City of Lies (novel)

Lore & Background

City of Lies is Sam Hawke's debut novel and the first installment in the Poison War series. Hawke stated in an interview that she wanted to write 'what was effectively a closed room mystery in a fantasy setting, as a kind of homage to my two favourite genres of stories growing up.' In writing the book, she aimed to avoid the usual tropes and character archetypes of the fantasy genre.

The story follows Jov and Kalina, brother and sister born to a family of spymasters in the city-state of Silastra, who are tasked with protecting the Chancellor from poison. After both the Chancellor and their mentor and uncle, Etan, are poisoned, they must work together to solve the murders.

The book won the 2019 Ditmar Award for Best Novel, was shortlisted for the 2019 Norma K. Hemming Award for Best Novel, and was tied for the 2018 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel with Maria Lewis' The Witch Who Courted Death. It was longlisted for the BSFA Award in 2019.

Reader's Guide

City of Lies is significant as Sam Hawke's debut novel and the launch of the Poison War series. It was well received by critics for its portrayal of sibling dynamics, urban fantasy style worldbuilding, intrigue, and representation of disability. Kirkus Reviews called it 'A well-crafted debut with believable political intrigues, solid worldbuilding, and original characters.' Paul Weimer of Tor.com praised the worldbuilding and writing, but felt the ending was 'frustrating' in comparison to the first portions of the book. Emma Davis of the Fantasy Book Review gave the book a rating of 8/10, praising the overall plot and mystery while criticizing aspects of the language and pacing. The novel's recognition with multiple genre awards—including the Ditmar Award, the Norma K. Hemming Award, and a tie for the Aurealis Award—underscores its impact within speculative fiction, particularly in Australian and international fantasy circles.

Authorial Vision and Genre Homage

Sam Hawke conceived City of Lies as a deliberate fusion of two storytelling traditions she loved growing up: the locked-room mystery and the fantasy epic. In her own words, she aimed to craft what amounted to a closed-room puzzle transplanted into a speculative world, treating the project as a personal tribute to those two formative genres. Equally important to her creative process was a conscious effort to sidestep the familiar archetypes and well-worn tropes that often define the fantasy shelf. Rather than leaning on predictable character types or formulaic plot beats, Hawke sought to build something that felt fresh within the urban fantasy subgenre. This ambition was evident from the very first page of her debut, where the narrative structure mirrors the tight, claustrophobic logic of a classic whodunit while the setting expands into a fully realized city-state with its own political machinery. The result is a novel that reads less like a standard fantasy adventure and more like a detective story dressed in the language of magic and courtly intrigue, a combination that would go on to earn widespread critical praise.

Plot and the World of Silastra

At the heart of City of Lies are two siblings, Jov and Kalina, who share both a blood bond and a professional one. They were born into a lineage of spymasters operating within the city-state of Silastra, a polity whose most sensitive duty is the protection of its Chancellor against the ever-present threat of poison. The novel's inciting catastrophe strikes twice in rapid succession: first the Chancellor falls victim to a poisoning, and then Etan, the siblings' mentor and uncle, meets the same fate. With two figures of authority and guidance eliminated in what appears to be a coordinated campaign, Jov and Kalina are forced to set aside any personal tensions and join forces to unravel the mystery. The structure echoes the classic closed-room puzzle—suspects are confined within the walls of Silastra's political sphere, and the investigation must proceed through deduction, loyalty, and the particular knowledge that a family of spymasters carries. Hawke uses this tight framework to explore sibling dynamics under pressure, political intrigue, and the weight of inherited duty, all while maintaining the urban fantasy texture that distinguishes the book from a straightforward historical mystery.

Critical Reception and Reader Response

Critics responded to City of Lies with broad enthusiasm, singling out several elements for particular praise. The portrayal of the sibling relationship between Jov and Kalina was frequently highlighted as a standout, giving the mystery an emotional core that many reviewers found compelling. The urban fantasy worldbuilding of Silastra drew consistent admiration, with Kirkus Reviews describing the novel as a well-crafted debut featuring believable political intrigues, solid worldbuilding, and original characters. The book also earned recognition for its thoughtful representation of disability, a detail that reviewers noted added depth to the cast. Not every assessment was uniformly positive, however. Paul Weimer writing for Tor.com commended the prose and the constructed world but found the denouement frustrating relative to the stronger material in the book's earlier chapters. Emma Davis of the Fantasy Book Review awarded an 8 out of 10, praising the overall plotting and the mystery's construction while noting that certain passages of language and the pacing in places fell short of the novel's best moments. The consensus, nonetheless, leaned strongly toward viewing the book as a confident and accomplished first effort.

Awards and Industry Recognition

City of Lies achieved remarkable recognition in its first year of eligibility, collecting multiple major awards and nominations that cemented its status as a standout debut. The novel claimed the 2019 Ditmar Award for Best Novel, a significant honor in the Australian speculative fiction community. It also received the 2019 Norma K. Hemming Award, further underscoring its critical standing. Perhaps most notably, City of Lies was tied for the 2018 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel, sharing the top honor with Maria Lewis's The Witch Who Courted Death—a result that placed Hawke's work in direct competition with another highly regarded title and highlighted the strength of that year's fantasy field. In addition, the book earned a longlist spot for the BSFA Award in 2019, extending its recognition into the broader science fiction and fantasy award landscape. Taken together, this constellation of accolades—spanning the Ditmar, the Norma K. Hemming, the Aurealis, and the BSFA longlist—represented an extraordinary debut season for Hawke and signaled to the industry that her particular blend of mystery structure and urban fantasy worldbuilding had struck a resonant chord with both judges and readers across the genre community.