Kaidu has come in search of his father to the Nameless City –
so called because every nation that captures it (every nation, at some point –
it is a massive trading hub due to its geographical situation) renames it. To
the Dao, the current occupying force, it is Dandao. But to the people who live
there, the Named, it is only ever the Nameless City. Kaidu’s father is a
general in the Dao army, an idealist who believes that the city should not be
controlled by the Dao only, but by everyone who trades there. When Kaidu
befriends Rat, a Named orphan girl who runs across the roofs of the city faster
than anyone could follow, he is forced to reconsider his beliefs in Dao
supremacy.
What a great graphic novel! Hicks grapples with questions of
colonialism and historical revisionism while telling a thrilling, beautifully
drawn coming-of-age story. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and I
can’t wait to read the next book in the series, The Stone Heart.
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