City of Others
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Dive into a world where magic lies hidden just below the surface in this charming urban fantasy full of workplace found family, queer romance, and supernatural creatures straight out of Southeast Asian lore, from debut author Jared Poon.
In the sunny city of Singapore, the government takes care of everything—even the weird stuff.
Benjamin Toh is a middle manager in the Division for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS), and his job is straightforward: keep the supernatural inhabitants of Singapore happy and keep them out of sight. That is, don’t bother the good, normal citizens, and certainly don’t bother the bosses. Sure, he's overworked and understaffed, but usually, people (and senior management) don’t see what they don’t want to see.
But when an entire housing estate glitches out of existence on what was meant to be a routine check-in, Ben has to scramble to keep things under control and stop the rest of the city from disappearing. He may not have the budget or the bandwidth, but he has the best—if highly irregular and supernaturally inclined—team to help him. Together, they’ll traverse secret shadow markets, scale skyscrapers, and maybe even go to the stars, all so they can just do their goddamn job.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poon debuts and launches an urban fantasy series with an impressive adventure about civil servants working to save the world from threats that most people don't notice. Ben Toh puts his abilities as a Gardner—one with the power "to shape the elements and energies of own soul," allowing enhanced reflexes and emotional control—to use for Singapore's Department for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders, the underresourced agency tasked with controlling supernatural beings. When his coworker Jimmy, a peppy psychic, accuses Ben's boyfriend, Adam, of being involved in strange happenings around a housing complex that seems to blink in and out of existence, Adam divulges that he can "dive" into the realm beyond visible reality and that he has been investigating the building on his own. Reluctantly bringing Adam into the mission, the team, which also includes Mei, a witch with a shadowy past, learns that the anomaly is being caused by one old man's grief. The investigation lands Ben and Adam in danger from an organization hoping to monetize the hole in reality, leading to multiple kidnapping attempts and an inadvisable deal with the jinn. Poon's sharp wit, charming ensemble cast, and astute sense of Ben's interior struggles make this a tense delight. Readers will be eager for more.
