The Weapon Shops of Isher

How it reads

The Weapon Shops of Isher is science fiction (dystopian science fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a big city setting, in the future, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are justice, power and politics and class and society. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 191 pages it's a single-sitting book. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.