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Hugh Likes Fiction: The City in Glass

February 5, 2025

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The City in Glass
Written by Nghi Vo

Published by TOR

The Skinny: Good Omens meets Sim City

Azril is a city known for its universities and its brothels, its festivals and its observatory, its merchants and its anchoresses. It is home to the demon Vitrine, who has built and shaped the city as she pleases for centuries. She is pleased with her project, until a quartet of angels come and destroy it in a single night. Left with nothing but the book of names in her heart, she curses them as the leave, leaving a piece of herself lodged in the last angel’s chest. And then they are left to consider what to do next.
The City in Glass is a book about recovery and revenge. It is a book about trauma and it is a book about love. Vo’s poetic, tightly worded prose brings a dead city to life as Vitrine wanders the ruins of her home, propelling the reader backwards and forwards in time with an immortal’s perspective as she sifts through the rubble and slowly rebuilds. Her sparring, circling affair with the angel who brought it all down is set against her memories of the city that was, with anecdotes of the artists, pirates, and refugees who had called the city home.
A novel written during the Pandemic Lockdown, Vo has poured grief, frustration, and a strange wicked fondness into her characters and her broken garnet of a city. While many of us were making our Animal Crossing: New Horizons islands, Vo created her own bustling port city only to tear it down with holy fire and start again. The story captures and personalizes the god’s eye view of a simulation city builder as Vitrine goes from changing the course of rivers and cleaning up bodies to planting flowers to choosing which citizens to favor and which to spurn. But Vitrine and the Angel are such fascinating characters and the city they are building is so vibrant that I never felt like I was watching someone else’s play-through. Vo pulled me in completely.
The City in Glass is a bloody jewel of a novel. It constantly surprised me with its capricious demon building and planning her wonder of a city as she danced through the streets and whirled closer and farther from the distraught Angel that pursued her. You can find it in print or ebook from the usual online sources, or from your local independent bookshop. Or, as Vitrine might suggest, your can get it at your local library. I highly recommend it.

Hugh Likes Comics: Marvel 85th Anniversary Special #1

September 3, 2024

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Comics, Review , , , , Leave a comment

Marvel 85th Anniversary Special

Written by: Ryan North and Various Writers

Drawn by: Joshua Cassara and Various Artists

Colored by: Dean White & Various Artists

Lettered by: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Published by Marvel Comics

The Skinny: A great little sampler of stories, including a new Alan Davis Excalibur story!

If there is one thing the ‘Big Two’ comics publishers love to do, it is celebrate themselves, and oversized anniversary issues are no exception. This particular entry is a good one though, with a clever connecting story which just so happens to call back to a hugely successful recent blockbuster film. Written by Ryan North with art by Joshua Cassara and Dean White, it’s a fun little story set in a space station museum dedicated to superheroes. Each item in the collection prompts a different twelve page story about a hero, skipping back and forth through Marvel’s timeline, giving a variety of ‘What-if’ stories set in the future or the past, and brining some beloved creators back to tell more stories.
I will be honest, the selling point to me for this book was the new Excalibur story written and drawn by Alan Davis, and I was not disappointed. I would’ve paid $8 for that story by itself. With colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, it’s an untold story about the early days of the team, and it features all the hijinks, whimsey, and inter-dimensional shenanigans that make ’80s Excalibur such a joy to read. There’s also Spider-Man story about what happened to the infamous Spider-Buggy that would capture the classic Amazing Spider-Man vibe if everyone in it didn’t have cell phones. There’s also a very strong Ms. Marvel story written by Ms. Marvel actress Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada with art by Stephen Byrne. Set in the future, a grown-up Kamala puts on her suit one last time to become a Herald of Galactus!? It’s full of heart and charm, with exceptional art by Byrne. Kalama using her scarf as a version of the Silver Surfer’s board is an incredible visual.
There is also a Moon Knight story set in WWII Japan with gorgeous art by Manga-ka Yuji Kaku, and a ‘Contest of Champions’ story set in the far future that I am honestly shocked that Disney let them get away with. The connecting story wraps up in an enjoyable way that feels very classic Marvel.
Overall, this is an excellent little collection of comics that doesn’t rely on much comics lore knowledge. There is a lot here for dedicated fans, but if you’re curious about comics this is a fun and entertaining book to pick up for a start.
You can find the Marvel 85th Anniversary Special at your local comics shop, or digitally through Amazon or the Marvel App. I give it a big recommendation for new and old fans.