Red City, by Marie Lu

As we enter an age of alchemy in the publishing world, there is no better introduction to this genre of fantasy than Marie Lu's Red City. A captivating, intelligant read, built around two main characters who breath life into this underworld of small magics.

From the blurb;

'The first thing they learn about alchemy is that you don't talk about it.

'Alchemy is the magical art of transformation. Marketed as sand, an illegal drug, it transforms users into more perfect versions of themselves. And among the gleaming skyscrapers of Angel City, it's controlled by two rival syndicates. But when two childhood friends choose opposite sides, the city - and their lives - will be irrevocably transformed.

'Sharp-as-a-blade Sam lives in poverty, and she'll do anything to join the Grand Central syndicate and claim a better life. Charismatic Ari is taken from his family as a boy to train as a Lumines apprentice - and will become one of his side's brightest stars. Each will abandon the other to pursue their ambitions.

'For years, Grand Central and Lumines have balanced on a razor's edge between polite negotiation and outright war. But when Sam and Ari step into that delicate equation, the stakes change and this generations-old rivalry intensifies. They might have loved one another once, but will either survive the escalating conflict to come?'

Red City is a contemporary novel, painting the idea of an underworld of Alchemy that holds power over every government, every person of influance, every global fincial interest. All while remaining unseen. With true mafiosa under tones, we are thrown into warring fractions, seeking to be on top with very little care for the people they must use up to get there.

Ari is controlled by his love for his family, while Sam is desperate to change her own stars, but each thinks they have a chance of making a name for themselves. Each falls for the glamour and power of Alchemy, and through a novel in three parts with secrets unravelling and plot twists to take your breath away, Marie Lu quickly brings you into the heart of their seperate worlds and makes you care about their individual fates while keeping you too torn to choose a winner.

Red City opens with a young Ari and a young Sam. Despite their differences a budding friendship quickly forms. Ari has a secret, which stops their friendship from escaping the refinmments of their shared space in school, but this secret also stops him from seeing the slow change in Sam, in the shift that brings her own secrets to the table, and before they know it these secrets tear them apart.

As we enter the second part of Red City we see a leap in time, and in individual power, Sam has made a name for herself, both for her ability and for her sudden appearance in a world that should have remained uneaccessible for her, meanwhile Ari has become the person of influance he has striven to be. When they realise who one another are, and that they are on opposing sides, the cracks in their worlds begin to show and character and reader become one in their knowledge.

In true Marie Lu fashion though any reader would be a fool to think the suprises have all been uncovered by the end of part two, because before the final action of part three Lu makes sure to hit readers with a plot twist both shocking and heart rending, brining a new level of weight to the world she has painted.

Red City will keep you gripped throughout and leave you eager for more.

We Give Red City Five Stars

First published 2025 by TomDoherty Associates / Tor Publishing Group

ISBN - 978-1-0350-7941-4

Hard Cover Price - £22.00