Audible Book Review - Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

My brother recommended I try Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone based on it's eligibility for the Hugo this year. As a voting member he and his wife received e-copies of all of the eligible works he found it fascinating. Knowing how excited my brother can get about things he enjoys I took a look at it on Audible. The selection is larger than my local library and i recently found their return policy so I'm more willing to risk a new book or author there. I read the synopsis and was intrigued. It did look promising. However, I already had books in mind and so it sat on my wishlist until I found the return policy on Audible. Trading in Redshirts I scooped up Three Parts Dead and found myself entranced. The world is gritty. The magic is mystical, and the plot was a mystery wrapped with fantasy, religion, and corporate intrigue. Here the link to Audible's page for the book. The narrator was Claudia Alick and she did a good job of the book. It wasn't perfect, but it was very good. I liked the world that Gladstone created, somewhere between high and urban fantasy. The mix was well done. There is a pretty decent learning curve - Gladstone does a lot of showing the world without too much preamble. The Craft (magic - specifically a form of necromancy) is not fully explained, we just know it's limitations and potentials. We don't know how they do things though. It was a fun ride. Unexpected at times and very riveting.

Plot: Tara is under a lot of pressure. She was graduated from The Hidden Schools of Craft simply so they could throw her out the front door to plummet to her death. Then, in an attempt to help her home village she finds herself on the wrong end of an angry mob. Now she is the newest associate (probationary) in one of the world's leading firms of craft and she and her boss have to figure out how a god died and how they are going to fix it before the rioting starts. Combine that with vampires, gargoyles, creditors, and the black suits of Justice and this case is not going to be easy. Tara may be pressured, but at least she wasn't the one on watch when the God died. Abelard, a priest of Kos Everburning, was there when his God ceased to be. Needless to say he is having a crisis of faith and is bound to do everything he can to help Tara and her boss represent the deity in the coming battle for his body and godly power. That includes introducing Tara to his friend Kat - even if Kat is addicted to an odd stimulant. Dealing with her own problems, Kat's professional expertise and unusual recreation (letting vampires bit her wrist) helps Tara and Abelard track down information about Kos' death and they begin to suspect that the god didn't die of natural causes. It appears to be a case of murder most divine.

My personal favorites: The book kept moving. The pacing was quick and well managed. Tara was an interesting character. Abelard, Kat, and the other POV characters were also well flushed out. They each had their strengths and weaknesses. I particularly liked Abelard. He was a religious character who was faced with a literal crisis of faith and overcame it without ever forsaking his faith. The theology of the book was new and refreshing and the world felt well explored. It had a great mix of action and humor and it was easy to listen to. The conclusion wrapped up the story and left things open for more exploring with the characters if the author desires to later.

Considerations: There was very little in the way of graphic description or language in this book. I must point out one use of very strong language at the end, but otherwise it was quite clean. While there was, what might be termed, sensual description (a depiction of Kat getting a "hit" off a vampire bite) there were no sexual situations. There was a rather gruesome murder scene where the victim was dismembered but while the description gives what has been done with his body there is rather sterile without being graphic. The only other thing I mention is the the Craft is a form a necromancy and enables its practitioners to do some rather unusual things such as stick somebody's face to a wig stand. Again, the descriptions are sterile and while a little sudden are not gratuitous or graphic.

I really liked Three Parts Dead and am interested in the 2nd book in the series, Two Serpents Rise. The 2nd book doesn't appear to follow the first, but takes place in the same world. It looks promising. I've readily recommended this book to people already and will continue to do so. The total length was just over 13 hours.