Two Serpents Rise: By Max Gladstone

TWO SERPENTS RISE

SUMMARY

In Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone, shadow demons plague the city reservoir, and Red King Consolidated has sent in Caleb Altemoc—casual gambler and professional risk manager—to cleanse the water for the sixteen million people of Dresediel Lex. At the scene of the crime, Caleb finds an alluring and clever cliff runner, Crazy Mal, who easily outpaces him. 

But Caleb has more than the demon infestation, Mal, or job security to worry about when he discovers that his father—the last priest of the old gods and leader of the True Quechal terrorists—has broken into his home and is wanted in connection to the attacks on the water supply.

From the beginning, Caleb and Mal are bound by lust, Craft, and chance, as both play a dangerous game where gods and people are pawns. They sleep on water, they dance in fire...and all the while the Twin Serpents slumbering beneath the earth are stirring, and they are hungry.

REVIEW

Not only is the Craft Sequence a well written and unique series, but it’s also brilliantly creative. Humans have gained the power to overthrow the gods, but now these same humans have to run the world, and so these series focuses on the craftsmen (lawyers and middle managers with the powers of the gods).

Two Serpents Rise is a fantastic second book in the series. It does not fall into the typical sophomore slump, of course, nor does it read as if it’s a second book in the series. Because of this readers who have not read the first book in the series, Three Parts Dead, will be able to pick up Two Serpents Rise with no problem. That said, fans of the previous book in the series will still enjoy this well crafted novel. It has all of the excitement and strong pacing of Three Parts Dead, just with new characters in a different part of the world (somewhat an Aztec sense). In fact between these two books, Gladstone sets readers up for an imaginative and fascinating series that seems to expand throughout the entire the world, allowing for more creativity and surprises in the series.

All in all, I really liked Two Serpents Rise. It had strong characters, it had a very unique voice, and there was enough action and originality that it kept me on the edge of my seat. Because of all these things I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

INFO

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: October 29, 2013

Price: $25.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Serpents-Rise-Craft-Sequence-ebook/dp/B00CQY7VMS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383587951&sr=1-1&keywords=two+serpents+rise