The Captain’s Log – first last snow (Max Gladstone) – why chronology vs. publishing order sometimes matters

Ahoy there me mateys!  So in previous times, wendy @ the biliosanctum set me on a series of adventures that led to me reading the first book in The Craft Sequence, three parts dead.  I absolutely loved it.  This is a review that talks about the fourth published book in the series.  Like the others, I read this one without reading the blurb first.  Not that would have helped me predicament.  No real spoilers aboard but read at yer own peril . . .

So me hearties.  I loved this book.  But I found when I was readin’ it, something be fishy.  Action that was happening in this book seemed to have been discussed in the previous books.  I knew it was the correct book in terms of publishing order.  But it had been a while since I read book three and me mind be faulty and often drops facts so I was very confused about timelines and such.  I knew I was missing something.  Eventually, I mentally shrugged and finished this fun tale.

But after I was done, I was even more confused.  What in the world was going on?  Turns out I can blame all the confusion on the author (more on this below).  Arrr!  Ye see I was online searching for a recap for full fathom five, the previous book, to help sort things out.  I checked out the wiki fandom and some random reviews and was still unclear.  So I hopped onto the author’s website.  There on “The Craft Sequence” page was a section entitled “What about the chronology.”

Aye matey, what about it?  Well, turns out that the publishing order does NOT match the chronology order.  Well, shiver me timbers!  Apparently the titles hint at the chronology.  The books have numbers in their titles.  Book four in publishing order is actually book one in chronology.  But the books are all meant to be read as standalones even though there be some limited crossover in characters.  So does the order in which ye read them matter?

Aye and nay.  Ye see the first published book, three parts dead, is the book I read first.  And it be me favourite and was a wonderful introduction to the world.  I be grateful this was me initial foray into the series.  This book, last first snow, is the fourth published book but is set 20 years prior to three parts dead.  Is yer noggin’ whirling yet?  But this current book is me least favourite of the series so far, even if it happens “first.”  In fact, the order in which I like the books is (by publishing order) 1 –> 3 –> 4 –> 2.

Still with me?  Now if I had read these books in chronological order then me third favourite (4) would have been read first.  And then maybe without knowing how strong the other books were, I wouldn’t have picked up more of the series.  And that would have been a shame.  At the same time book four confused me because of the jump back in timeline.

Aye, I know I did not read the blurb.  But that wouldn’t have helped.  There is no indication in the blurb (see below) that this book takes place in an earlier time.  And I be sure that the author put clues about time frame into this book.  I just missed them.  But some of the enjoyment of the book was lightly lessened due to me silly confusion.  So the chronological order DID end up being important in the sense of me focus on the book.  I wasn’t drawn into the story as deeply as I could have been.  I do wish that I would have figured things out sooner.

That said, I always read books in publishing order.  I am not sure why that be.  The idea of readin’ books in chronological order bothers me.

Side note: Don’t get me started on the order in which the Naria series should be read.  I still get angry when I see the box sets “ordered” incorrectly.  But I digress . . .

I do know that some members of me crew read things in chronological order.  I am not sure if readin’ this series in that order is best.  Mehaps some of the crew has opinions on this matter and is up for lively debate on such topics.  All I know if that I be glad that I read them in the order I did.  Also I be glad that the author issued an apology-of-a-sort on tor.com called “This is How I Numbered My Books and I’m Sorry” where he takes responsibility for the scrambling of me noggin’.  And I be grateful that he be crafty enough (hardy har har!) to give me such wonderful readin’ material.

I have been spacing out these books for times where I need a pick-me-up and for when I can savour them.  I will be reading the next two books at some point and, no, I won’t be reading the blurb for them either.  Wish me luck.  Arrrr!!!

Side note no. 2: While searching for the recap, I inadvertently came across a post on Mr. Gladstone’s website called “How to Convince Your Friends to Read My Books.”  I, of course, immediately became sidetracked because explaining these books to me crew can be hard.  His post was absolutely funny and delightful and explained each book with fun little taglines.  For example, the first book published, three parts dead, is described as “For Law, Finance, or Business People: ‘It’s about bankruptcy law, only the entity in bankruptcy protection is a dead god, and the attorneys are necromancers.’  So wonderful.

The author’s website has this to say about the novel:

Forty years after the God Wars, Dresediel Lex bears the scars of liberation—especially in the Skittersill, a poor district still bound by the fallen gods’ decaying edicts. As long as the gods’ wards last, they strangle development; when they fail, demons will be loosed upon the city. The King in Red hires Elayne Kevarian of the Craft firm Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao to fix the wards, but the Skittersill’s people have their own ideas. A protest rises against Elayne’s work, led by Temoc, a warrior-priest turned community organizer who wants to build a peaceful future for his city, his wife, and his young son.

As Elayne drags Temoc and the King in Red to the bargaining table, old wounds reopen, old gods stir in their graves, civil blood breaks to new mutiny, and profiteers circle in the desert sky. Elayne and Temoc must fight conspiracy, dark magic, and their own demons to save the peace—or failing that, to save as many people as they can.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Max Gladstone – Author

To buy the book go to:

last first snow – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

Previous Log Entries for this Author

three parts dead – book one (Captain’s Log – Urban Fantasy)

two serpents rise – book two (Captain’s Log – Urban Fantasy)

full fathom five – book three (Captain’s Log – Urban Fantasy)