A God has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.
Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help is Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead God, who’s having an understandable crisis of faith.
But when the duo discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts—and their quest for truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and the city’s slim hope of survival.
My debut novel, coming October 2, 2012 from Tor Books! You can pre-order now from most major online retailers:
Advance praise for Three Parts Dead:
“This has so many of my favorite things: an intriguing world, fun characters, a puzzle of a story that manages to be both funky fantasy and legal thriller. Three Parts Dead is simultaneously fast paced and thoughtful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
– Carrie Vaughn, author of the Kitty Norville series“With this first book, Max Gladstone gives promise of being a true star of twenty-first-century fantasy. Indeed, in all the ways that count—wit, invention, strangeness, cool—he already is.”
– John Crowley, author of Little, Big and The Deep“Max Gladstone has created a fascinating universe and equally fascinating characters. It’s a world in which magic is craft, and religion has some very practical rules, and he shows it through the stories of some very interesting characters.”
– Jerry Pournelle, coauthor of The Mote in God’s Eye and of Lucifer’s Hammer“Gladstone has created an amazing world. … Combining murder mystery, corporate intrigue, and thaumaturgical fireworks, Three Parts Dead gives us not just an excellent urban fantasy, but [also] a brilliant new world to explore. I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
– Margaret Ronald, author of Spiral Hunt“Max Gladstone has evidently devised a necromantic steampunk machine that enabled him to channel the Roger Zelazny of Lord of Light, cathect the Neil Gaiman of American Gods, and subsume the oeuvre of John Grisham, all with the aim of producing loopy, metaphysically-minded legal thrillers. It you doubt my conclusion, consider Exhibit A, the author’s delirious and delightful first novel.”
— James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder and Shambling Towards Hiroshima
[...] and confirm. On this very blog I’ve assembled a bunch of book-related info into a dedicated Three Parts Dead page, including the cover, the back-cover summary, and some thoughts on the book by John Crowley, Jerry [...]
[...] the author’s website: A God has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm [...]
[...] roller-coaster of a year after I sold Three Parts Dead and its companion novel, Two Serpents Rise, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve sold two [...]
[...] Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone [...]
[...] Wednesday, Donald and I went to hear my friend Max Gladstone read from his new book Three Parts Dead, at the Harvard Book Store. I bought a copy of the book so Max could sign it (and so I could read [...]
WOW! I am a voracious reader of science fiction, fantasy, etc. I have just completed Three Parts Dead and I have to say that I am deeply impressed by your imagination, your skill with language and images, and this, your first work. Thank you so much for sharing your skills with us. Now, get back to work and write some more. I am hungry for your next works; I will clear space on my shelves for whatever your marvelous and fantastic mind produces next. God (and Goddess) speed.
~Beth Napier
[...] Max Gladstone for Three Parts Dead, Tor Books, 2012. [...]
[...] The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms starts out many generations after the death of a god, Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone, dumps the reader pretty quickly into the “crime scene” where our [...]