The City of Lost Fortunes
Mythology, magic, and mystery--how could I not love this? It has symbol and myth woven into the story from the first sentence. I really liked the quick overview of mythological stories at the beginning of chapters, for example this one from the start of chapter ten:
Every world is a circle with a center, a wheel with a hub on which it turns. Sometimes it is a feature of the natural world -- a mountain or a tree. In China they feel the world spin where Mount Kunlun pierces the sky, just as the Lakota revere Inyan Kara in the Black Hills, and as the Anangu of Australia regard Uluru rock. Buddha found Enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree; Odin hung upon an ash named Yggdrasil; and the Serpent wound itself around the Tree of Knowledge in Eden. When the natural world did not provide a focus, they built one: pillars and obelisks, towers and shrines. The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, of Khufu at Giza. The Umbilicus Urbis Romae in Rome, Kaaba in Mecca, the Tower in Babel. Every world has its center, its sacred place where Earth meets Heaven, the point around which everything revolves. Places of Power. Of Truth. Of Sanctuary.
It was also very cool how Jude could see with the eyes of a Trickster, seeing how fortunate people are based on how brightly they shine. The whole handling of the Trickster archetype was so well-done throughout the book and made the story a joy to read.
