City of Diamond [Paperback]

Jane Emerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

The newly appointed Protector of an intergalactic city-ship, Adrian Mercati is urged by his predecessor to strengthen his position by locating the Sawyer Crown, an alien artifact that will give him superiority over his enemies. Original.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Six centuries after the alien Curosa imparted the wisdom of their dying race to Adrian Sawyer and gave him three massive city-ships, two of those ships -- City of Diamond and City of Opal -- are locked in a battle for intergalactic political dominance. Now the Protector of Diamond has chosen a protege, young Adrian Mercati, and told him the hiding place of the Sawyer Crown, an artifact that will give him and the Diamond unassailable superiority over the Opal. But spies are at work, and a desperate race to find the Crown begins. Yet what neither side can see is that finding it may prove their downfall.

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: DAW (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886777046
• ISBN-13: 978-0886777043
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Books by Ms.Emerson, May 5, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Diamond (Paperback)

Great characters, especially Tal and the little princess. But how exactly the economy of these city-ships works? I would like to inform all the readers who loved Ms. Emerson's book "City of Diamond" that she also wrote under the name of DORIS EGAN the Books: "Ivory Gate" , "Two-bit Heroes", "Guilt edged Ivory". This trilogy was great too.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PLEASE WRITE THE SEQUELS!, February 4, 2003

By 

APRICOT "ryoko" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Diamond (Paperback)

I have a mixed feeling; I am sincerely glad to read this book, and at the same time I am sincerely sorry to read this book.

City of Diamond is an interstellar city-ship of 4-million population. The basic axis seems to be the rivalry between Diamond and Opal, a sister city-ship, and various characters on Diamond and Opal do various things. Although the story is rather slow-moving and it doesn't readily go to the main subject (I wonder if it has the main subject), I LOVE IT. The characters are EXTREMELY interesting and peculiar, and they make the story completely unpredictable. And the various cultures such as Diamond vs Opal, City Ships vs Outsider, and Outsiders (Empire vs Republic) are also very interesting.

The most attractive character is definitely Tal, an Outsider demon. He is a half-alien, and his kind are always sociopath and are loathed as demons. For example, Tal recognizes it is disadvantageous for him to betray his supporter, but he doesn't feel it is wrong to betray his supporter. Meanwhile, he does everything he can to rescue people who work for him from peril. Understanding his way of thinking, logical Tal is much more reliable and likable than inconsistent human beings.

One BIG problem, though. When the story becomes REALLY interesting, it ends cliff-hanger, leaving several mysteries unsolved. At the author's web page, she states that she intended this book as a first part of a trilogy, but that health and memory problems have kept her from writing the sequels. Oh, WHAT A PITY!

If the sequels were available, I would buy and read them NOW, even if they were 600-page English books (English is a foreign language for me). Ms Jane Emerson, PLEASE WRITE THE SEQUELS! PLEASE!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't say this lightly, but . . ., December 2, 1999

By 

cartaufalous (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Diamond (Paperback)

Well, they say the plot is maybe thirty awesome new ideas, tops, and the rest a pastiche of every great science fiction novel you ever read, and that's probably true. The characters though, the characters: there's 5 or 6 of them, and they're drawn like you've never seen before in fiction. Anywhere. Buy this book. Buy 10 copies; no one you ever loan it to is going to give it back.