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A review by rotewaffel
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Magical lawyers and necromancer investigating a gods death, trying to save or at least his church. The magic system in this was very cool, sort of straddling the fence between hard and soft. Magic can be written down in contracts, binding it, and magic energy is quantified and traded with, two quite hard characteristics. But when freeforming magic outside of contracts there seem to be many possibilities for what is possible, and while there probably are limits (definitely on sheer power), the abilities of magic appear wide ranging and with little constraints on what can be affected, especially when gods are involved. Part of that probably is that the main characters we accompany are very skilled and capable. The protagonist, Tara, has just graduated at the start of the book, not quite finished her studies and thus definitely isn't at her peak, but already quite skilled, and the more senior mages far more so.
The authors managed to make me detest the antagonist, great character work on that one, A+. The "good guys" were also well written, but far more likable, of course. The team comes together over the course of the story, each with their own difficulties and some conflict between them. While this is, to some extent, the group of unlikely heroes coming together under adverse circumstance, the way it way executed is different enough it didn't immediately remind me of the trope, which is a good thing, as I'm a bit tired of it. The main POVs are Tara and Abelard, a priest of the dead god Kos, whos death they are investigating and trying to reverse. While there are more POVs (the book qualifies for hard mode on the Multi POV square), the others are for a few scenes here and there, not constant, which keeps the story focussed on the most important parts.
The plot has a mix of different elements: Tara and her mentor are hired as lawyers, but have to work like investigators, but there are also political machinations involved, and every now and then they have to fight as well.
The book has intrigued me and I want to see where the characters and the world are going, so I'll be continuing this series, although I haven't been good in keeping up with series recently, so who knows when I get around to that.
The authors managed to make me detest the antagonist, great character work on that one, A+. The "good guys" were also well written, but far more likable, of course. The team comes together over the course of the story, each with their own difficulties and some conflict between them. While this is, to some extent, the group of unlikely heroes coming together under adverse circumstance, the way it way executed is different enough it didn't immediately remind me of the trope, which is a good thing, as I'm a bit tired of it. The main POVs are Tara and Abelard, a priest of the dead god Kos, whos death they are investigating and trying to reverse. While there are more POVs (the book qualifies for hard mode on the Multi POV square), the others are for a few scenes here and there, not constant, which keeps the story focussed on the most important parts.
The plot has a mix of different elements: Tara and her mentor are hired as lawyers, but have to work like investigators, but there are also political machinations involved, and every now and then they have to fight as well.
The book has intrigued me and I want to see where the characters and the world are going, so I'll be continuing this series, although I haven't been good in keeping up with series recently, so who knows when I get around to that.