(no subject)

[skygiants]

I picked up Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead partly because I enjoyed hearing him speak at Arisia, but also largely because of its super classy cover:



This lady is Tara Abernathy, a young woman from a small town with a wide skillset that includes:

1. lawyering
2. occasionally ill-advised but generally well-intentioned necromancy

Tara has been kicked out of supernatural magic lawyer school for pursuing a vendetta against a professor; now she's been recruited (on probation) by a major firm to help the priests of the city of Kos the Everburning sort out their legal situation upon the tragic and unexpected death of their god. Both extensive legal document review and necromancy may be required.

Besides Tara, other major characters include:
- Elayne Kevarian, Tara's classy boss
- Abelard, the ingenue; a religiously chain-smoking baby priest who happened to be on duty the night his god kicked it
- Cat, Abelard's childhood bff, FACE OF JUSTICE by day, vampire-bite junkie by night
- Raz, vampire pirate, generally cheerful and well-adjusted except when super irritated by people who wave their arms in his face without first asking his consent, JEEZ, MANNERS
- Shale, an angry gargoyle who spends a significant portion of the book as a disembodied face on a wigstand

I have a knee-jerk bored response to vampire-bite junkies, but otherwise I am so on board with everything in this book. I especially like how magical lawyering, like any profession, is both numinous and tedious (EXTENSIVE DOCUMENT REVIEW), and the nuanced portrayal of religious faith. Godlike beings exist; that doesn't make belief necessary -- for Tara, who is not a religious person, viewing Kos' corpse is just yet another factor in her case prep -- but it doesn't make it wrong, either. I feel like fantasy novels tip over very easily into "religious faith == MANIC ZEALOTRY," so I very much appreciated Abelard. And I truly loved Tara, and the fact that her main motivations throughout the book are tied up in a.) revenging a female friend, and b.) impressing her new female mentor. AND ALL HER ILL-ADVISED NECROMANCY. Okay, maybe that was only the once, but it was still really hilariously ill-advised.

So Three Parts Dead: great! Refreshing! Enjoyable! Interesting characters with interesting motivations!

Then I read Two Serpents Rise. Two Serpents Rise has a much less interesting cover featuring a standard bland white dude. Although this is not Gladstone's fault, since his protagonist Caleb comes from an Aztec-analogue culture and is definitely not described as white, it turned out to be sadly prophetic of my general lack of interest in this book.

Caleb is mostly motivated by an inexplicable and ill-advised instant attraction to a mysterious woman, super-subtly named Mal. I am super bored by inexplicable and ill-advised instant attractions to obvious femme fatales. I also generally wish people would not jump instantly to the human sacrifice place when writing about Aztec-inspired civilizations. Sadly, neither Caleb's lesbian best friend nor his adorable magical skeleton boss could manage to invest me in anything that was actually happening.

However there is a third book in the series coming out in a few months, and the cover definitely looks promising:



I am highly optimistic! Let's see if the correlation holds.

Comments

[jinian]

AGREED ON ALL COUNTS, except that I hadn't seen the Full Fathom Five cover. Fingers crossed! Cuddling badass ladies of color have got to bode well, right?

[thistleingrey]

Or conspiring, or one about to shiv the other. Either way! :D

[skygiants]

I would accept any of these possibilities.

[skygiants]

THIS ALSO IS MY BELIEF. Snazzily-dressed ladies, no less!

*adds to TBR*

[vass]

You had me at "magical lawyering". The paperwork part just clinched it.

Re: *adds to TBR*

[skygiants]

Magical deific case review! IS STILL CASE REVIEW.

[musesfool]

I'm hoping the third book is about LADY PIRATES, given the title and cover.

I enjoyed Two Serpents Rise more than you did, I think, because I really liked Caleb's roommate, and I liked seeing the King in Red in person, but it was a much more obvious mystery than the first book, because Mal was so obviously an Evil Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

[skygiants]

That would be AWESOME.

The King in Red was my favorite part ... I don't know why I found him that skeletal dictator so inexplicably charming, but I REALLY DID. But Mal's sudden but inevitable betrayal was so ... obvious ... like, was anyone (besides Caleb) surprised? Was anyone supposed to be surprised? Were we really just meant to spend the entire book shrieking "CALEB, HER ACTUAL NAME ACTUALLY MEANS BAD?"

[thistleingrey]

Plus, Malintzin, which means there has to be an inversion because Gladstone is young and hip, which (alas) means double obvious. (Or perhaps only for L.A. natives? Even so.)

[jinian]

He really was an impeccably charming skeletal dictator! And actually, I really enjoyed Caleb's dad and the way he gave no fucks whatsoever. The book had a lot going for it, just, jeez, no one is fooled by Mal.

[lacewood]

I really enjoyed the first book but yeah, reactions to the second seem to have leaned to "ok but just not as awesome" so I... haven't gotten to it yet. I probably will eventually, but I need to get through my backlog of books I actually OWN before I allow myself back in the library >_>

I seem to recall hearing Tara might be back in the third book so I have some hopes that we will get her further adventures in magic lawyering for great justice and navigating complicated feelings about religion (and possible dubious necromancy choices). I am totally for this! But I am also totally for pirates, if that's what it turns out to be about instead.

[skygiants]

hahahaha I know that feeling too well ;___; I am super excited for potential return of Tara, though! Maybe we could get Tara AND pirates. I DREAM BIG.

[rushthatspeaks]

I haven't read the first two yet, but the reading he did from the third at Arisia put them very firmly on my list, if only so I can get to the selection he read.

[skygiants]

That is very promising news!

[thistleingrey]

That's very good to know.

I keep meaning to play Choice of the Deathless as well--it's on my phone, but I haven't gotten there yet.

[ailis_fictive]

Ha, I just finished Two Serpents Rise a couple of days ago, and I basically agree with you on all points. I finished it for the pleasure of his world-building (I am a sucker for transparent world-building, where the world simply is and the story happens within it, rather than the construction of the world taking up space that I'd rather have filled with story) and despite the occasional info-dump he does that very well (he info-dumps history necessary for the story, not world details that should be evident for the characters, so I put up with it.)

That is an extreeeeeeemley promising cover for Full Fathom Five--I'll have to keep my eye out for it.

[luzula]

Oh hey, that sounds pretty cool! *puts the first one on books-to-check-out list*

[opusculasedfera]

I admit, I wasn't rushing to seek out the third book after the second one was so meh, but I might have to for that cover. *_*

...It is, howver, too much to hope that someone sat Gladstone down and explained carefully to him that he's very bad at writing heterosexual relationships and he should stop now, isn't it? /o\ (Well, that's not totally fair. I believed fully in the one where Tara's ex-mentor was an abusive douchebag to a large number of students, including some he was sleeping with. THIS IS NOT A GOOD PRECEDENT.)

[jinian]

I thought it was mainly that Caleb was bad at relationships, but you could be right. (I also definitely bought the Evil Advisor scenario.)

[opusculasedfera]

Granted, I don't think we're precisely supposed to see Caleb as a model, but it just felt so terribly typical to me, even without Mal being obviously evil. Very Here Is a Het Man Writing About A Het Man Again, despite the rest of the world-building Gladstone is clearly capable of. Ymmv, obviously!

[happydork]

I bought Three Parts Dead earlier this evening on the strength of your recommendation (to be honest, I just scrolled through your booklogging tag until something caught my eye) and AHAHA IT IS AWESOME I AM SO HAPPY! I'm only at Chapter 4 (Tara and Ms Kevarian have just seconded Abelard The Smoking Technician) but OH MY GOD THE GODS' POWER IS A STOCK MARKET AND THEY DIE WHEN THEY DEFAULT BUT THAT'S OKAY THEY'VE BROUGHT IN THE ADMINISTRATORS TO MAKE A ZOMBIE GOD OUT OF THE LIQUIDATED ASSETS!

[skygiants]

IT'LL BE FINE AS LONG AS THEY CAN WORK A LITTLE NECROMANCY TO KEEP ZOMBIE GOD POWER POURING THROUGH HIS METAPHYSICAL VEINS! "well, if you wanted someone to perform emotionally offensive but very practical necromancy you have come to the right girl," says Ms. Tara "Look, Our Dead Townspeople Would Make Great Zombie Soldiers, I Don't Understand Why Everyone's So Upset" Abernathy. TARA. I ... love her a lot ...

[happydork]

Just finished it. Oh my god, so happy! Tara is so utterly wonderful and quite frankly I want to impress her mentor -- I love badass magical auditors being super skilful and making occasionally terrible decisions in order to (a) stop creepy dudes creepin'; (b) untangle a good mystery and save lives; (c) take the thimg apart to see how it works because seriously the thing is right there and if you only added a couple of valves...

I was delighted by all the different ways of being a/religious in the book -- I loved loved loved how the Guardians did the spoiler and Tara's reaction to that. Plus the difference between Craft and Gods' magic and Applied Theology (heeh!) really worked for me as a consistent, suitably power-differentiated, emotionally compelling system.

Yay this book! :)

[happydork]

PS - Your reply to my comment got filtered to spam by gmail, with the header "Be careful with this message. Many people marked similar messages as spam."

Are many people getting similar messages about emotionally offensive but very practical necromancy? Is that a thing? Are they being spammed by offers for cut price e.o.b.v.p.n? Because if they are, I want in.

[glitteryv]

I'm hoping to get going with this series in the next few weeks. Like you, I couldn't resist that cover art. IIRC, there are two more books: one featuring a dude (but not the same one from the second novel) and the latest one has Tara and the gargoyle on the cover.

It all sounds like a super awesome set up. :)