Three Parts Dead

I liked, but I didn't love this book. The concept is wonderful: magicians are effectively a kind of white-collar job like lawyers or accountants. It gives lots of fun opportunities for Pratchett-esque social satire. But I didn't get drawn in to the story or the characters, and I found the writing a bit annoying.

I realise this is the second time I have compared a book I've reviewed to Pratchett. In the case of House of Open Wounds, I thought Tchaikovsky had successfully captured something of the same kind of worldbuilding that I loved in Pratchett. But in this case, Gladstone is aiming to capture a different aspect of Pratchett -- his juxtaposition of unexpected modern concepts and a fantasy world -- but I can't quite place why it isn't working for me.

On the writing: it's fine, but every so often there's a metaphor that doesn't land, or a simile that feels a bit forced. (I think I had similar problems with This Is How You Lose The Time War.)

Despite these complaints, I'd give this a qualified recommendation: if it's something you think you might like, you probably will.

This was not my first time reading Three Parts Dead. In fact, I pre-ordered it when it first came out and read it then. Max Gladstone just released the second book of a sequel series to the original Craft Sequence books and in getting ready to read the Craft Wars books, I decided to go back and read the original Craft Sequence. Let me begin by saying that my original pre-order was based on the fact that when I originally heard about Three Parts Dead, I immediately went to pre-order it because the premise sounded like it was written precisely for me. Like specifically for me. It was exactly the intersection of interests. Premise

That premise is that the Craft Sequence books take place in a world where the law is magic. This book came out while I was just starting my second year of law school. I am both a giant law nerd AND a giant fantasy nerd. So that sentence was enough to snag me. Especially as Gladstone wrote an article with Tor before the book came out that it was inspired by his wife being in law school and the pseudo-Latin that lawyers are subjected to in school sounding like the incantations you’d expect to hear in a magical school book. Which is true. Res Judicata and post hoc ergo propter hoc and Res Loquitur all sound like things a wizard would shout to make things happen. There are days working as a lawyer where I am sad I can’t just shout legal latin at people and make things happen.

Anyway, the plot of Three Parts Dead centers around Tara, a graduate of the Hidden Schools, see: magical law school. The Hidden Schools teach you how to be a magical contracts lawyer slash necromancer. Again, I told you that as a law student slash fantasy geek I thought this sounded awesome. Tara is offered a job, but the permanency of that position relies on her impressing the bosses. That job just happens to be the resurrection of a dead god using contract magic that looks like bankruptcy law tracking the movement of divine energy like forensic accounting. But like, exciting and necromancy. I might be a giant nerd, but trust me.

Abelard is another major character in the book, being a priest of the dead fire god of Alt Coulumb. He’s tasked with showing Tara around and acts sort of like the Watson character for when magic needs explained to the audience.

Cat is a servant of Justice, formerly the goddess Seril before her death in the God Wars and reconstruction into a new being in a situation not entirely unlike the current one. She’s trying to investigate the murder of a judge who was supposed to hear the case and deal with the implications of all that comes out of the case. What I Liked

Okay, so this book released right at the beginning of my second year of law school. Like I said, the premise of magical lawyers was right up my alley. I bought this knowing that the likelihood I connected with it was near 100%. And I did connect with it. Gladstone, now probably better known for being a co-author of This is How You Lose the Time War (see: another instant pre-order for me from premise), gets a voice to the characters and has a skill for the world-building that just makes the whole thing make sense like why wouldn’t law be magic?

Early in my career, and still today honestly, Tara being this newbie thrown out into the world and having to impress everyone by doing everything herself just resonates. She’s got flaws in being too sure of what she’s doing and it does lead her into trouble just as often as into a correct answer. She’s a great character to center this book around. What Didn’t Work for Me

This thing was an ambitious debut for Gladstone and in juggling the plots, there was one that wasn’t hit out of the park for me on this first book. Cat has a plot around having something missing that leads her into a vampire addiction, but Cat’s deal never really gets too fleshed out beyond that and beyond being a parallel to the current situation if it goes wrong. That makes Justice’s role in the finale with the Gargoyle fight and with De Novo in the Temple of Justice feel a little ex machina to use some pseudo-Latin. Cat just felt a little under-developed compared to Tara and Abelard. Overall

Overall, this is honestly one of my favorite book series. And this was the book that got me hooked on it and paying attention to what else Gladstone wrote.

Sure Cat could use some additional fleshing out, but that didn’t keep me from flipping pages into the night to see what came next even on my re-read.

So, this is a great book and you should definitely check it out.

Characters: B
World Building: A
Action / Pacing: A

This book fall into the "quick read" category. It won't make you think too much, but that's just fine if that's what you're looking for. A very good action book with more than enough depth to keep you engaged.

Magic in this book is portrayed as having evolved into an adjunct legal system. So that magicians are like lawyers. It's one of the interesting twists in this book, and there are lots more.

Fascinating mix of different fantasy subgenres.

Urban fantasy with gods and some steampunk flavor.

Enjoyed Tara's mission as new employee of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao.

Next book in the Craft sequence is on my virtual shelf already.