Two Serpents Rise
I didn't like this book as much as Three Parts Dead. I don't know how much of that is sophomore slump and how much of it was just Gladstone changing things up a bit. Ultimately I did enjoy this book and found it just as interesting and thought-provoking as the first one. But it took me a lot longer to get there.
At least part of that is because Caleb is a difficult protagonist. And he's the only point of view we get in this book, aside from a few brief interludes. So we have a much narrower scope and a lot of time spent with a character that I took a long time to warm up to. I suppose it's no surprise that I wasn't as immediately or intensely excited about this book.
The thing about Caleb is that he's content. And that's just not that interesting. He likes his work. He likes his life. He's not hugely passionate about anything, but neither is he deeply dissatisfied. His biggest problem is his relationship with his father, who was a priest of the fallen gods and, in trying to return the world to one he recognizes, has earned a reputation as a terrorist. Caleb's boss, the King in Red and his father are bitter enemies.
Caleb doesn't agree with his father, who practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods he served. He's much more on board with the King in Red, who at least doesn't kill people. But of course it's not quite as simple as that, as people keep pointing out to him throughout the book. People still die. Sacrifices are still demanded. Some people think it would be better to return to the old ways, when those in charge were more honest about the demands they made of their subjects.
Caleb believes, very firmly, that the present is better than the past. And he spends most of the book thinking that that's good enough. The world is better than it used to be, so let's just stop here and appreciate it. It takes a lot to shake him out of this and make him question whether the world his boss has created is sustainable in the long term, whether it would be possible to make something better still. What that might look like.
It's a difficult and frustrating but ultimately rewarding journey, though I think it could have been paced a little better. It helps that the world is so fantastically rich, the characters so realistic. As frustrated as I occasionally got by the plot, there were always these tantalizing hints about how the world worked to hold my interest. Gladstone draws heavily on Aztec culture and mythology, which isn't as common in fantasy. And he also tackles the problem of a city in a desert, where there isn't enough water to sustain the human population and magic can only help so much. It's definitely a relevant story, considering what's currently happening in Cape Town and Mexico City, and what can't be too far off in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Gladstone doesn't come up with any easy answers, but at least he forces his characters to grapple with the problem.
From what I can tell, this is the weakest book of the series. Full Fathom Five will hopefully bring back the elements I loved about Three Parts Dead. I'm excited to see more of this world and the aftermath of the God Wars.
At least part of that is because Caleb is a difficult protagonist. And he's the only point of view we get in this book, aside from a few brief interludes. So we have a much narrower scope and a lot of time spent with a character that I took a long time to warm up to. I suppose it's no surprise that I wasn't as immediately or intensely excited about this book.
The thing about Caleb is that he's content. And that's just not that interesting. He likes his work. He likes his life. He's not hugely passionate about anything, but neither is he deeply dissatisfied. His biggest problem is his relationship with his father, who was a priest of the fallen gods and, in trying to return the world to one he recognizes, has earned a reputation as a terrorist. Caleb's boss, the King in Red and his father are bitter enemies.
Caleb doesn't agree with his father, who practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods he served. He's much more on board with the King in Red, who at least doesn't kill people. But of course it's not quite as simple as that, as people keep pointing out to him throughout the book. People still die. Sacrifices are still demanded. Some people think it would be better to return to the old ways, when those in charge were more honest about the demands they made of their subjects.
Caleb believes, very firmly, that the present is better than the past. And he spends most of the book thinking that that's good enough. The world is better than it used to be, so let's just stop here and appreciate it. It takes a lot to shake him out of this and make him question whether the world his boss has created is sustainable in the long term, whether it would be possible to make something better still. What that might look like.
It's a difficult and frustrating but ultimately rewarding journey, though I think it could have been paced a little better. It helps that the world is so fantastically rich, the characters so realistic. As frustrated as I occasionally got by the plot, there were always these tantalizing hints about how the world worked to hold my interest. Gladstone draws heavily on Aztec culture and mythology, which isn't as common in fantasy. And he also tackles the problem of a city in a desert, where there isn't enough water to sustain the human population and magic can only help so much. It's definitely a relevant story, considering what's currently happening in Cape Town and Mexico City, and what can't be too far off in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Gladstone doesn't come up with any easy answers, but at least he forces his characters to grapple with the problem.
From what I can tell, this is the weakest book of the series. Full Fathom Five will hopefully bring back the elements I loved about Three Parts Dead. I'm excited to see more of this world and the aftermath of the God Wars.
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