“For a first-time author, Polansky has managed to craft an assured, roaring, and rollicking hybrid, a cross-genre free-for-all that relishes its tropes while spitting out their bones. And he does it all while spinning one hell of a gripping mystery. Much like its grim, perversely charismatic antihero, Low Town stakes a narrow turf—then completely owns every inch of it.” The A.V. Club (The Onion)
“Festooned with sorcerers and demons in a pre-industrial otherworld setting, Low Town…is a fantasy-crime hybrid with serious noir chops…Gritty, cryptically funny and relentlessly inventive.” – Winnipeg Free Press
“Low Town is a strong, confident debut that should go down well with readers who enjoy their fantasy on the noir side. It’s a novel you can enjoy for its atmosphere as well as its story, full as it is of well-drawn scenes from the city’s underbelly.…Low Town delivers a fast, entertaining story in less pages than it takes some major epics to get out of the realm of basic exposition. I had a blast with Low Town, and I’m definitely keeping an eye out for whatever Daniel Polansky comes up with next.”–Tor.com
“If you like noir and hard-boiled mysteries, you might want to give Low Town a chance. You’ll definitely find it darkly rewarding.” New York Journal of Books
“Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime….Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future.” — Publishers Weekly
“A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn’t waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone’s throat.” — Kirkus
“Polansky’s writing is confident and punchy from the offset. The action rips along at a brilliant pace allowing us to experience this gritty world through the eyes of a thrilling, dangerous, flawed, yet strangely endearing protagonist. This is modern, dark fantasy at its best and a debut to be envied.” — British Fantasy Society
“Quite brilliant…[Low Town] is as good a debut as I’ve read in along time. [It] has it all – and as the name suggests, it is sharp, steely and viciously bloody. Highly recommended.” –John Berlyne, SF Revu
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