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A review by peterkeep
Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone
4.0
Full Fathom Five is a lot like the first two books in the Craft Sequence in that it has the same unique world, it again shows off a new location, it puts forth new characters, and it adds some interesting and weird elements to the world based on the new setting. But it's a bit different than the two previous as well: there are some characters that overlap, there are some direct references to an overall story arc (or at least a theme tying all of the books together), and overall it feels like it makes the series a bit more cohesive.
There isn't as big of an emphasis on the Craft this story, and I'll admit that it's something I missed about Three Parts Dead. Most of the magic is based on gods and worship, which sort of feels a little too normal for these books. But, as usual, the story itself is new and inventive and ends up being far from normal.
Where the previous two books have focused on bankers, lawyers, and actuaries, this one shows off a kind of portfolio manager, specializing in personal investments. There are more characters at play than normal, but they're all interesting and I think the time devoted to each is appropriate. Overall, it's all of the same things I've enjoyed from Max Gladstone's other stories with some new ideas.
I'm interested to see how this series works out chronologically. In the series of five books, this is the third published but the fifth in terms of timeline. It's an ambitious idea to tell a series-long story non-linearly, but so far it seems to be working. I'm excited to fill in the blanks with the next two installments.
There isn't as big of an emphasis on the Craft this story, and I'll admit that it's something I missed about Three Parts Dead. Most of the magic is based on gods and worship, which sort of feels a little too normal for these books. But, as usual, the story itself is new and inventive and ends up being far from normal.
Where the previous two books have focused on bankers, lawyers, and actuaries, this one shows off a kind of portfolio manager, specializing in personal investments. There are more characters at play than normal, but they're all interesting and I think the time devoted to each is appropriate. Overall, it's all of the same things I've enjoyed from Max Gladstone's other stories with some new ideas.
I'm interested to see how this series works out chronologically. In the series of five books, this is the third published but the fifth in terms of timeline. It's an ambitious idea to tell a series-long story non-linearly, but so far it seems to be working. I'm excited to fill in the blanks with the next two installments.