Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Review: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

Oh, where do I start? Urban fantasy is often seen as sort of synonymous with contemporary fantasy - but it doesn't have to be.

Three Parts Dead combines urban fantasy with some elements of steampunk (it doesn't really have the costumes) with legal thriller with mystery. Tara just got thrown out of magic school (literally) for trying to expose an unethical professor. Now she's been hired as a probationary associate by a law firm.

In a world where magic is used in all the ways we use technology and then some. Arguing a court case can be quite dangerous! Especially when you're investigating the death of a God.

Oh, yes, and it also involves gargoyles, necromancy and politics.

Three Parts Dead reminds me a little bit of The Iron Dragon's Daughter (although I prefer the latter). It's a fun read.


One interesting aside on this. I was told by a Tor editor that they do not put black people on book covers because it "reduces distribution in the South." But I'm holding a Tor novel with a black woman on the cover. So, apparently that policy is (thankfully) shifting.


(Copy obtained at World Fantasy Con).


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