 Cover art for Three Parts Dead, the first book in the series by publication order | |
| |
| Author | Max Gladstone |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Tor.com |
| Published | Oct 2, 2012 – Sep 5, 2017 |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | 6 |
The Craft Sequence is a series of urban fantasy novels by American author Max Gladstone. It currently consists of six novels, beginning with Three Parts Dead (2012). The sequence received critical acclaim. It was nominated for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Series.
Forty years before the start of the novel, Craftspeople and gods fight in the God Wars. Seril, the moonlight goddess of the city of Alt Coulumb, is killed. The Guardians of Seril, gargoyles, are exiled from Alt Coulumb. Alexander Denovo, a powerful Craftsman, is hired to resurrect Seril. He uses Seril's corpse to create a replacement goddess named Justice.
As the novel begins, Tara Abernathy is a student of the Craft. The Craft is a system of magic based on contracts and laws. She discovers that Professor Denovo has been stealing his students’ powers and controlling their minds. She burns Denovo's laboratory and is exiled from the school as punishment. Tara is hired by Elayne Kavarian, a Craftswoman and rival of Denovo's.
Kos, the fire god of Alt Coulumb and former lover of Seril, dies under mysterious circumstances. Kavarian is hired by the clergy to investigate, and she brings Tara to the city with her. Their companions include Abelard, a priest of Kos, as well as Catherine, a servant of Justice. They are opposed by Denovo, who is representing the creditors to whom Kos had pledged his power. A local judge is murdered, and Justice suspects that the exiled gargoyles are the perpetrators. Tara, believing that the cases are linked, investigates further.
Tara discovers that Denovo murdered Kos and plans to take his place as the city's god. Elayne and Tara resurrect Kos and reunite the spirit of Seril with Justice. Denovo is arrested, and Tara decides to remain in the city to assist with the aftermath of the case. Elayne visits Denovo in prison and murders him with his own shadow, leaving no evidence.
In the desert city of Dresediel Lex, Caleb Altemoc works as a risk manager for Red King Consolidated (RKC), which controls the flow of water in the city. His friend Teo also works at RKC. Caleb has a contentious relationship with his father Temoc. As a priest, Temoc was responsible for human sacrifice, a practice which has been outlawed since the priests lost the God Wars. Temoc is now a guerrilla fighter and a wanted terrorist. RKC is led by the King in Red, a powerful undead Craftsman. The King in Red had fought in the God Wars to avenge his lover, who was killed as a human sacrifice. Caleb investigates after a guard is killed by a demon in an RKC reservoir. He finds a woman named Mal trespassing at the scene, but she escapes.
The King in Red asks Caleb to represent the firm in a potential deal to acquire Heartstone Company. Heartstone is drawing power from two massive, slumbering serpents, which were once worshipped in Dresediel Lex. When the deal is signed, Caleb learns that Mal is a high-ranking Heartstone executive. One of the conditions for the Heartstone acquisition is that RKC will never allow the serpents to wake.
Demons begin appearing in the city’s water supply, leading to social unrest. Mal and Caleb are instructed to fix the contamination. Together, Caleb and Mal defeat a rogue Craftswoman from Heartstone who had damaged the city’s water. They grow close and begin a romantic relationship, but they quarrel after Caleb learns that Mal still worships the old gods.
Mal awakens the serpents. As a follower of the old gods, she plans to force RKC out of the city. RKC has been substantially weakened by its contractual obligation to keep the serpents asleep. Caleb, Teo, and Temoc break into RKC headquarters. Caleb and Teo want to destroy the Heartstone contract. Temoc believes that the best way to send the serpents back to sleep is to resume human sacrifice instead. He prepares to sacrifice Teo, but she escapes and destroys the contract. The King in Red regains much of his strength, and Temoc flees. Caleb feeds RKC's power into the serpents, sating them and sending them to sleep once again. Mal disappears, presumably killed in the conflict. Caleb retires from RKC and starts his own firm, desiring peace between theists and Craftspeople.
The island of Kavekana lost its native gods in the God Wars. Now, Priestess Kai builds artificial gods for her clients. Kai risks her life to save a dying idol named 7 Alpha, but fails. As 7 Alpha dies, Kai hears her speak, which should be impossible as idols are not supposed to be intelligent. Kai’s boss Jace demotes her for her recklessness. Kai is assigned to sell an idol to Teo of the Two Serpents Group.
Ms. Kavarian represents 7 Alpha’s clients and is hired to investigate her death. At a poetry competition, Kai hears a man named Edmund recite 7 Alpha’s dying words and decides to investigate. She asks her ex-boyfriend Claude, a police officer, to take Edmund into protective custody.
On Kavekana, convicted criminals are placed into statues called Penitents and forced to serve as law enforcement. A street urchin named Izza helps rescue a woman from Penitents. This woman is Catherine, a servant of Seril from Alt Coulomb. Izza tells stories about the Blue Lady, a dead goddess who used to protect street children. It is eventually revealed that the Blue Lady is 7 Alpha. Edmund is killed by a Penitent. Izza and Kai begin working together. Kai learns that Jace is killing any idols who exhibit consciousness. All of these idols are mouthpieces for a larger goddess, who is still alive and is being kept prisoner. Jace places Kai and Teo inside Penitents; Izza helps them escape. Teo reveals she and Catherine are working for Seril, hoping to retrieve a piece of Seril’s soul that Kavekana’s priests had stolen from Alt Coulomb.
Claude arrests Jace. Cat and Teo retrieve the stolen piece of Seril’s soul before leaving the island. Izza becomes the priestess of Kavekana’s new goddess. Izza and Kai work to end the Penitent system and bring Kavekana into a new future together.
In the novels, magic is real and works similarly to corporate law. The series drew inspiration from James C. Scott's book Seeing Like a State to explore the definition of corporations and governments. The magical system of the novel is used to explore globalization, capitalism, and debt. [2]
Liz Bourke describes Last First Snow as an "intensely political book". She writes that the novel explores the conflict between conservatism and progress by contrasting the age of gods with the age of commerce. It also explores community organizing and mass protest. [3]
Each novel is a standalone set in the same universe, so the novels can be read in any order. The numbers in the titles of the first five novels indicate the internal chronological order of the series. [4] Gladstone states that this stemmed from his experience growing up in a small town in Tennessee, where the local bookstore often did not stock complete book series all at once. [5]
Publishers Weekly gave Three Parts Dead a starred review, praising the "suspenseful and fast-paced" story as well as the "diverse female-led cast". [6] A review in Kirkus Reviews praised the strong female characters in Three Parts Dead, as well as the creative worldbuilding. The same review found that the novel's conclusion was "slightly clumsy", but otherwise praised the plot. [7]
Publishers Weekly also gave a starred review to Two Serpents Rise, calling Caleb an "engaging protagonist" and comparing the city of Dresediel Lex to an alternate Los Angeles, complete with "its own versions of ethnic tensions and environmental strain". [8] Kirkus Reviews called the setting "Aztec-inspired", and suggested that Gladstone's descriptions of the city may offer "a metaphor for end-stage capitalism". Their review called the novel "highly unusual" and "worth a try". [9]
Writing for NPR, author Amal El-Mohtar praised the cover art for Full Fathom Five, stating that she was drawn to a novel that portrayed two women of color without falling into the sexualized stereotypes common in urban fantasy novels' cover art. El-Mohtar wrote that the series contained "some of the smartest, most original and sophisticated world-building I've read in years", and particularly praised the female-led cast of Full Fathom Five. [10] Liz Bourke wrote that Full Fathom Five is "engaged in a conversation" with the fantasy genre, due in part to its modernity and the diversity of its cast. She called the novel "his best yet". [11] Publishers Weekly gave a starred review to Full Fathom Five, praising the novel for its transgender heroine Kai in addition to the other diverse cast members. The review praised the novel and stated that Gladstone "continues to trump his already considerable accomplishments". [12]
Publishers Weekly wrote a starred review for Last First Snow, praising its "sly satire of current socioeconomic issues" and writing that the novels of the Craft Sequence are "always enthralling and somehow consistently improving with every book". [13] Four Roads Cross also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, applauding the return of Tara Abernathy and the cast from Three Parts Dead. The review commended Gladstone's "storytelling, worldbuilding, and character development", calling the novel "a splendid continuation of a fascinating series". [14] The Ruin of Angels received a starred review as well, which particularly praised the way the novel handled its transgender characters. The same review also wrote that the novel was "surprising" and made the setting "feel even more vivid and real than it did before". [15]
Three Parts Dead was shortlisted for the 2014 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Fantasy. [16] Full Fathom Five was nominated for the 2015 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. [17] The entire series was nominated for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Series. [18]
The Italian Secretary is mystery fiction by Caleb Carr featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This literary pastiche had the approval of the Doyle estate having originally been commissioned as a short story for the collection Ghosts of Baker Street which then expanded into a novel.
William C. Dietz is an American science fiction writer, principally of military science fiction novels and video game novelizations.
Douglas Clegg is an American horror and dark fantasy author, and a pioneer in the field of e-publishing. He maintains a strong Internet presence through his website.
Brooke Gladstone is an American journalist, author and media analyst. She is the host and managing editor of the WNYC radio program On the Media.
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is a 2009 novel based on the comic book Fables, written by series creator Bill Willingham; Steve Leialoha provided illustrations. The book was released by Vertigo on October 7, 2009. An audio book version was released on December 8 of the same year; it is read by Wil Wheaton.
Kristin F. Cast is a Nigerian American author of young adult books and graphic novels, best known for the House of Night series and Sisters of Salem series, written with her mother, P. C. Cast.
The Nick Stone Missions are a series of action thriller novels written by author Andy McNab, based on his own experiences in the SAS. The first book in the series, Remote Control was published in February 1998 by Transworld Publishers under their Corgi imprint.
Sarah Grace Perry is an English author. She has had four novels published: After Me Comes the Flood (2014), The Essex Serpent (2016), Melmoth (2018) and Enlightenment (2024). Her work has been translated into 22 languages. She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Essex in July 2023, officially starting in this role on 1 August 2023.
Max Gladstone is an American fantasy author. He is best known for his 2012 debut novel Three Parts Dead, which is part of The Craft Sequence, his urban fantasy serial Bookburners, and for co-writing This Is How You Lose the Time War.
Horrorstör is a 2014 horror comedy novel that was written by Grady Hendrix and illustrated by Michael Rogalski. The novel was released in paperback on September 23, 2014 through Quirk Books and is set in ORSK, an IKEA-esque store that has been experiencing supernatural phenomena. The audiobook release was narrated by Tai Sammons and Bronson Pinchot. The book's events take place largely over the course of one night in ORSK and the story is accompanied by illustrations of ORSK products, which grow more sinister as the book progresses.
Cassandra Rose Clarke is an American author who writes speculative fiction novels.
This Is How You Lose the Time War is a 2019 science fiction fantasy LGBT epistolary novel by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It was first published by Simon & Schuster. It won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2019, and the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps is a 2015 LGBT science fantasy novella, the debut novella by Kai Ashante Wilson. It is set in the same fictional universe as his later novella A Taste of Honey, as well as several of his short stories. It won the 2016 Crawford Award.
The Unbroken is a 2021 epic fantasy novel, the debut novel by C. L. Clark. It is the first book in a planned trilogy entitled Magic of the Lost; it was followed by a sequel entitled The Faithless in 2023. It received critical acclaim for its exploration of colonialism in the setting of an epic fantasy novel. It was nominated for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel and 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel.
Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a Chinese-American writer from Austin, Texas.
The Timekeeper Trilogy is a series of young adult steampunk novels by Tara Sim. It is the author's debut trilogy. The series comprises Timekeeper (2016), Chainbreaker (2018), and Firestarter (2019).
The Tide Child trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by R. J. Barker. It comprises The Bone Ships (2019), Call of the Bone Ships (2020), and The Bone Ship's Wake (2021). The first book in the trilogy won the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
The Final Architecture is a series of science fiction novels by British writer Adrian Tchaikovsky. It contains the books Shards of Earth, Eyes of the Void, and Lords of Uncreation. The series focuses on a group of humans fighting against the mysterious Architects, who destroy inhabited planets. The series has been well-received critically, with Shards of Earth winning the 2021 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
100 Fathoms Below is a 2018 horror suspense novel by Nicholas Kaufmann and Steven L. Kent. The plot centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Roanoke, a nuclear submarine in the US Navy that is sent on a stealth mission into Soviet territory, while unknowingly being preyed upon by vampires in their midst. The novel received mostly positive reviews from critics with praise directed at its submarine setting.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a 2024 novella by American author P. Djèlí Clark.