Undercity

December 1, 2014

Bhaajan grew up a "dust rat" in the slums below the city of Cries but joined the army and left to earn herself a better life. Now a PI, she is hired by the ruling nobility of her old home planet, who are frantically searching for a missing prince. The hunt for Prince Dayj takes up the first third of the novel. The story then switches to a gang war brewing in the Undercity, with Bhaajan again being asked to use her connections and knowledge of the people living in the sewers and aqueducts to prevent open warfare. VERDICT This is less a cohesive novel than two separate novellas that are joined together by Asaro's protagonist, who starts out keeping an emotional distance from the people in the Undercity yet soon grows to think of them as her community once more. Asaro (Primary Inversion), who hasn't written in this world since 2011's Carnelians, returns to the Skolian empire's early history to tell Bhajaan's story, which looks like the beginning of a new cycle of Skolian books.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 23, 2015
This expansion of Asaroâs 2011 novella, City of Cries, is the first book in a new series set in her well-established Skolian Empire universe. With the backdrop of galactic empires under threat, this detective story explores ideas and concepts that would feel right at home on Earth. PI Bhaajan is compelled to return to the underground slums on the planet where she grew up. She must confront an old lover, old pains, and a new sense of responsibility to protect a place that no longer feels quite like home, all while helping to retrieve a kidnapped prince and break a smuggling ring. The story is engaging, uplifting, and at times bittersweet. The world building is clearly well-established and thoughtful, from the interstellar empires to the unique civilization contained within the catacombs under the City of Cries. This is an excellent adventure, complete with complicated underground politics and cultural norms, with plenty of crossover appeal. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary Agency.