A review by mrsbluejay
Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
5.0
So far I liked this part of the Craft Sequence best.
To me it seems like Two Serpents Rise is a love declaration to the real world, in particular the parts of it created by humans, despite all their nastiness and problems.
I enjoy reading Gladstone's characters, even if I don't like them. None of the main characters in this book (Caleb, Mal, Temoc and the King in Red) are in any way likeable to me, and I don't think they are meant to be. They're all at least very grey, if not outright evil in my opinion. I haven't found it possible to empathize with any of the above mentioned characters for more than a few pages at a time and I think it's safe to say that there's excellent storytelling behind this.
For me, this is a story about failure. In German, there's a proverb 'vom Regen in die Traufe' (literally 'from the rain into the eaves', meaning 'from the frying pan into the fire') that really fits the bill here. Even though the ending seemed to foreshadow a positive development, for me it's hard to believe that's really what's going to happen at this point.
To me it seems like Two Serpents Rise is a love declaration to the real world, in particular the parts of it created by humans, despite all their nastiness and problems.
I enjoy reading Gladstone's characters, even if I don't like them. None of the main characters in this book (Caleb, Mal, Temoc and the King in Red) are in any way likeable to me, and I don't think they are meant to be. They're all at least very grey, if not outright evil in my opinion. I haven't found it possible to empathize with any of the above mentioned characters for more than a few pages at a time and I think it's safe to say that there's excellent storytelling behind this.
For me, this is a story about failure. In German, there's a proverb 'vom Regen in die Traufe' (literally 'from the rain into the eaves', meaning 'from the frying pan into the fire') that really fits the bill here. Even though the ending seemed to foreshadow a positive development, for me it's hard to believe that's really what's going to happen at this point.