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City of Promise

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 4 ratings · 3 reviews

In the year 2063, Misty Sauval is one of the few surviving vampires residing in the world's only safe haven for them: the independent metropolis of Gideon. Built on pillars rising from the ocean on the Atlantic ridge, Gideon is governed by scientists and maintains light-proof residential buildings and a "work for blood" program. Misty, who doesn't need to breathe, is emplo...more

Paperback, 206 pages

Published August 15th 2012 by By Light Unseen Media

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Feb 19, 2013 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 2 of 5 stars

City of Promise is set in the year 2063. Humanity is aware that they share the planet with vampires and instead of cowering in fear, humans are actively hunting vampires down and killing them. There is a tiny vampire population left and the reside in the metropolis of Gideon. Gideon is "built on pillars rising from the ocean on the Atlantic ridge," and is governed by scientists. The laws governing Gideon squarely favour humans and vampires live as second-class citizens. Misty Suval lives in gove...more City of Promise is set in the year 2063. Humanity is aware that they share the planet with vampires and instead of cowering in fear, humans are actively hunting vampires down and killing them. There is a tiny vampire population left and the reside in the metropolis of Gideon. Gideon is "built on pillars rising from the ocean on the Atlantic ridge," and is governed by scientists. The laws governing Gideon squarely favour humans and vampires live as second-class citizens. Misty Suval lives in government housing unit where there are no units and obtains blood through Gideon's work for blood program. Diving deep into the ocean to do maintenance work for Gideon, Misty stumbles across a dead body and from that moment on, her life is destined to change. When she meets an injured Li and brings home for the day she does not realise that her decision to shelter this human will mean dragging her into the underworld of Gideon.

Many of the characters in City of Promise are of colour and this is something I greatly appreciate because erasure is far too common in this genre. Though the world Prough created was multi-racial, none of the characters experienced inform of oppression based in their race. The only oppression discussed in City of Promise is that which is aimed at vampires. The problem with this is that unlike real marginalized people, humanity has every reason to attempt to control vampires - we are after all their food. Even a futuristic setting is not enough to justify the real erasure that marginalized people face, to instead make a false oppression so central to the plot.

Despite the unique setting, Prough still fell prey to the dead parents trope. We don't know anything really about Misty's human family but we do know that her vampire sires are dead. In many ways their death seemed to be the only way in which Misty's character expressed any depth. Beyond missing her dead sires, and Misty's vampire instincts she really is an empty character. I did however like Misty's comfort with her body and her absolute refusal to starve herself in order to loose a couple of dress sizes. Misty is fit but she is not model skinny and I like that an average size protagonist is comfortable in the skin that she is in.

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Aug 04, 2012 Inanna Arthen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: by-light-unseen-media

Since I'm publishing this book, I can't fairly "review" it. But I can talk about what I like about it, and why I think other readers might enjoy it, as well.

City of Promise drops you into an entirely different world right from the first page. The city of Gideon is a character in its own right, a wholly novel idea. Founded and governed entirely by scientists, there is a hint that it was created as a bastion of rationality in a world of violence and superstition. Gideon is positioned in a part of...more Since I'm publishing this book, I can't fairly "review" it. But I can talk about what I like about it, and why I think other readers might enjoy it, as well.

City of Promise drops you into an entirely different world right from the first page. The city of Gideon is a character in its own right, a wholly novel idea. Founded and governed entirely by scientists, there is a hint that it was created as a bastion of rationality in a world of violence and superstition. Gideon is positioned in a part of the Atlantic ocean where it can never be claimed by any other country. Prough's descriptions of the technology and engineering that make it possible are so plausible, you believe it could be built right now.

In the 1970s, city planners in Boston, Massachusetts proposed a floating extension of the city out into the harbor which would include full-sized buildings, streets and utilities all sitting on the water itself. This ended up not happening for a number of reasons, but the notion of a floating metropolis isn't so far from reality.

Misty Sauval narrates the story in the first person, and immediately caught my emotions; she is essentially an "orphan" and a refugee. Gideon is the only place on earth that accepts vampires as members of society. Misty works at a menial, strenuous job because such jobs exploit vampires' special abilities while keeping them in their place, and they can't complain; she conforms to restrictions in her diet and behavior because the consequences are severe; she's lonely and conflicted. But she's also strong, smart and resourceful, the kind of protagonist we enjoy identifying with.

Vampire stories seldom overlap with science-fiction, although there have been a few such books and movies in recent years. Because the vampire represents immortality for most people, vampire stories generally look backward at the past, rarely into the future. Futuristic vampire tales tend to be dystopian and the vampires more along the lines of ravening zombies. City of Promise combines a science-fiction futuristic setting with sympathetic vampire characters as successfully as I've ever seen it done. I was especially interested because my own novels are realistic contemporary fantasy, and my vampire characters are already looking ahead to how they'll cope in a highly technological world where privacy may be hard to retain. The vampires in City of Promise don't have it easy.

City of Promise is an action-packed tale, so much so that by the last third of the book, I had to stop and remind myself how little time had actually passed, so much had happened. It certainly keeps moving. All the necessary exposition about the fictional universe itself is deftly woven into the narrative. I'd have loved to know more about a lot of it, but that would have slowed the story down. I'm looking forward to Prough's next book.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Naiya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi

In the not-so-distant future, Misty works as a maintenance diver at Gideon, a city floating in the middle of the Atlantic, a haven for the undead. She's good at her job; it helps that she doesn't need to breathe. But during one night dive, she discovers a dead body, weighted and tangled in the nets. In a world where all vampires are one deportation away from execution, Misty wants nothing to do with corpses and criminal investigations. But then she meets Li, a man with a death wish, a dangerous...more

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