Earlier this year, I reviewed Dead Country, a newer installment in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence. Dead Country was an unusual entry in the series with its simpler parred back narrative and more personal focus— until we hit the end of course. That’s when a then-low lying series-spanning threat suddenly decided to make itself known.
This leads us to Wicked Problems, which deals with the massive fallout. Tara had previously returned to Edgemont to deal with the aftermath of her father’s death, and while there, had taken a young girl named Dawn under her wing. At the end of the last book, Dawn merged with… something. Something uncanny. Some strange entity of the Craft. And now she and Tara are on opposite sides of the same conflict.
Dead Country had been a very Tara-centered story. Wicked Problems is the exact opposite—we’re going rope in everyone. And I mean everyone. If they had been a major character at any time in the six books of the Craft Sequence prior to Dead Country, we will run into them here. Tara runs into Kai, Caleb and Aberland, while Dawn and her mysterious passenger recruit a number of more mercenary characters, including Caleb’s dad Temoch. The multiple reunions are handled well; who wouldn’t be pleased when their favorite meetup together after not seeing them for many books? And while the narrative is quite sprawling, I never once felt lost.
It’s also a massive payoff for Gladstone’s unique world building. So far, while we have visited many locations across the world of the Craft Sequence, they have tended to remain contained to their respective stories. This is not the case anymore in Wicked Problems; the known world now feels like a an actual world, and it makes me appreciate jut how high the stakes are. So many of the events that have played out in each of the cities in Gladstone’s corporate-magic landscape in the past all have consequences that play out here. It certainly makes me think that Gladstone is more of a planner than a pant-ser when it comes to his writing.
It really does remind me of watching all of the early Marvel Universe films and then sitting down to Infinity War. Except with even better world building and a more fascinating cast of characters.
Gladstone also plays around with our need to pick a side; we have known Tara since the very first book, and while there have been other protagonists across the series, Tara is the ‘face’ if you will of the Craft Sequence. So as a reader, you may be inclined to reflexively take her side. But Dawn, despite the fact we’ve only known her a book and a half, is highly sympathetic as well. Both women think they’re going to be the one to save the world; both think the other is about to make a horrific mistake.
I really won’t go too much further into how the plot progresses because I don’t want to ruin it for people. But it absolutely bonkers. The only criticism I have is that it is very fast paced and can be exhausting to read a times. I sat down in the bath for a bit to read it on my e-book and by the time I decided to call it a day, I was almost too tired to get out of the tub. It is 63 chapters with little in the way of a break. It’s certainly a lot to take in.
But for anyone else who plans to pick up this book or perhaps it’s already read it, I might ask a favor; can you all please keep an eye on Eberhard Jax for me? I find him utterly fascinating. He keeps on floating around the periphery, evading the spotlight. But because he is the equivalent of a multi-billionaire in a world where world’s sole currency is the stuff of souls, I suspect he won’t be skirting around the sidelines much longer. Just imagine Elon Musk if he were actually in possession of both intelligence and charisma.
And probably a lot more than their equivalent of Mars on his mind.
If Dead Country was the first act and Wicked Problems is the second, I know there is going to have to be a third. And if it follows the same trajectory of the first two, then I feel the scope is only going to be expanded further.
I’m down for that.
For cbr16bingo, this is Bananas, as in “this shit is bananas” Although on the bingo page, we also have “a nation made unstable in service of external, commercial interests” I think going through Wicked Problems, that’s several nations being rendered unstable…