![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2014\/07\/full-fathom-five.jpg\" "\\"full")
<\/a><\/p>\nThere are three priestesses at the heart of Max Gladstone\u2019s newest book in his Craft Sequence,\u00a0Full Fathom Five<\/a><\/em>, and none of them fit easily into the traditional split of Maiden, Mother, Crone.<\/p>\n In his last book,\u00a0Two Serpents Rise<\/em><\/a>, the action took place in a city that had thrown out its gods and had replaced it with a more mechanical means of keeping communion flowing between souls<\/a>. \u00a0This book also takes place in a city without gods (Kavekana\u2019s gods went out to the wars, and never made it back), so, although its protagonists are priestesses, they all exist on the fringes of their society.<\/p>\n Izza thinks of herself as marginalized by her poverty, more than her devotion, but, as the secret storyteller to a group of children, she provides them with a spiritual sustenance, as well as looking after their physical well-being, as best she can. \u00a0Their gods are poor gods, unable to offer flashy miracles, but Izza and her friends offer them love anyway, simply in recompense for being beautiful and for offering their worshippers what care they can.<\/p>\n Cat is a foreigner, who has travelled far from her city and her goddess. \u00a0(Readers of Three Parts Dead<\/em><\/a>, the first book published in this series, will recognize Cat immediately). \u00a0Her exile appears to be self-chosen, as, in previous books, she struggled to live as an avatar of her goddess, prone to lose herself in her goddess\u2019s larger glory and purpose.<\/p>\n Kai is the only one whose job is explicitly to serve as a priestess, but, on Kavekana, that job is meant to look a bit more like the industrialized faith of Dresediel Lex. \u00a0Kai tends a pool of idols, which are designed to be pallid imitations of gods, that allow pilgrims to make devotional transactions without forming true relationships. \u00a0The attraction for Kai\u2019s firm\u2019s clients is that once they\u2019ve nominally committed themselves to an idol, all other gods must respect their choice and cannot demand fealty. \u00a0(In customary Gladstone style, the religion of this world is mappable onto the finances of ours; Kai\u2019s clients are doing the divine equivalent of corporate inversions<\/a> \u2014 transferring assets offshore to avoid taxes\/owed sacrifices). \u00a0But while Kai\u2019s coworkers are glad to be functionaries, Kai serves her creations with the fervor her clients lack. \u00a0The book\u2019s plot is kickstarted when Kai risks her life to save an overextended idol from collapse.<\/p>\n These women are people who choose service, even when it appears it might come at the expense of survival. \u00a0But, as I read the book, it was hard not to be a little suspicious of some of their seemingly selfless choices. \u00a0Kai repeatedly sacrifices herself, physically and professionally, to shield a coworker, but appears to do so mechanically, without any particular love her friend. \u00a0Her boss accuses her of pathologically seeking out sacrifices to offer the idols, pushing herself past her limits, and pushing away any human relationships that could exercise competing claims on her love.<\/p>\n Ultimately, a priest stands between a god or goddess and their flock as a translator. \u00a0The priest is a sign, a resource for pilgrims unsure of how to proceed, people with love that they don\u2019t know how to offer. \u00a0In the Catholic tradition, the priest sometimes stands\u00a0in persona Christi<\/em>, somewhat analogously to the way Cat\u2019s goddess acts through her, with a sacrifice made of themselves in order to bring the divine closer to everyone else, in a form they can recognize and interact with. \u00a0In order to serve as a priest, Kai ultimately needs to be able to face out, to know the people on whose behalf she offers sacrifice, rather than appropriating their needs for her private devotion.<\/p>\n Gladstone\u2019s newest book does well by its devoted characters. \u00a0Izza, Cat, and Kai live in a world where the choices are harder than just sacrifice versus selfishness. \u00a0All three characters must go through a process of discernment to decide whom is worth sacrificing for, and whom (including themselves) they can licitly offer as sacrifice.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For new readers: I thought that Gladstone\u2019s first two books,<\/em>\u00a0Three Parts Dead<\/a> and<\/em> Two Serpents Rise<\/a> could be read in either order, but I\u2019d recommend reading both before starting<\/em>\u00a0Full Fathom Five<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also, a year ago, I interviewed Max Glastone about his novels. \u00a0You can read\u00a0parts one<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0two<\/a>\u00a0of that interview at the links. Max\u2019s own blog<\/a> is a great deal of fun and a worthy addition to your RSS reader. \u00a0The first five chapters of\u00a0<\/em>Full Fathom Five<\/a>\u00a0are available to read through Tor.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are three priestesses at the heart of Max Gladstone\u2019s newest book in his Craft Sequence,\u00a0Full Fathom Five, and none of them fit easily into the traditional split of Maiden, Mother, Crone. In his last book,\u00a0Two Serpents Rise, the action took place in a city that had thrown out its gods and had replaced it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":9904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviewsrecommendations"],"yoast_head":"\n