4-STAR REVIEW: THE TRAVELLING CITY by Adrienne Miller

The Travelling City Series: Book 1
Publication Date: April 21, 2023

After a hundred years of watching humans make bad decisions, anyone would be sick of their job as peacekeeper.
Reihan, a seaver created to deal with humans who lose control over their manifestation abilities, is no exception.

Worse still, virtually all humans in the Travelling City can manifest.
That is, shape reality according to their more or less well-formed and often poorly thought-out designs.
That alone would be enough to keep her busy, but then there are people like Phillippe.
Phillippe, who drenched himself in the city’s collective subconscious to strengthen his inborn powers.
Even though he shouldn’t be, he seems fine, crowned as the new star escort in the Brothel of Transformative Curiosities.
But Reihan has seen this story play out before. And Phillippe is far too charming, far too kind, and far too inconsolable for her to simply look away.

Welcome to a land where humans can turn their thoughts into reality with no concern for the outcome. It falls on seavers like Reihan to maintain the peace.

Author Adrienne Miller showcases this fantasy world in The Travelling City. Because the humans produce manifestations from their conscious thoughts, Reihan often has to step in to restore order. Since the city has been built on a cliff, all unconscious desires sink to the bottom. Anyone venturing below succumbs to madness.

When Phillippe’s brother falls prey to the mind fog, Reihan takes over his care at the Asylum. This begins a story packed with twists and turns as Phillippe and the non-human Reihan must join forces when Phillippe’s brother goes missing.

Readers who enjoy dark fantasy will likely enjoy poking into the corners of the author’s new world. For me, there was so much new information that I felt overwhelmed. However, there’s a sense of beauty in being able to create something fresh.

The Travelling City delivers a different style to the world of dark fantasy as readers explore the depths of the author’s creative mind.

Adrienne Miller writes in the genre of Dark Fantasy; combining beautiful aesthetics with existential dread. Her stories feature complex romances, found family dynamics, and storylines centred on world mysteries.

She has grown up with both classic and new Fantasy, from Michael Moorcok’s Eternal Hero series, Michael’s Scott’s “Thraxas” magical detective romps, to quiet and heart-felt Science-Fantasy by Becky Chambers.

The Travelling City is inspired by her love for the imaginative worlds of old-school role-playing games like Planescape Torment and the intricate character work of urban fantasy authors like Holly Black.

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