Ian Whates is a manically busy man. He has written dozens of short stories, published several novels, and has edited several anthologies. He runs his own publishing company, NewConn Press, though his work has also been published by Angry Robot and Solaris. As if that’s not enough, he is also a director and Chairman of the British Science Fiction Association. Ian’s novel City of Dreams & Nightmare was included in Read More

City of Dreams and Nightmares by Ian Whates

Thaiburley is a sprawling city carved into a towering mountain. For everyone but the privileged few that live in the upper rows, Thaiburley is a city of nightmares. Those that live in the City Below do their best to survive gangs and poverty, sometimes scavenging the scraps thrown down from the heights. Street-nicks like Tom, on the other hand, take what they need.

When Tom, who has a knack for stealth, leaves the lower levels to spend a night exploring the City Above, he is shocked to witness arkademic Magnus murdering his protégé. Fleeing from the murderous arkademic, Tom is nearly caught by Tylus, a Kite Guard. Tom escapes, only to fall off one of the highest walls in Thaiburley. Fortunately, Tom is saved from death by a group of netters, but he finds himself lost in the City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian Whates’ first novel about The Cit... Read More

City of Hope and Despair by Ian Whates

In City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian Whates introduced us to Thaiburley, a mountain city where the rich literally live at the top of the mountain and the poor make do in the City Below. When Tom, a street-nick with a burgeoning gift for magic, ran afoul of a scheming arkademic, Magnus, he only just managed to escape being killed at the hands of Magnus’ versatile assassin, Dewar. Give credit where it’s due, Tom survived thanks to Kat, a girl who is pretty deadly when armed with her twin short swords. By the end of City of Dreams and Nightmares, readers might have expected to see Tom leave the city below in order to enter the upper echelons of the arkademics and politics. However, throughout City of Hope and Despair, Whates chooses to take the road less taken.

In fact, Whates’ first order of bu... Read More

City of Light & Shadow by Ian Whates

Ian Whates’ City of Light & Shadow is the third novel in the CITY OF A HUNDRED ROWS series. The series title refers to Thaiburley, a city of rows built on top of each other. The lowest rows are plagued by gang violence while the well-intentioned leaders at the Heights do their best to keep order. The previous novel, City of Hope & Despair, relied on its supporting cast of assassins and gang leaders to drive the plot forward. Here, our not-quite-a-chosen-one hero, Tom, takes center stage.

Tom is an adolescent uniquely blessed with the power to save the city from the corruption of the goddess Thaiss’ evil brother. We learn that this brother has corrupted the source of arkademic power — the core — in the city, and now people are dying of bone flu while Rust Warriors and Demons take over Thaibu... Read More