Full Fathom Five

Starred review from May 5, 2014
In the rich and complex world of Gladstone’s third Craft novel (after Three Parts Dead), the tropical island of Kavekana thrives as an offshore investment haven for the soulstuff driving the economy. The idols of Kavekana are supposed to be neutral repositories of grace, maintained by priests like Kai Pohala on behalf of clients around the world. After Kai tries to rescue the failing idol Seven Alpha, she discovers that the idols may have more self-awareness than anyone believed. Badly injured in the rescue attempt and sidelined from her vocation, Kai uncovers a conspiracy with grave implications for Kavekana. Kai is a driven, spiky transgender heroine, and the rest of the diverse cast is just as much of a pleasure to follow, including teenage Izza, thief and head storyteller to a gang of street kids, and three formidable women from the previous books: ex-policewoman Cat, risk assessor Teo, and Craftswoman Elayne Kevarian. Gladstone continues to trump his already considerable accomplishments in this tightly paced fantasy legal thriller.

July 1, 2014

Priests of the Order tend the idols that dwell in a pool high atop a mountain on the island of Kavekana. No foreign gods have been allowed on the island since the local gods left to go to war and never returned. But with the right contract terms in place the priests will construct an idol that will accept sacrifices and serve as a sort of unnumbered offshore account for worshippers. One of the idols in the pool is dying, and Kai, one of the idol creators, dives in to try to save her but in failing gets embroiled in a lawsuit that will be disastrous to her career and dangerous to those who hold the secrets of the Order. VERDICT Gladstone (Three Parts Dead; Two Serpents Rise) gives readers another slice of the offbeat and wonderful world he has been building that combines epic and urban fantasy with the intrigue of a business/legal thriller.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
The third novel in the Craft Sequence can be read as a stand-alone (as can each of the two that came before it, Three Parts Dead, 2012, and Two Serpents Rise, 2013). Like its predecessors, this one is a mystery posing as an urban fantasy: Kai, a god-builder on the island of Kavekana, is upset when one of her creations dies. Upset turns to concern when her boss pulls her off god-building duty and puts her behind a desk, in what's essentially a customer-service position. Kai wonders if there's a conspiracy afoot to keep her from investigating the god's death, but she isn't prepared for the surprises that await her. The story could easily have been a comedyTom Holt, for example, would have a field day with this materialbut in Gladstone's hands, it's pretty serious stuff. He has created a wildly imaginative, complex world in these books, balancing reality and fantasy elements to such a degree that it's sometimes difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Fans will be eager to see where this series goes next.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)