Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The sixth book in the sequence, The Ruin of Angels, was up for a Locus fantasy award but I like to read books in the order written, so just picked this one up. It was one of my favorite reads this year, and has held up well. As a first novel, it's pretty amazing, in fact.

The world Gladstone builds works with familiar fantasy themes (schools of magic, magic as Law), but approaches them very differently from most of the work I've read recently. It's a world where humans wrested control of Craft (magic) from the Gods (who have limitations, like highly enhanced humans) and left it in a very complicated place. If you like world building this is really great stuff, as the explanation is a strong presence in the story without totally taking over the plot. And Max Gladstone knows how to end a book--the ending was exciting, powerful and unexpected in several ways.

Some reviewers have made much of Tara being a black heroine. Yes, the cover illustration is a black woman, and Gladstone describes her as having dark skin in the book. But there is no indication that this matters or is a factor in any way. It's a default universe, that is to say, White. Not throwing shade, just saying it as it is. Contrast this with N. K. Jemisin's work, where characters are not identified racially but the racial metaphor is very clear.

All that said, I really enjoyed the book and just might read more.



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