Saving a City (& Intergalactic War) | The City We Became

photo: hachettebookgroup.com

Spend too much time in a city and you'll become one. This, at least, is the danger for me: I fall in love with places much more easily than I do people. Cities, especially. I've written love poems about them, that somethingness they have at night, the way their towers gleam, how I love even their rats, scuttling along the underground tunnels.

This has only happened to me in London, but every time I visit NYC I can feel a similar energy pulse, threatening to consume me. What if we really could become cities? What if you were so attached, so close, to a city, that it chose you?

In The City We Became, NYC is about to come alive. Literally. When cities reach a certain stage, they literally come to life and chose someone from the city to represent them, take on their power, and protect them. In the case of NYC, there are six - one avatar chosen for each of the five boroughs and a primary avatar who represents the whole city.

But like any birth, there can be complications. NYC is only one of billions, trillions, of cities - and they're all fighting in intergalactic space for occupancy. When one interloper invades NYC and threatens its survival, the avatars have to work together if they're to make it out alive.

What I love about Jemisin is the naturalness of her characters. She makes it normal for major characters to hail from different cultures, races, backgrounds, sexual identities, and genders. She's writing about NYC. NYC is one of the most diverse places on earth, and this book reflects that without feeling forced or purposeful. She's writing the city - this is what the city is.

Is this as masterful as Jemisin's other works? No. Does that stop it from being a fun read? Absolutely not.

It's like a Marvel film brought to the page only better, and it's also a love letter to NYC. It combines my favorite trope as well, which is a group of people coming together to tackle the same obstacle/chase a common dream/encourage each other's journey. Really, there wasn't much for me to dislike.

This is only set to be a trilogy but I now need stories for every great city that's part of this universe. (Some side notes: I now think the city of São Paulo is super sexy. I don't know much about the history/vibe of each NYC borough but I have to say, after reading this book, I think Staten Island is the worst.)

8/10 📕