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A review by aceinit
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
4.0
Three Parts Dead was a very pleasant surprise, so I shall attempt to hammer a few thoughts into something resembling a review.
Things this book has going for it:
Phenomenal world-building. Like, phenomenal. There are vampire pirates, mind-hijacking professors, and junkies who are always on the hunt for their next big fix (whether it come from the rapture of a vampire bite or being overtaken by the unseen hands that protect the city). There are shapeshifting gargoyles that may or may not have nefarious intentions.
Gladstone has created world where gods and mortals went to war against one another and the mortals (mostly) won. Where gods can be killed, then resurrected and rebuilt to fulfill a slightly twisted version of their original purpose. Where the power of gods and the strength of worship is measured both in divine glory and legally binding contracts. Where humans can aspire to godlike power and live indefinitely, and where the religious devout intermingle with those who believe we make (and can become) our own gods. I would’ve been perfectly happy to read the Complete and Unabridged History of the God Wars, if such a thing existed. I was that interested in the world that’s been created here.
At the heart of the world he has created, there is something you don’t see a lot in fantasy, urban or not: a woman of color as the central protagonist, and one who does not suffer from Strong Female Character Syndrome. Strong Female Character Syndrome, for those unfamiliar with my reviews, is when then female character in question spends so much time talking about how she is such a Strong Female or bemoaning that she will never be treated like “one of the guys” (claiming she is capable of doing everything they can but never actually presenting any evidence to back this up) that we never actually see her do anything interesting and, in fact, she spends more time falling into the arms of the nearest available man than actually charting her own course.
Tara Abernathy does not suffer from this. At all. She kicks ass on her own terms and never one bemoans her lack of a love life or how the menfolk just will not give her a fair chance to prove herself. Tara stands up and makes people pay attention to her, and she is a wonderfully refreshing combination of fun, intelligence, determination and success.
Things that detract from all the awesome things I just listed:
Viewpoint changes.
All the time.
All.
The.
Time.
In every chapter you are bouncing from character POV to character POV three or four times, sometimes more. During the buildup to the climax and the climax itself, the reader has the point of view of a ping-pong ball, things shift so quickly. The constant shifts are jarring, making character introductions abrupt and making me wonder if the author understands that it is perfectly okay to go more than five or six pages without some kind of mini-cliffhanger. Just when you get into one viewpoint and narrative flow, the story is interrupted and shifts to somewhere else. By the time you reorient and get back into the new character’s head an conflict, it shifts again.
Lack of vivid descriptions. Or, I guess, lack of descriptions that didn’t sound flat in comparison to the events being described. Example:
"A curtain of flame erupted from the staff’s tip, red and orange and yellow, and rose into the evening sky. It was the color of leaves in autumn, but it was not autumn leaves. It was hot like the sun, but it was not the sun. It was the fire of divinity."
I'm just not nearly as impressed as I should be, all things considered. The entire book feels like this, for me. The writing itself doesn’t quite live up to the potential of the story. It reads well, and flows smoothly, but it lacks the narrative oomph to make me rush out and tell my friends “you must read this book!”
Which makes me a little sad, because it is a good book; the kind of story that has epic trilogy potential. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t quite get it there. Still, it IS a good book, and I am very much looking forward to the other two. Gladstone has some very interesting stories to tell, and is unafraid to use a diverse cast to tell them. I am excited to explore more of his world.
Things this book has going for it:
Phenomenal world-building. Like, phenomenal. There are vampire pirates, mind-hijacking professors, and junkies who are always on the hunt for their next big fix (whether it come from the rapture of a vampire bite or being overtaken by the unseen hands that protect the city). There are shapeshifting gargoyles that may or may not have nefarious intentions.
Gladstone has created world where gods and mortals went to war against one another and the mortals (mostly) won. Where gods can be killed, then resurrected and rebuilt to fulfill a slightly twisted version of their original purpose. Where the power of gods and the strength of worship is measured both in divine glory and legally binding contracts. Where humans can aspire to godlike power and live indefinitely, and where the religious devout intermingle with those who believe we make (and can become) our own gods. I would’ve been perfectly happy to read the Complete and Unabridged History of the God Wars, if such a thing existed. I was that interested in the world that’s been created here.
At the heart of the world he has created, there is something you don’t see a lot in fantasy, urban or not: a woman of color as the central protagonist, and one who does not suffer from Strong Female Character Syndrome. Strong Female Character Syndrome, for those unfamiliar with my reviews, is when then female character in question spends so much time talking about how she is such a Strong Female or bemoaning that she will never be treated like “one of the guys” (claiming she is capable of doing everything they can but never actually presenting any evidence to back this up) that we never actually see her do anything interesting and, in fact, she spends more time falling into the arms of the nearest available man than actually charting her own course.
Tara Abernathy does not suffer from this. At all. She kicks ass on her own terms and never one bemoans her lack of a love life or how the menfolk just will not give her a fair chance to prove herself. Tara stands up and makes people pay attention to her, and she is a wonderfully refreshing combination of fun, intelligence, determination and success.
Things that detract from all the awesome things I just listed:
Viewpoint changes.
All the time.
All.
The.
Time.
In every chapter you are bouncing from character POV to character POV three or four times, sometimes more. During the buildup to the climax and the climax itself, the reader has the point of view of a ping-pong ball, things shift so quickly. The constant shifts are jarring, making character introductions abrupt and making me wonder if the author understands that it is perfectly okay to go more than five or six pages without some kind of mini-cliffhanger. Just when you get into one viewpoint and narrative flow, the story is interrupted and shifts to somewhere else. By the time you reorient and get back into the new character’s head an conflict, it shifts again.
Lack of vivid descriptions. Or, I guess, lack of descriptions that didn’t sound flat in comparison to the events being described. Example:
"A curtain of flame erupted from the staff’s tip, red and orange and yellow, and rose into the evening sky. It was the color of leaves in autumn, but it was not autumn leaves. It was hot like the sun, but it was not the sun. It was the fire of divinity."
I'm just not nearly as impressed as I should be, all things considered. The entire book feels like this, for me. The writing itself doesn’t quite live up to the potential of the story. It reads well, and flows smoothly, but it lacks the narrative oomph to make me rush out and tell my friends “you must read this book!”
Which makes me a little sad, because it is a good book; the kind of story that has epic trilogy potential. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t quite get it there. Still, it IS a good book, and I am very much looking forward to the other two. Gladstone has some very interesting stories to tell, and is unafraid to use a diverse cast to tell them. I am excited to explore more of his world.