Monday, September 2nd, 2019

2019/86: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City -- K J Parker
I’m an engineer, I told myself. People bring me problems, and I fix them. ... I fix broken people with things, with stuff; with tricks, lies, devices. I’m resourceful and ingenious. I don’t confront, I avoid; and one of the things I do my best to avoid is justice, and another one is death. [loc. 3967]


According to the manuals, there are fifteen ways to defend a walled city. 'You can try one of them and if that doesn't work ...' Colonel Orhan of the Engineers finds himself in the unenviable position of defending a city that's besieged by an enormous army of mysterious origin -- a city in which, despite his rank, he's a second-class citizen by reason of his skin colour. Orhan has no resources, no authority, and no particular loyalty. He can fake or finagle two out of the three.
mild spoilers for one plot point )

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