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Three Parts Dead

Max Gladstone

"A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable …

"A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable crisis of faith. When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb's courts--and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb's slim hope of survival. Set in a phenomenally built world in which justice is a collective force bestowed on a few, craftsmen fly on lightning bolts, and gargoyles can rule cities, Three Parts Dead introduces readers to an ethical landscape in which the line between right and wrong blurs. "--

eBook, 353 pages

English language

Published Nov. 2, 2012 by Tor.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-3310-0
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Subjects

Fiction
Fantasy

Reviews

Sally Strange reviewed Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

If Gods are real then magic is law

5 stars

And vice versa. That's essentially the premise of this fun steampunk necromancy thriller. And if Gods are real, then their power likewise is real and can be harnessed and combined with machinery to, for example, provide home heating for an entire city.

Aside from some overuse of the trope of "this character knows nothing about the magic this other character uses every day so she gets to explain it all to him and thus to the readers", I found very little to dislike and lots to enjoy. Complex and creative world-building. A heroine who is strong and confident but not perfect. Action sequences that leave you breathlessly turning the page for more. The main villain being a university professor who violates the minds and bodies of his students and gets away with it because he's just SO brilliant is a relatable touch. Faith, love, betrayal, addiction, and murder. I'm …

And vice versa. That's essentially the premise of this fun steampunk necromancy thriller. And if Gods are real, then their power likewise is real and can be harnessed and combined with machinery to, for example, provide home heating for an entire city.

Aside from some overuse of the trope of "this character knows nothing about the magic this other character uses every day so she gets to explain it all to him and thus to the readers", I found very little to dislike and lots to enjoy. Complex and creative world-building. A heroine who is strong and confident but not perfect. Action sequences that leave you breathlessly turning the page for more. The main villain being a university professor who violates the minds and bodies of his students and gets away with it because he's just SO brilliant is a relatable touch. Faith, love, betrayal, addiction, and murder. I'm looking forward to reading the sequels, of which there are several, because I'm hoping that the university that harbored our villain for so long gets THEIR comeuppance as well eventually.

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