First published 2005
New Crobuzon burns. War rages with the distant city-state of Tesh while riots consume the streets. A masked figure leads strange uprisings as violence spreads through unexpected corners of the decaying metropolis. The teeming city fractures under pressure from enemies abroad and revolutionaries at home. Treachery festers in the shadows. A small band of renegades abandons the chaos, fleeing across alien landscapes in search of something lost. They traverse strange continents while their home city bleeds. Behind them, whispers speak of the iron council. The rebels carry desperate hope through a world where war and revolution have shattered the old order. Their journey leads them far from the familiar squalor of New Crobuzon into territories that challenge everything they know. As their city faces its most perilous moment, these fugitives must decide what they will sacrifice for the possibility of change.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, adventure, fantasy
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, fugitives
Setting: New Crobuzon, Tesh
Period: 21st-century
564 pages · Paperback · Random House Worlds
Content warnings: violence, war