With Full Fathom Five, the Craft sequence finally lands square on its feet. Not the that the previous books were bad, but they were a little too taken with flashy descriptions of magic or pure idealism for my taste. This time around, Gladstone grounds his setting in very real and relatable concerns. The formula is much the same: a noir mystery or Grisham-esque thriller translated to high magic fantasy, but now executed perfectly.

Kai is a priestess of empty idols, a kind of divine hedge fund manager who stores wealth away from the greedy eyes of true gods and Immortal Kings. When she recklessly decides to save Seven Alpha, an over-stretched idols being torn apart on volatile futures contracts, she accidentally exposes a flaw and a crime at the heart of her Order. Meanwhile, Izza is an orphan refugee, an unwitting priestess of mayfly gods on an island cleansed of the divine. Their paths intersect through poetry, prophecy, and the tortured golem-human police officers called Penitents. Characters from the previous books return as well, the truly terrifying Ms. Kevarian, Cat, and Teo are all wound up in this plan.

It's hard to specify why I liked this one a little better. Kai is yet anther damaged workaholic, but her quest for justice seems more human than the ones that came before. The plotting is slower, taking about 2/3rds of the book to move pieces into play, but the deliberation pays off. I'm glad to see Gladstone improving, and excited to see where this series goes.