Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone

TL;DR: It took me TWO WEEKS to read this. But it was worth it. I love this series a lot.
Source: NetGalley & I purchased a copy so thank you to the publisher and myself!

Plot: Everyone comes together to either save or consume the world, at this point we just don’t know.
Characters: All of them – all of the previous Craft Sequence characters show up (it feels like) and there was so much packed in there. Just wow.
Setting: All over the world here, I love the settings Max Gladstone builds, this travels over a lot and there isn’t as much intense detail but we see them clearly as familiar readers at this point.
Magic: We get a little of everything – but especially the Eagle Knights who I haven’t read in AGES. As usual I love his magic and how his brain pieces these together.

Thoughts:

I find it very hard sometimes to talk about books and series I love, especially dense and slightly unique and weird ones such as the Craft Wars and Craft Sequence books. Wicked Problems is the second in the Craft Wars series, the follow-up series to the Craft Sequence and while I know it’s not going to work for everyone I also know it can and will work for SO many readers who simply haven’t found this world yet. The world of the Craft is one infused with the magic of gods, humans, chaos, laws, and logic. It’s both over the top and mundane in it’s scope, and the characters are insanely talented and powerful but so fundamentally flawed that they’re relatable. I love them intensely.

This particular volume brings together nearly all of the characters we’ve met previously in the series for the build up to a final showdown. Tara’s ‘fallen’ student Dawn from Dead Country heads one side of the fight. They’re trying to stop the oncoming giant space spiders that intend to eat the world. Tara, Abelard, and Caleb lead another side of this fight. They are trying to stop Dawn but also still stop the spiders (because we love a very complicated miscommunication and misunderstanding here), and finally you have the Mr. Browns. Who simply want to eat everything and help the spiders along the way.

I don’t want to spoil this so here is the very short review for those that picked up Dead Country. Instead of focusing on Tara in this novel we live in a multitude of different PoVs, in fact I’d say Tara has some of the smallest page time. The scope is much wider, the stakes much higher, and the book can feel slow in the middle (it took me two weeks to read). However I think it’s infinitely worth the time and effort and the last 30% had me unable to put the book down.

For current fans, it’s worth it and for those who haven’t tried Max Gladstone, go do it. I love this series, and while it’s not perfect it’s well worth the time and investment. This one is likely going on my favorites of the year.

5 out of 5 Talking Snake Crowns