2019/86: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City -- K J Parker
2019/86: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City -- K J Parker
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 )
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 )