I'm having a great time discovering all the facets of this loose "New Weird"-movement! Here is something that, again, has a flavour that's distinctly it's own. I really like Ford's way of building a world with quite few penstrokes that still evokes imagination and feels like a solid place. I like his very fast pace of telling the story (there's a LOT going on in just over 200 pages here, a format you're not always spoiled with in fantastic literature) and the way he uses the weird and fantastic as a springboard for discussing moral issues. Not a lot of the simple black/white, good/evil thing going on here. More than anything else, this is a sort of journey of self discovery, that brings books like Voltaire's Candide or Kafka's The Trial to mind, rather than tedious quest books packed with magical swords. And Cley is a quite interesting main character indeed. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. ( )

http://nomiddlename.blogspot.com/2008... ( )

For once, a book lives up to its hype. Very well-constructed, fascinating to read. The main character, Cley, evolves and changes. The sequel, Memoranda, fills in a lot of the back story, but wasn't as good as this. Still, both are worth reading. ( )

Can the shape of your head describe your destiny. In the Well Built City it can. A gently horrific novel by a master of the fantasy genre. ( )

1998 World Fantasy Award. Great cast of weird characters, original and you never knew what was going to happen next. More light hearted fantasy toward end and somethings weren't explained. ( )