▁ ▁Writing ▁in ▁a ▁review ▁in ▁As im ov ' s ▁Science ▁F iction , ▁science ▁fiction ▁and ▁mystery ▁author ▁Peter ▁He ck ▁called ▁City ▁at ▁the ▁End ▁of ▁Time ▁a ▁" big , ▁swe eping , ▁heavily ▁symbol ic ▁tale ", ▁and ▁" one ▁of ▁Bear ' s ▁most ▁am bit ious ". ▁He ▁said ▁that ▁while ▁the ▁story ▁could ▁have ▁focused ▁more ▁on ▁the ▁future ▁city , ▁" in ▁the ▁end , ▁the ▁plot lines ▁come ▁together , ▁and ▁the ▁complex ities ▁merge ▁into ▁a ▁satisfying ▁unity ". ▁Spe cul ative ▁fiction ▁writer ▁Simon ▁Pet rie ▁writing ▁in ▁And rom eda ▁Space ways ▁In fl ight ▁Magazine ▁was ▁im pressed ▁by ▁the ▁book ' s ▁" grand ios ity ▁to ▁the ▁total ▁synth esis ▁of ▁cosm ology ▁and ▁myth ", ▁and ▁Bear ' s ▁" ability ▁to ▁enc aps ulate ▁a ▁universal ▁future ▁history ▁in ▁just ▁the ▁one ▁book ", ▁but ▁found ▁the ▁mix ▁of ▁science , ▁fant asy , ▁horror , ▁myth ology ▁and ▁religion ▁a ▁little ▁" in con gru ous " ▁at ▁times . ▁Pet rie ▁also ▁felt ▁that ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁so ▁many ▁" view point ▁characters " ▁results ▁in ▁these ▁characters ▁being ▁under develop ed , ▁and ▁tends ▁to ▁"[ bl unt ] ▁the ▁path os ▁as ▁the ▁plot ▁edges ▁towards ▁clim ax ". ▁ ▁In ▁a ▁review ▁in ▁the ▁online ▁spec ulative ▁fiction ▁magazine ▁Str ange ▁Hor iz ons , ▁Tony ▁Ke en ▁was ▁critical ▁of ▁Bear ' s ▁novel , ▁saying ▁that ▁the ▁present