportunity it gave him to be a geeky engineer of modest status. The continual conflict he has between serving the empire, which includes many people he dislikes and a few he likes, and seeing its unjust and cruel nature, is truly poignant.
At the time of my first read I thought this book was a stand-alone but two other volumes linked to this storyline appeared subsequently. It resolved one aspect I was slightly uncomfortable with - that Orhan as an outsider is a ‘milkface’ and the Robur Empire he serves are predominately ‘bluefaces’ (I guess derived from the Viking name for those with darker skin hues than their own). If you’re from Europe or the US it can seem awkward that the prejudice explored here is based on pale skins being viewed as savages by those with darker skins. However, the third volume of this series reverses that racial scenario, with the lead character, an intelligent junior diplomat for the Roburs based in a distant posting, surrounded by pale skinned people who regard him as a savage! And they underestimate him to their serious disadvantage as a result. All in all, I believe the authors handling of the prejudice aspect in the storyline throughout the series to be excellent though this third volume made me more comfortable that you could feel it was relevant to our world too.
Once again, I recommend this book as an excellent introduction to the works of K.J. Parker if you’ve not been seduced by them thus far.
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