The Ruin of Angels

I have kind of mixed feelings about this book. In general, I like this series a lot, and this is definitely NOT the weakest volume, but neither is it the strongest. I would not start the series with this book, but go back and read them in publication order. There are a couple of characters here who will be more meaningful if you have read some of the other books in the series, particularly Full Fathom Five. You learn a lot about Kai’s background in that book, some of which really helps you understand others’ reaction to her in this book (as well as helping you understand a beach visit memory from her childhood).

I feel like the star of this book is the city, only we are talking about three cities instead of just one, all kind of coexisting in the same place — Agdel Lex, a modern (in the sense of post-God Wars, Craft-controlled civilization), Alikand (an older city with gods and angels that sort of pokes through every now and then, and also exists in the mind of older generations), and a dead city. It’s hard to explain, but I actually really like this aspect of the setting. Having multiple cities coexist in the same physical space isn’t new, actually, as China Mieville did it in “The City and the City,” but my personal preference is for the way Max Gladstone handled it here. After destruction, conquerors came in (the Iskari, here) and imposed order, but in doing so, they marginalized a lot of the native culture, so the struggle between the two cities, or between citizens and Wreckers (beings tasked with preventing people from entering the dead city), really works on a plot level as well.

I find Alikand particularly interesting, and maybe we can revisit it in a future book (either before or after the God Wars)? Because there were a lot of concepts relating to Alikand introduced that just didn’t get explored in as much depth as I would have liked (the angels, the importance of books and libraries, etc.).

Some old characters you may remember: Tara Abernathy from several previous novels (though she really just has what I would consider a supporting role here, one that could’ve been done by nearly any other Craftswoman), Hasim and Umar (who made brief appearances in Four Roads Cross), and Izza and Kai from Full Fathom Five. There are multiple POVs in this book, though I feel like it’s mostly Kai’s book. The problem I have with that is that Kai has no real ties to Agdel Lex or Alikand. Her sister is living there, and her sister is definitely caught up in events here, but I just never feel like I get WHY Kai’s sister is so invested in Agdel Lex/Alikand, and that makes Kai’s presence more problematic. (Kai is ostensibly visiting for business-related meetings, and she goes to a few early on, but the book kind of forgets them in the second half, and Kai ignores the occasional summons home from her employer, as well.) So I guess my main issue is that, even though I liked Kai and Tara in their own books, neither of them feels essential to THIS story. I get the sense that we were supposed to hear the story of Agdel Lex here, and probably through the eyes of people who didn’t know the city well (which I do appreciate, because Kai learning about the city makes a lot more sense than a native having the same thoughts, from a narrative perspective). I’m just not all that satisfied with the reasons for Kai being the main character here.

There are also some new characters, mostly minor ones, though some of them get POV scenes. There are Zeddig, an on-again-off-again lover of Ley (who is Kai’s sister) and Aman, who is Zeddig’s grandmother (I think, or at least, a female ancestor who is still living). There’s Raymet, a scholar who runs in some of the same circles as Zeddig. There’s Gal, who is a Caamlander Knight (basically a powerful warrior on a quest; I hope we hear more about her in a future book). Zeddig and Raymet and Gal all go into the dead city from time to time to retrieve valuable books and/or artifacts. Isaak is a friend of Izza’s from when she lived in Agdel Lex, and he doesn’t get any POV scenes but I found myself rooting for him, nonetheless. He seems a little dense but his motives are pure and he’s a good friend to Izza. Bescond and Fontaine are Iskari and both have tentacled symbiotic organisms attached to them; this is apparently part of the Iskari religion. And then there’s Ley, Kai’s sister, who is honestly as much of an enigma to me at the end of the book as she was at the beginning.

Anyway, I kind of liked the storylines involving the minor characters a bit more. There was something moving about Izza’s religion centering on the people who are marginalized (street kids, migrants, etc.), especially near the end, and I was also rooting for Raymet and Gal’s relationship. Both of them seemed like lost souls who needed each other.

This book is pretty heavy-handed with the LGBT themes. A spoiler for Full Fathom Five follows: Kai is trans. She was born in a boy’s body but through what is essentially magic (to us, anyway), she transforms into a physical woman (apparently complete with a uterus). The treatment of this in Full Fathom Five was actually really good, not preachy at all. But about halfway through this book, I’m realizing there are two important trans characters and two female-female relationships (Ley and Zeddig, Raymet and Gal). Although I’ve felt this series was always tolerant and accepting, it just feels a little over-the-top in this particular book. (Nothing is salacious and there are no gratuitous sex scenes.) Kai’s transformation in Full Fathom Five was a really good way of introducing the reader to the gods of Kavekana (her home island). I’m not all that sure there’s the same sort of purpose behind having an additional trans character here unless it is meant to create sympathies between Kai and the second character, understandings of each other’s past life, which may help explain why this other character goes along with something Kai suggests later on (a plan that makes little business sense otherwise). Anyway, I’m still sorting through all of this in my head. If you are looking for fiction with a strong LGBT presence, you will probably be happy with this.

The writing style is about the same here as in the past books. There is magic here, but it is more of a religious nature. Although there is some Craft, there’s not as much discussing of contracts and agreements as in, say, Last First Snow. The actual reading experience for this book was pretty good. I don’t think I always managed to put in my mind the same images the author was thinking of (to be fair, there is some pretty weird imagery here), but I did feel invested enough in each character and curious enough about what would happen next to pick up this book regularly and want to read more chapters than I really had time for. And now I am kind of sad that I am caught up with the series and have to wait for the next book. If a book leaves me feeling that way, I am generally positively disposed towards it.

In the end, loved the city and the conflict, the characters were mostly sympathetic (though some had more emotional impact than others), and my interest was maintained throughout the book (but especially in the second half).

Death came cheap in Agdel Lex, if you knew the market and werent afraid to comparison shop.

5 STARS

CW: loss of a loved one, misgendering, drug use, homophobia, violence, body horror, gore, graphic injury, torture, smoking

Believe it or not, I can summarize this book in four words. Yes, only four words for a 500-odd page book. Sounds tough, but in this case, it really isnt.

Because never in my life have I read a book thats more BE GAY DO CRIMES than Ruin of Angels!

Seriously, though, go back and read the summary. Not only is it queer as hell, but combat librarians? Grad students? Dispossessed knights, squid gods, and other assorted figures? That alone should clue you into how bonkers good this book is. If a summary can list all those oddball elements in a way that makes sense, then you know youre in for a wild ride.

Possibly my favorite thing about this was all the sapphic characters. There are FIVE characters on the page who are explicitly women who love women, and only one of them is an antagonist. The other four make up the bulk of the be gay do crimes (pay off student loans) squad, with three emphasizing being gay and doing crimes, and the fourth one essentially a lawful good paladin whos just along for the ride, letting her fellow ladies break all kinds of laws because those laws arent just to begin with. Throw in some mutual pining, some friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, a great deal of scheming, and HEISTS, and you pretty much have the lady-led heist of my dreams.

More of that in fiction, please.

But really, besides the fact that the bulk of our main cast is queer ladies trying to save the world, I actually loved how their different personalities played out. The cool, collected knight, the hot-headed scholar, the fiercely devoted delver, and the brains behind the operation.

I do wish wed gotten more from the brains POV, because Ley Pohala could have been a far more interesting character from inside her own head. That said, plot elements required we didnt know exactly what she was planning, and we still got plenty of Pohala content, because Kai from Full Fathom Five is back! Shes Leys older sister, and while she may not be big on the whole doing crimes aspect of Leys life, she does want more than anything to keep her sister safe, and I am a SUCKER for sibling stories, lets be real. It puts the sisters at odds more often than not, but it felt so real (when do siblings ever really always get along???), and I also just adored seeing Kai again. Shes as sure of who she is as ever, and as stubborn in doing the right thing as she was in Full Fathom Five. Plus, her involvement, means my favorite Prophet Thief is back as well, and I love the chapters told from Izzas point of view!

Another cool thing, though, is that Kai isnt the only trans character in the novel! She meets another character during her business negotiations who is a trans man, and while the story as a whole isnt about being trans (the same way the story as a whole isnt really about being gay so much as it is about doing crimes), it really drives home that the Craft World is wonderfully diverse. Queer people just exist, and sometimes, they also save the world. Or do crimes. Or both.

Of course, theres a little bit of Max Gladstones the first half will be a little slower so the second half hits you in the face like a rocket launched from point blank range, but its actually not as bad as the other Craft Sequence books, and I dont mind a little bit of slowdown for establishing a wider plot anyway.

Possibly the thing I love most, though (if we dont count the sheer amount of sapphic representation), is the power of story that comes through in Ruin of Angels. I wouldnt have thought story could have so much to do with dying cities and resistance to squid gods, but more than once, the power of story to shape the world, one piece at a time, comes up, and thats a theme that tends to sink deep into my heart and stay there. Story may not make massive immediate change, but it can make little changes that help spur greater change. I love seeing that in motion, love seeing worlds being shaped by words, I really do.

And naturally, speaking of worlds, Ruin of Angels yet again expands the Craft world, giving us a look into another new locale, into the wreckage of the God Wars, into the direction the world is heading, into what lies beyond. That last point has me wondering if Ive fallen for another story that ultimately plans to resolve itself through interplanetary warfare (you would not BELIEVE how often this happens to me; Im not even actively looking for interplanetary warfare stories!), but thats hardly something thats going to put me off.

Ruin of Angels might just be my favorite installment in the Craft Sequence, and its solidified my opinion even further that this is a series worth sticking with until the end.

Whenever that end arrives, of course. Ruin of Angels is the most recently published Craft Sequence novel, and I suspect theres a long wait on the horizon to see the full scope of the sequence unfold.

But Ill be here, waiting, choosing favorite characters, appreciating the hell out of the be gay do crimes squad. Ruin of Angels had so many elements I adore, and I have to stick around to share that adoration even more.

September 22, 2017 Started Reading
Review I’ve loved every book of the Craft sequence so far, and this one is no exception. This one sees Kai (from Full Fathom Five) go to Agdel Lex to invest on behalf of her goddess. However, when she gets there, her estranged sister is already there, and asking for her help.

Agdel Lex used to be Alikand, until the Iskari came. Now the two cities coexist uneasily on top of each other, Agdel Lex living, and Alikand dead, and Delvers slip into the dead city, risking death themselves, to retrieve the lost texts of Alikand. Outside the city are the Godwastes, a terrible relic of the God Wars, and fatal to those who try to cross them. Tara Abernathy is also in town, for reasons of her own, and it was deeply satisfying to me to see them team up.

Kai’s sister, Ley, has been working as a Delver, and she has gathered a group of her friends, including her ex girlfriend, to help her on a truly epic score that no one knows the scope of but her. Kai wants to help her, and then to rescue her, but the path to either of those is complicated.

This is an epic secondary-world urban fantasy, that is also a heist story, that is also a story of different kinds of love: sisterly love, romantic love, but also the power of friendships and communities. There’s a modified guy, a paladin, archivist angels, demon art, and that’s just scratching the surface. The ending hints at huge, game-changing (possibly apocalyptic) trouble ahead in the Craft Sequence, and I for one can’t wait to come back for more.

Bought this plus the 5 others that make up the “Craft Sequence” whilst on offer from Amazon (6 books, 10). I’d say at that price these books are definitely worth the read. They’re fast paced, slightly steam punk and filled with some good characters and world building. I find the magic system to be fairly convoluted and at times difficult to grasp, at times this leads to an ex machina situation which ruins the plausibility of the plot

I loved this 6th in the craft sequence – though it is not the best place to start if you have not read the previous books. If you have it is a joy to meet some old friends and to make some new ones. Max Gladstone’s worldbuilding is extraordinary and here we are in a multidimensional space where the layers of history are still live and painful. Max Gladstone makes you think – he is a great storyteller and the pace builds up inexorably until the climax. Recommended!