The Legend of Broken by Caleb Carr

This was a rather random pick from the library shelves.  While certainly imaginative, this is a rather heavy-handed and pedantic allegory about pitting our natural selves against our materialistic selves.  Still, there are some interesting characters to carry along the basic plot - a developing battle between a group of outcasts, the Bane, who have been shunned by the city/fortress society because of physical deformities and short stature, and the Tall, the perfect people who dwell in the (not so perfect underneath) city of Broken.  Even the names are preachy.  Still, there were some interesting plot twists and Carr does a good job of vividly describing the locales of the story. Good triumphs in the end.  For avid fantasy fans only.  651 pages