Discovering Lucernis – Do you feel the grime under your nails yet?

[Justine]

We're introduced to several of the districts in the sprawling city of Lucernis, including the Foreigner's Quarter, Silk Street, the charnel grounds, Jacos Road, and the Spindles.

– Have you gotten a good feel for the world we've been dropped into?
– How do you feel about McClung's portrayal of the settings he has crafted?

[AB]

I wish there was a map. I love maps in fantasy books!

[Jason]

AB wrote: "I wish there was a map. I love maps in fantasy books!"

I'd love a map too, and because like you I love maps in fantasy books.

[Jason]

So in general yeah I'm digging this setting so far. It feels pretty grimy but maybe that's because we haven't really seen the nicer parts of town yet.

The fact that you could get kicked out of the City of The Dead and end up in the charnel grounds for not paying your rent was a cool twist.

I'm hoping we get to see and explore the whole city by the time the book is done.

[Peyton]

I do have a good feel, although I don’t fully remember all of those locations by name, lol.

I live the way things were described. They were very easy to imagine and the setting itself seems amazing. I’d want to go there if it weren’t for the murders, demons, cursed golden toads, and grim.

[William]

I could have used more cultural signposts early on. It was hard to tell what century it was a parallel to, and that made it hard to fill in some of the descriptive gaps. Is Lucernis like the Roman Empire? Is it medieval? Is it modernish? How do they heat their homes? What sort of clothes do they wear? Nothing relevant to the plot, but it was quite a ways in before I had a clear idea on some of those lesser details.

[Peter]

Yes and it is so intriguing! I love urban fantasy and McClung's description of this city really hits home - I have had some issues what the city parallels to but that is what makes fantasy so cool - the gradual reveal of things.

From what I have read so far, it was fairly to easy imagine this City - it seems so grand in places but horrible in others (like Amra's). As mentioned I love urban fantasy!

[natrosette]

I agree with William in that I'm having a hard time imagining the city because I'm not sure of the relative time period or really the type of world we're in. That being said, I do appreciate that we've got to see so many different sides of Lucernis so far, which makes it feel more like a real place.