Two Serpents Rise, Max Gladstone

Two Serpents Rise
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765333124
Sf/fantasy/urban fantasy/alternate world fantasy
Craft Sequence: Book 2 (following Three Parts Dead, followed by Full Fathom Five, with upcoming working title Last First Snow)
Read April 2, 2015

I read Three Parts Dead already, so I have no idea if someone new to this world with this book would be totally confused, but I think not.  The references to the past are not info-dumps, and they are subtly different from the ones in the previous book (which is natural, since we're across an ocean and in a very different society with a completely different perspective on the world's history) but I think they explain the background sufficiently.  I can't know, since I'm coming at this with that info already known.

If you did read Three Parts Dead, now we're across the ocean and in an openly Craft-ruled city, built on the ruins of a previously very Incan/Aztec society, complete with pyramid temples, heart sacrifices and soccer played with people's heads.

Our hero is Caleb, a gambler and mid-level "risk management executive" with Red King Consolidated, the Concern (craft-magic bureaucracy) that manages the city's water and power supplies.  It's a decent job, until the water in the city's major reservoir literally turns into bloodthirsty inky ooze demons.  That's despite the massive wards and guards, naturally.  Now Caleb has to balance his duty to the company with his fraught history with religion, with his family, and with his growing attraction to a runner (parkour!) who is most certainly more than she seems.

In addition to this, there's a huge Craft business merger going on between RKC and Heartfire, a smaller water/power Concern run by a former priest turned Craftsman.  Finally, Caleb's best friend Teo has to navigate the difficult currents of having a lover who is more politically (perhaps even radically) active than she is comfortable with.

Caleb is a gambler, but he's lost his nerve.  In the coming days, he'll either find it again, or die in the process.



I very much enjoyed the read, but I think that I liked the characters and characterization in Three Parts Dead a little more.  Teo was awesome, as was the RK himself, but I really would have liked to know Temoc and even Caleb himself a little better.

On the other hand, I feel like the setting and worldbuilding for Dresediel Lex is much more clear and vibrant than for Alt Columb.  There were times that AC felt very like a glossed-over "standard western european fantasy city" just because of how the world is set up, and with this location, that was very much not an issue.

Descriptions of magic and of magical effects are still strong and visceral, but on the flip side, the battles were still a little confused.

Some of the plotting is a little tenuous to think about after the book is finished, but the overall concept is so engaging that I didn't notice while I was reading.

Again, the power levels here are super crazy - humans who are able to kill gods, and power that can be used in ways only limited by imagination and reach.  Still, there are coffee chains, taxis, and people calling in sick on Mondays because they drank too much the night before.  An interesting and sometimes slightly uneasy combination, but I like it.