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The Just City

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The Just City
Hardcover edition
AuthorJo Walton
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThessaly
GenreFantasy
PublisherTor
Publication date
January 2015
Publication placeUnited States
Pages368 (Hardcover)
ISBN978-0-7653-3266-0
Followed byThe Philosopher Kings 

The Just City is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Jo Walton, published by Tor Books in January 2015. It is the first book of the Thessaly trilogy. The sequel The Philosopher Kings was published in June 2015, and the final volume, Necessity, in July 2016.

Synopsis

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The Greek gods Athene and Apollo collect 10,000 human children from throughout history, and place them on the island of Thera prior to its volcanic destruction. There, a collection of adult supervisors (who are likewise from throughout history) will raise the children to achieve the ideal society as described in Plato's Republic – which becomes much more difficult when Socrates arrives.

Characters

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The characters include:

Reception

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At NPR, Amal El-Mohtar called City "(b)rilliant, compelling, and frankly unputdownable", comparing it to a Socratic dialogue,[1] while at Booklist, Michael Cart described it as a "remarkable novel of ideas", conceding that it may be somewhat "abstruse", but emphasizing that this does not detract from the quality of its plot and characterization.[2]

Publishers Weekly stated that City was "impressively ambitious", but criticized Walton for overuse of sexual violence and for a "reductive" portrayal of the Greek gods.[3] Similarly, Kirkus Reviews considered the protagonists to "have a certain appeal", but stated that the novel was "more thought experiment than plot".[4]

The Spanish-language translation, La ciudad justa, was a finalist for the 2022 Premio Ignotus.[5]

References

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  1. ^ El-Mohtar, Amal (15 January 2015). "The Consolations (And Controversies) Of Philosophy In 'The Just City'". NPR. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  2. ^ Cart, Michael (1 December 2014). "The Just City". Booklist. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  3. ^ "The Just City". Publishers Weekly. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  4. ^ "The Just City by Jo Walton". Kirkus Reviews. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  5. ^ 2022 Ignotus Winners, at Locus Online; published October 10, 2022; retrieved December 5, 2022