Strangers in the High City
A Dwarf steps into a sandy arena...
…iron gates shut behind him...
…those that enslaved him watch from above...
…those that wish to end him approach...
…he lets out a primal roar, eyes glowing red...
…the spectators shudder...
…his combatants brace...
…they do not know who faces them...
…death itself approaches.
An Elf surveys a bloodied battlefield...
...an armored man sits alone, sharping his sword...
…the elf approaches, hands on sheathed daggers...
…the armored man sits silently as the lifeless bodies around him.
A Boy wakes in an strange room...
…warriors of unnatural size stand around him like statues...
…the boy cannot move for he is bound...
…how did he get here...
…what is this pain he feels...
…and what is that voice in his head.
These are tales of the strangers-heroes, villians and innocents locked into a conflict that has reached it's boiling point. Motivated by justice, freedom, peace, and revenge, their paths converge in the High City, a metropolis built for all but meant for few. Can they survive the perils that await, or will they fall victim to the chaos that lurks in every shadow?
Prepare for an epic fantasy adventure that grips from the first page. Get locked into a world of quick paced action, unforgettable characters, and gripping storytelling.-Goodreads
Title: Strangers in the High City
Series: Children of the Lunar Gods #1
Author: J.E. Cabrera
Page Count: 495
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Date Read: August 4th, 2023
Opening
Strangers in the High City was my nineteenth SPFBO-9 read. This one didn't quite make my original top twenty from that list but it was close to doing so. I thought the cover and the blurb booth seemed interesting to me. As with many of my SPFBO-9 TBR I wasn't sure exactly when I'd get to this one. That decision was made easier when Dom from Dominish Books mentioned he had this on his list as well. We decided to do a small buddy read on it together for August. You can find Dom's video review here.
Before I get into my usual three topics, I want to preface this by saying the story and characters from Strangers in the High City were right up my alley! This read and hopefully this story still has a lot of potential in my mind. Unfortunately, the copy that I read from Kindle Unlimited had a lot of editing issues throughout the book. This included sentences back tracking mid point before continuing on and names of characters or other items changing at one point or another during the book. I'm not sure if the version I had was not a final version or if the print had some further updates that didn't make it to the digital or not. I felt it could have used another solid pass through a proofreader for sure. This issue brought my overall rating down a bit. Even with that being said, I still enjoyed this story so much!
Pacing
The pacing was good as far as the story went. We didn't really have any difficult names to get used to. The various editing issues did trip me up several times. Either I'd have to reread something or I found myself looking back at my notes on how a name was spelled previously. This is really where the bulk my rating lost it's points.
World Building
The worldbuilding building was really good. We have a lot going on in this read. We have different regions, cultures, races and fighting styles. There is definitely room to expand this world going forward. But even if that is just diving more into these different cultures and religions alone could be really interesting. There is definitely a good amount of political intrigue going on with Strangers in the High City.
Character Development
The character development was another really strong point to this read. Even though we had some characters introduced at one point or another and then seemly forgotten there were some really memorable ones. And the twists along the way with several characters made things both interesting and enjoyable for me. The ending just blew my mind though!
Closing
In the end I still have high hopes for this series and I hope the authors works gets the necessary editing it truly deserves. As I said there is so much potential there right now. I'd also love to see more of a presence from the author on social media one way or another to interact with. I really couldn't find much in the way of how to communicate with him. In his website's mailing list page was under construction.
As far as recommendations go, if you can deal with the editing issues I mentioned above, there is a really good fantasy story to be enjoyed here. I'll myself will be keeping an eye on this author and series in hopes it continues with that added bit of love going forward.
Scoring
Pacing 3.0 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.5 / 5.0
Character Development 4.5 / 5.0
