Three Parts Dead

I wish this were better.

It has a brilliant concept. Gladstone imagines magic as a matter of contracts and legality. I love unusual magic systems, and I particularly like ones with well-defined rules. Unfortunately, it's not well-explored. There's some discussion of contracts, but actually working magic remains largely a matter of waving one's hands. Gladstone sometimes makes use of ritual objects like candles or daggers, but it's essentially the same handwaving, just tool-assisted.

The disappointing systems are accompanied by mediocre writing. It's not R.A. Salvatore bad, but it's fairly standard genre prose, which is to say it isn't great. Characterization is thin, and Gladstone has an irritating habit of doing things that have explanations, but not giving the explanations until later. Characters don't object to the irregularities, presumably because Gladstone has a reason for them in mind, but the characters don't know the reason and therefore really should be noticing the problem. It happens more than once and it's beyond irritating.

There are two courtroom scenes, in theory, but only one is a “normal” one in front of a judge. Both the judge and the proceedings are disappointingly magical; I would have preferred Gladstone stick to his ideas about magic being a dry, technical practice. Over and over the wonderful premise of the series is betrayed by hocus pocus. The climax is poorly handled, and Gladstone later destroys its underpinnings for no reason.

A great idea but delivered poorly by a writer not up to the challenge and lacking the courage of his convictions. Look elsewhere.