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The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone is a pretty fun series of urban fantasy novels that I don't see people talk about pretty much ever. It's set in a world where magic is based on corporate contract law, and huge corporations cast spells involving mergers and hostile takeovers and things like that. A huge element of all the books is capitalism and globalisation, with the powerful magical organisations often having real-world allusions. On top of that, each book is set in a different part of the world and the magic and fantasy creatures are inspired by real-world cultures like aztec/mayan culture in the second book and polynesian cultures in the third book. It's one of the aspects I love most, because it creates fantasy settings that feel quite different from the ones you see a lot.  The first book is Three Parts Dead, and is about Tara Abernathy, a student of magic who was exiled from magic university. She's hired by a powerful magical organisation and becomes embroiled in magical corporate intrigue revolving around the city of Alt Coulumb and its history with gods and the people who once lived there. This one is still my second favourite of the ones I've read, it's a strong introduction to the series and has very enjoyable characters. The later books are a bit more complex but this one is the one I've re-read the most.  Two Serpents Rise is the second book, set in the desert city of Dresediel Lex which is heavily inspired by aztec and mayan cultures. Caleb Altemoc is a risk manager for the powerful company that owns the city's precious water supply, and is investigating issues with the water supply that may be terrorism or perhaps espionage. The setting of this one is really good, more compelling to me than the setting of the first book. They use the aztec theming really well, particularly how they use it to represent the conflicts between the native culture of the city and the new modern culture that has taken over and largely marginalised it. Caleb himself is torn between both, as someone who's father was a powerful member of the former ruling culture but who himself rejects that culture's beliefs and actions and works for the new big organisations.  Full Fathom Five is the third book in the series. It's set in a Kavekana, an island heavily influenced by polynesian cultures. Priestess Kai builds artificial gods for the citizens of the island to replace the ones who died in the war, gods being a necessary part of magic and thus the economy of all cities. One day she hears one of the gods speak, which should be impossible. In the following cover-up, she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy revolving around the island. This one touches on a lot of interesting topics. Without spoiling anything, imperialism and exploitation comes up with how the island was taken advantage of after the war, and policing is a major theme. On the island criminals are placed inside statues that force them to act and think as policemen, something that changes them for life. Kai herself is also trans, which isn't an enormous aspect of the plot but is referenced and explored in a way that I really enjoyed and appreciated. This one was definitely my favourite, and includes references and visits from characters and events from the previous two books. There's also three more books! Last First Snow, Four Roads Cross and The Ruin of Angels. I haven't read those - these books are quite hard to get hold of in my country, but I plan to read them when I can. Interestingly there are also two CYOA games set in the universe of the Craft Sequence: https://www.choiceofgames.com/deathless/ Choice of the Deathless doesn't tie in explicitly with any of the books, but lets you play as a member of one of the powerful magical corporations and deal with law and contracts with demons. https://www.choiceofgames.com/deathless-the-citys-thirst/ In The City's Thirst you are trying to negotiate water rights with ancient gods and scorpion-people for a city in the desert. This one to me felt a lot more like the novels, with a focus on politics and the effects of conflicting cultural groups trying to deal with eachother. Both games are fun though! Hoping other people will have heard of these, and if not maybe it might be something someone would enjoy!
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Apr 26, 2023 18:24
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| # ? May 31, 2024 09:03 |
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I'd heard of these books before but what really sold me was reading an excerpt of the second book's opening. I loved that gambling scene for Caleb. It isn't complicated or long but it imparts so much flavor so quickly that it immediately reminded me of Roger Zelazny's work. Instant buy!
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Apr 27, 2023 14:49
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I read and really enjoyed the first three, was a bit meh on the fourth, and couldn't finish the fifth. No particular reason, and I might have just been burned out on the setting and style. I'd still recommend the first few anyway.
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Apr 28, 2023 15:58
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I love these books, I love the characters, and I really need to re-read Ruin of Angels because I was hosed up on postpartum hormones and lack of sleep when I read it, which is both good and bad for following the plot of a story that involves falling through holes in spacetime.
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Apr 29, 2023 03:22
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thunderdome winner
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These books are great. One thing that you didn’t mention, and in fact may not be aware of if you’ve only read those three books, is that they are not written and published in chronological order. The chronological order is fairly simple to discover: Last First Snow, Two Serpents Rise, Three Parts Dead, Four Roads Cross, Full Fathom Five, and then Ruin of Angels. The numbers go in order! The concept for the universe always strikes me as something that surely must have been done a million times before, but Gladstone takes it to a much more natural conclusion and builds a consistent world out of it - Gods are real, and their relationship with worshipers represent contracts: you make an offering and the God is contractually obligated to start the rainy season. Of course you would have extremely powerful magicians in this world who are well-versed in contract law, that makes sense and is obvious - no other author that i’ve seen is like “well obviously a major religion would need a risk manager to audit the contracts and make sure a god isn’t getting bound in contracts that would prevent them from delivering. Of course people are going to pool funds and conceive of bespoke gods, or offer prayers as a service” I think Last First Snow is my favourite - it’s sbout Temoc, the father of Caleb from two serpents rise, and the gentrification of Dresidiel Lex as the old ways are demolished. A new book in the same universe was recently published, the start of a trilogy that i think is intended to end the stories? I haven’t picked it up yet but i’m looking forward to reading it on the deck as the weather warms up.
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Apr 30, 2023 00:47
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I read the first one and ordered the rest... and then never got around to reading them. I really should. Business wizards is a powerful concept.
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Apr 30, 2023 16:35
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Coca Koala posted:These books are great. One thing that you didn’t mention, and in fact may not be aware of if you’ve only read those three books, is that they are not written and published in chronological order. The chronological order is fairly simple to discover: I had no idea! That's really cool, I have been resisting just getting the last ones on kindle because I love physical books but maybe I'll just bite the bullet rather than just constantly asking our local store if they can order it in yet. Temoc was definitely the character that stuck with me most and so I'm 100% into a book focused on him TitusGroen posted:I'd heard of these books before but what really sold me was reading an excerpt of the second book's opening. I loved that gambling scene for Caleb. It isn't complicated or long but it imparts so much flavor so quickly that it immediately reminded me of Roger Zelazny's work. Here's that excerpt for anyone else who's curious! Full here: https://www.tor.com/2013/09/30/two-serpents-rise-excerpt/ Two Serpents Rise posted:The goddess leaned over the card table and whispered, “Go all in.”
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May 4, 2023 11:28
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I'm currently around sixty percent of the way through Dead Country and it's quite good.
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May 16, 2023 01:46
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