REVIEW: The Diplomacy of the Knife by C.M. Caplan
Lord have Mercy, I don’t know what type of dark alchemy happened in C.M. Caplan’s mind while writing The Diplomacy of the Knife, but this second instalment in the Four of Mercies series is absolutely batshit crazy in the best way possible. It’s bigger, better, darker, filthier, more complex, more gut wrenching, more deliciously deranged, and it just bleeds with a manic ‘WHAT THE FUCK?’ energy that is honestly unparalleled; in other words, this is how you write one hell of a satisfying sequel!
“Sometimes an instant overhaul of the life you knew can feel like you’ve slipped into a world that runs on dream logic. You know what I mean? Like – how are you supposed to live with such a monumental shift? Sure, you want to hope for the best, but real solace usually lies in the comfort of despair.”
From the very first second back in Petre’s mind, I was utterly hooked and dangerously invested again. He hasn’t exactly been thriving since he reluctantly returned to his family estate at the start of The Fall Is All There Is, and with his new dangerous role in the royal household during an escalating war, life is not about to give our favourite autistic as fuck chaos queer a break any time soon. Get ready for a wild adventure full of danger, death, consequences, schemes, revelations, court intrigue, family drama, tenuous alliances, and all the most brutal back stabbings and betrayals.
Now, I personally adored how Caplan captured Petre’s chaotic voice in book one through the intensely intimate first person narration, but I think they really stepped up their game in The Diplomacy of the Knife. Don’t get me wrong, Petre is still his quintessentially messy, dramatic, unreliable, neuro-spicy, and stupidly loud-mouthed self, but I personally felt like it was slightly less overwhelming to be in his headspace this time around. He starts to gain agency as he refuses to be a mere pawn in everyone else’s game of wits and schemes any longer, and soon we see a much more ruthlessly cunning and lethally sharp-witted side of him come out, even if he is still so, so disastrously far in over his head.
And it’s not just Petre’s stronger characterization and the sharper authorial voice that showcase how Caplan has honed their skills, but the plotting, pacing, and insane post-post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy world building (hello cyborg body horror madness and ships getting a heart attack) all got even better as well. Which is saying a lot, because the bar was set stupendously HIGH in The Fall Is All There Is, in my humble opinion. To me, the three-part structure of The Diplomacy of the Knife was executed to perfection, with each distinct part having its own intense climax (and some delicious climaxes of a different kind along the way, if you get my meaning) that brilliantly built the tension and stakes to a level that was honestly dangerous for my emotional wellbeing.
“It’s hard to believe you can win at something this huge – because if you commit to your belief there’s always a chance you’ll wind up holding the tatters of your dreams, wondering why you had ever been so sure.”
But maybe the biggest testament to Caplan’s skill as a storyteller is the fact that Petre’s strong voice somehow never even comes close to overshadowing the countless other colourful characters that make up the dynamic cast of this dramatic masterpiece. At its heart, this is a story about family and (childhood) trauma, and seeing just how far every single one of these unpredictable master manipulators was willing to go to protect or intentionally hurt the ones they (are supposed to) love constantly had me gasping in shock. Especially Anoïse, Mercedes, Lerane, and Avram really stole the show for me in The Diplomacy of the Knife, and I absolutely loved that we got so much time to dig even deeper into all the insanely complex interpersonal relationships that drive this narrative forward.
Seriously, this story rivals ASOIAF in its cutthroat political machinations and toxic family drama, and if you thought Tyrion Lannister’s trial in A Storm of Swords was iconic, then you better brace yourself for what Caplan has in store at the end of The Diplomacy of the Knife. And just between you and me, I think the Four of Mercies series is a thousand times more enjoyable to read than GRRM’s storytelling, because the level of snark, sarcasm, gallows humour, razor-sharp (sibling) banter, and the countless inappropriate thoughts/reactions had me snort-laughing the entire way through this unhinged trainwreck of a story.
“Great. Now I wanted to hit him, too. Where did he get the audacity to say things that were correct?”
What did not make me laugh, though, was that absolutely brutal gut punch of a cliffhanger that had me just about ready to throw the book across the room and hunt down Caplan for answers… the audacity! No but really, The Diplomacy of the Knife gave me everything I didn’t even know I needed from this sequel, and it’s just about as perfect as a book is going to get for my dark and twisted soul. So, if you are ready for an exceptionally inventive, diverse and genre-blendy feat of storytelling madness that will excite, delight, and freak you the fuck out with each new turn of the page, then I simply can’t recommend the Four of Mercies series highly enough.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Diplomacy of the Knife is scheduled for release on February 20th, 2025.
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