City on Fire
Hugo Award: Best Novel nominee (1998).
Nebula Award: Best Novel nominee (1998).
Aiah worked for the Plasm Authority, metering the shimmering substance that powered the world-city, until she fell in love with Constantine, the rebel Metropolitan fighting a war to overthrow the corrupt dynasty of the Keremaths.
Now the war is over, and Aiah is at the mercy of Constantine, the tyrant she created. As sexually irresistible as ever, the former rebel has a new job for Aiah: track down the outlaw plasm divers of Caraqui and recruit them to help destroy the Silver Hand, a murderous remnant of the old kleptocracy.
A reluctant Aiah finds herself working with a horrifying ally – the "hanged man," Taikoen, a once-human monster that lives in the plasm well, leaving it only to kill. But for Aiah, there can be no turning back. Constantine's war against the Handmen will put Aiah in touch with her lost Barkazil heritage. And it may allow her to get a glimpse of heaven itself, and to discover what waits beyond the Shield.
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Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams has published twenty novels and short fiction collections. Most are science fiction or fantasy -Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire to name just a few - a few are historical adventures, and the most recent, The Rift, is a disaster novel in which "I just basically pound a part of the planet down to bedrock." And that's just the opening chapters. Walter holds a fourth-degree black belt in Kenpo Karate, and also enjoys sailing and scuba diving. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Kathy Hedges.
Metropolitan
Metropolitan consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
