City of Others (The DEUS Files, #1)
by Jared PoonPublished by: Orbit on January 13, 2026
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 367
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:
In the sunny city of Singapore, the government takes care of everything – even the weird stuff. Benjamin Toh is a middle manager in the Department for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS), tasked with taking care of the supernatural occurrences and people no one else wants to deal with, from restless ghosts to immortal gods to conniving jinn. Overworked and under-resourced, he has to juggle the demands of senior management, an elderly father, and a new boyfriend, all while trying to keep his team out of trouble.
When an entire block of flats goes missing in the town of Clementi, drowned in an otherworldly wave, the information he needs to prevent another catastrophe lies in the pasar bayang – the shadow markets. But the demigod protector of the markets has neither forgotten nor forgiven their humiliation by the Singapore authorities decades ago. Ben will need to wrestle with the legacy of his government and the whispers of his own insecurities, navigating landscapes both urban and fantastical, both inside the soul and outside the real world, all so he can just do his goddamn job.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Fast-paced urban fantasy set in Singapore
- A world filled with paranormal entities (that don’t get along particularly well)
- A government agency doing its best with little funding and more problems than they can shake a stick at
- Super cool powers and unique paranormal entities
- A cozy M/M queer romance that is super adorable
- A squad that is impossible not to root for
Overall
Urban fantasy is, unfortunately, one of those subgenres that I don’t read nearly as much as I probably should, but which I almost always enjoy. I’m a huge fan of paranormal entities, especially from unique cultures, and Singaporean entities are as creepy as they are delightful. So obviously I needed to pick this up. Plus, there’s an adorable kitty in a scarf on the cover, and who could resist that?
City of Others is a fast-paced urban fantasy where supernatural entities are running amok in Singapore, and it’s up to the Department for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS) to keep them safe. But can DEUS save them from themselves?
I’m happy to say that the kitty is not a lie (and is every bit as adorable as you might expect). Once this book got going, it was non-stop action, amidst the wheeling and dealing that accompanies bartering with entities beyond human understanding. There were a few moments that felt a bit like too-powerful deus ex machina, but I suppose that’s par for the course with beings of such immense power. All in all, it was every bit the fun romp I had hoped it would be, and I’m looking forward to the next one!
I received a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
My Thoughts
Welcome to the Department for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS), where the team is underfunded, bureaucracy is still very much alive, and the job is murder . . . sometimes literally.
Beyond the more “traditional” supernaturals that you might expect to find, DEUS ensures the safety of all kinds of “Others” from various folklore and mythological traditions, which makes following them on the case extra delightful. They are essentially glorified social workers to a powerful community of beings, advocating for them and doing their best to ensure their needs are met. Like many governmental departments, the bureaucracy is smothering, the work is sometimes soul crushing, and there are always too many who needs and not enough resources to go around.
Despite their occasional cynicism, what I love most is the earnestness and heart of the DEUS staff members, and their genuine desire to help others. Even as they put their own lives at risk to save others. It makes the team really easy to root for, even if they sometimes make questionable decisions. This current case, though? So unlike the others they’ve faced. Not only does a block of flats go missing, but a mysterious otherworldly ocean is rising, threatening to drown real world Singapore. No pressure, right?
In a world of super powerful creatures like Djinn and witches, it may seem like the short end of the stick to be a Gardener, but . . . think again!
In fact, if I have a superpower choice in the future, Gardener is high up there on the list. The magic system in City of Others is fairly vague, but extremely powerful. Ben’s Garden is like his Mind Castle, but even better. It follows the age-old adage that you reap what you sow. Ben is able to change his physical and mental attributes like speed and strength by planting and cultivating different things in his garden. Similarly, he can remove detrimental attributes like fear and anxiety by pruning/burning them from the garden. A Gardener’s power is only limited by what he cultivates.
Because this world is filled with a variety of supernaturals, there are a number of different powers, each as interesting as the next. As I said, the magic system is quite vague, but folklore doesn’t necessarily require explanation. Not everyone has powers, of course. (Humans do exist, after all.) Still, the variety was fun. Opposite Ben’s Gardener ability was Adam’s Diver powers, which feel just as thrilling. Essentially, he’s able to dive into the otherworldly ocean and back again, which sounds dangerous but fun. Y’know, now that I think of it, I’ve always been more of a swimmer than a gardener . . . just saying.
For most of us, our private places are graveyards of scraggly weeds. Old dreams wither on the vine, unwatered, unplucked, untasted, ideals we had as children—I will grow up to be a baker! A police officer! Do something meaningful with my life!—those rot on the ground, untended and untrue. What grows, what occupies its space, are other people’s ideas and feelings, scripts from rom-coms and images of happiness from magazines. And so, we go through the motions of living, we smile for the cameras, but we know that inside us everything is fake, just a parody of life.
This squad is absolutely charming, in their own unique, quirky ways, but they have an awful lot of heart between them.
I will say that I didn’t get to know the squad as well as I would’ve liked to, but I really appreciated their loyalty and determination to stick by each other. This is definitely a motley crew, but they get the job done. Ben has a very natural desire to protect his team, and they are having none of it, thank you very much, because they also signed up for the super dangerous job.
One of my favorite relationships was that of Ben and his father. It’s tragic, in the way that the relationship between adult children and their parents often are, and my heart broke for his father. But the way they come together and grow was utterly beautiful, and I really enjoyed their journey.
I thought of my father, the way he’d always been. A quiet man, patient, humble, forgiving, a role model of a gentler kind of love. A love that could trust, could free, could let go.
I’d gone inside my soul and outside the world, I’d gone to the goddamn moon.
Perhaps it was time to stop going somewhere.
Perhaps, just for a while, it was time to stay still.
There’s a super cute queer romance between two cinnamon rolls just doing their best to navigate the chaos together.
Listen, dating is hard. Dating when the world is being threatened by supernatural beings and your job is super hush-hush and you technically can’t talk about it? On a next level. Ben finds himself in a bit of a situationship with Adam. They’re kind of seeing each other . . . off and on . . . but that doesn’t necessarily make them boyfriends. Like I said, it’s complicated.
The romance is definitely slow burn, and there’s no spice, which suited me perfectly. I am 100% here for guarding your heart, taking time before labeling things, and not needing to hop into bed with someone right away. If that’s not your thing, though, this romance is going to frustrate you. It’s the ultimate cinnamon roll romance, with Ben wanting so badly to protect Adam and keep him safe, and Adam trying so hard to support Ben however he can and being patient while he works though his dumbness. You know I am always here for a healthy romance where they’re doing their best to support each other.
“I love our dates,” Adam said, edging around a puddle of unidentifiable liquid on the floor. “You take me to the nicest places.”
Sticking Points
There were an awful lot of deus ex machinas and conveniences that made what should have been high-stakes action feel quite low stakes and pulled me out of the story.
There were numerous times where things happened just because the plot needed them to happen. Characters survive things that they arguably shouldn’t have, which I can forgive once . . . maybe twice, if it’s convincing enough. The fact that characters walk away unscathed when terrible things happen (and I assure you, terrible things happen repeatedly) makes it feel like there aren’t really consequences for anything. Given the scale of entities we’re dealing with (on the level of immortals), it feels weird that the characters are spared from severe consequences time and time again. I’m not saying I want people to die. But also . . . I kind of do?
About Greer Stothers
Greer Stothers is an award-winning author/illustrator based in Toronto. Their experiences as a nonbinary individual inform their writing and art, as does their drive to find the humor in everything.
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