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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

The Siege, Book 1

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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

By: K. J. Parker
Narrated by: Ray Sawyer
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About this listen

 'Full of invention and ingenuity . . . Great fun' - SFX

'Parker's settings and characterisations never miss a beat' - Publishers Weekly

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten.

***

Other books by K.J. Parker:

Fencer Trilogy
The Colours in the Steel
The Belly of the Bow
The Proof House

Scavenger Trilogy
Shadow
Pattern
Memory

Engineer Trilogy
Devices and Desires
Evil for Evil
The Escapement

Two of Swords
The Two of Swords: Part 1
The Two of Swords: Part 2
The Two of Swords: Part 3

Novels
The Company
The Folding Knife
The Hammer
Sharps©2019 One Reluctant Lemming Co Ltd. Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Siege

Critic Reviews

Full of invention and ingenuity . . . Great fun
There's a mordant wit to the workings of Parker's mind (TIME OUT)
Parker's skilful control of pacing, expert rendering of characters, and subtle sense of humour add depth and believability (LIBRARY JOURNAL)
Parker's acerbic wit and knowledge of human nature are a delight to read (RT BOOK REVIEWS)
All stars
Most relevant
Tremendous story redolent with cynicism and maybe not everyone’s cup of tea. Narration was perfect. Loved how he pillaged history.

Totally brilliant in every way

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However, to make sure this book is read I must review it. You should read this book.

I'm not reviewer, Just a reader

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Firstly, the performance is spot on, if you enjoy British humour. No jokes, just dry observation. The audio quality is great too. Secondly, as far as I’m aware it’s a pretty well researched analogy of Constantinople. Some may get hung up on the idea and accent of a British man in charge there, but I was able to go along with it.

Dry as WACA pitch

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despite himself you grow to like orhan. he doesn't save the city so much as he has to drag it kicking and screaming despite itself.

great listen

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I first heard Parker in an anthology recently. I would like to read more of this story or theme.

Hidden Gem

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the narrator has the voice and tone down pat, it greatly enhanced the conversational writing style. (for a comparison of the conversation/man round the campfire style think Terry Pratchett's discworld novels, where the narrator will go of on a natural tangent to expand on a topic before snapping back to the momentum)

Many interesting twists I shant spoil,

if I was forced to find a flaw, and I do mean really forced, maybe more dialogue between characters, as they were really great.
or perhaps a better view of the world we were in. I suppose a map would have been a nice grounding pin.

overall though I don't regret a single second or cent I spent on reading this book. It is fantastic!

simply a very good book

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A great read! Excellent read for any fans of Terry Pratchet. Employs the unique tone and dryness you can only expect from a British author.

Narration was great too, really served to enhance and bring to life the characters.

Great read in the vien of Terry Pratchet

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Bring a water bottle because the humour is incredibly dry. Great story, very interesting writing style

Very different but good

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This is a military fiction story set in a stylised version of Constantinople, and told as a witty personal account from the perspective of a flawed engineer.

On the surface, this should have been the recipe for a great read.... Unfortunately, I just found the protagonist (and therefore the narrator) to be far too smug and unlikable. He _was_ clever and witty, but he also knew it - so while there were smiles and laughs to be had, the humour often played as cringey, and the story took a back seat to Orhan's need to constantly explain how clever he was being.

As I grew to dislike the protagonist, I also I gradually lost interest in the actual cleverness of his solutions to the city's escalating problems. Often they were just deus-ex solutions that the reader couldn't have seen coming anyway (e.g. based on some hundred-year-old survey map that he happened to remember, etc).

I think my favourite character was Sawdust - also an engineer, deeply entwined in the city's history and faction balance, and maybe the only other character with even a hint of personal complexity beneath the surface. I wish we'd seen the whole thing from her perspective instead!

Overall, this book is more like a standup comedy than a story. The entertainment value is purely in the narration and an occasional zinger... the plot and side-characters are really just there to move you along to the next joke. Also like a standup show, it's way more enjoyable if you're drunk.

If that's what you're after in a book - this might be for you. Though, I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for compelling fantasy, or military strategy.

Smug protagonist

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