Four Roads Cross
“But isn’t it hubris to give a God advice?”
“You’re asking the wrong person,” she said, “when it comes to avoiding hubris. My teachers thought gods were a quaint affectation.”
Fifth book in the Craft Sequence, though fourth chronologically – plus, a direct sequel to the first book.
Featuring a returning goddess trying to build her flock, dragons as jumbo jets, otherworldly demons tied to legal contracts, gargoyle poetry, some slightly horrifying necromantic magic, a sunbathing skeleton drinking a cocktail, Tara godsdamn Abernathy, several characters who have accidentally become prophets and/or priestesses, and the horror of student loans.
Hidden Schools articles about Four Roads Cross
Wicked Problems has so many characters meeting up, hooking up, fighting (...up?) that we need an update to the character connections post - so here's even more ways characters know each other.
Something is wrong with Tara Abernathy’s timeline… but is it a purposeful point, or author error? I’m still not sure, but let’s take a look at the problem and *theorise*.
This is one of those way-too-deep-dives about something that is ultimately probably a typo rather than a grand conspiracy, so if that’s your jam then strap in.
We know that the Craft Sequence has a weird chronology, but what is the actual timeline across the series? How old are characters during different novels.
We’ve worked it out from references in the books – and updated it with new information.
Vampires are creatures of Craft, and we get to know one - Raz Pelham - early on in the series. Yet, something doesn’t add up; despite how commonplace we’re told they are, we rarely see vampires in the rest of the books. But something tells me we’re going to see more soon…
It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that the order of books in the Craft Sequence is confusing. The author himself has said as much.
But have no fear, intrepid reader – we have pulled together NINE different reading orders for you to choose from.
A nerdy deep dive into demographics of POV characters in the Craft Sequence.
With 44 POV characters across 8 books, who has the most narrative page-time in the Craft Sequence so far? Who are the ‘main’ characters, and what does that mean for the story?
Need a reminder of the plot of the Craft Sequence before reading Wicked Problems? You’re in luck - the first seven books all summarised neatly here.
Everything you need to remember from FOUR ROADS CROSS before reading WICKED PROBLEMS. Characters collide, and my gods it’s a fun one.
The Craft Sequence is a sprawling series with characters showing up in different narratives and meeting all sorts of characters. This somewhat crazy article tracks the connections between the main characters in a conspiracy theory style wall.
Our upbringings shape us, for better or for worse. What was Tara Abernathy’s childhood and upbringing like? How did it shape the woman she became? Part of the Tara Deep Dive series.
We’ve looked at almost every reference to dragons in the Craft Sequence, so now we’re bringing out the big guns - figuratively and literally. Read on to see how dragons act as magical jumbo jets and also corpse WMDs - yes, literally.
In honour of Tor Books’s 5th annual Dragon Week, here’s an unplanned article about EVERY SINGLE dragon reference in the series. Part 1, because it turns out there’s way more than I thought. YOU’RE WELCOME.
Tara Abernathy is the main character of the CRAFT WARS trilogy, and a major protagonist of the CRAFT SEQUENCE series. But who is she? How does she develop over the series so far? This introduction to Tara Abernathy starts our new character deep dive series - check it out.
In Quechal mythology, the skazzerai are demonic spiders at the end of the universe spinning webs between the stars. We have evidence they’ve visited the world of Craft before ‘to eat’ - and it looks like they’re going to play a part in the CRAFT WARS endgame. So, what’s the deal with the space spiders?
Summary of Four Roads Cross
The great city of Alt Coulumb is in crisis. The moon goddess Seril, long thought dead, is back—and the people of Alt Coulumb aren’t happy. Protests rock the city, and Kos Everburning’s creditors attempt a hostile takeover of the fire god’s church. Tara Abernathy, the god’s in-house Craftswoman, must defend the church against the world’s fiercest necromantic firm—and against her old classmate, a rising star in the Craftwork world.
As if that weren’t enough, Cat and Raz, supporting characters from Three Parts Dead, are back too, fighting monster pirates; skeleton kings drink frozen cocktails, defying several principles of anatomy; jails, hospitals, and temples are broken into and out of; choirs of flame sing over Alt Coulumb; demons pose significant problems; a farmers’ market proves more important to world affairs than seems likely; doctors of theology strike back; Monk-Technician Abelard performs several miracles; The Rats! play Walsh’s Place; and dragons give almost-helpful counsel.
Priest Abelard, vampirate Raz, and gargoyle Shale are unlikely friends who become entwined in the Kos conspiracy of Three Parts Dead. But what's next for them? How will their characters continue to grow in the Craft Wars series?