Last First Snow
“This was easier before. Gods try to smite you, and you smite them first. Armies of light against armies of darkness. Craftsmen advancing the cause of knowledge and freedom and humanity against ignorance and oppression.”
Fourth book in the Craft Sequence, though first chronologically.
Featuring glorious backstory, a smite-happy skeletal sorceror, a grassroots uprising against economic overlords, Elayne Kevarian in all her glory, a happy family about to be torn asunder, bloodthirsty gods, allegories for real life police killings, a general feeling of dread (and did I mention Elayne Kevarian?) book in the Craft Sequence, though third chronologically.
Hidden Schools articles about Last First Snow
Summary of Last First Snow
Forty years after the God Wars, the city of 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 leased upon the city.
The King in Red hires Elayne Kevarian of the Craft firm Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao to fix the wards, both to protect the city from certain doom and to lay a new foundation for prosperity. But the Skittersill’s people have their own ideas about progress. 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, ancient grudges break 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.
Craftsfolk are necromancer-lawyers, and as such a significant part of how they perform magic is via a strong argument, and asserting their truth onto reality. This essay looks at the magical components of a Craft argument.