The City in Glass takes place in a city called Azril, and follows an angel and a demon called Vitrine. The story begins with the angel arriving to burn the city to the ground. Vitrine curses him to remain on earth, and we stay with them as they both watch the ruins repopulate and fall and rise again over the centuries. Nghi Vo crafts a beautiful narrative with very little plot, only a series of moments taking place throughout Azril’s history.
The book feels slow paced and dreamlike, with episodic chapters that vary between flashbacks and side quests. Vo takes us to stories of Vitrine’s life with the city before it fell, such as one memorable sequence where she pays an artist to capture all of Azril’s good and bad parts, as she cannot be everywhere at once. Another part that stood out was Vitrine’s encounter with a crane turned into a human girl, and when Vitrine challenges the angel to cut off his own wings.
This story reminded me of the 2019 classic This Is How You Lose the Time War, with its exquisite imagery, non-linear plot and the changing relationship between the two main characters. There is a very slow-paced romance hidden in the narrative, but it’s clear that Vitrine loves Azril more than anything (or anyone) else. Vo’s descriptions of the city are extravagant, beautiful and cyclic; history keeps repeating itself with tragedies like war and plague, but Azril always pulls through. This book isn’t cosy fantasy, per se, but to anyone who wants a low-stakes and relaxing read, The City in Glass is an excellent choice.
Reviewed by Rachel Denham-White
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award.
Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan.
She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.
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