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Last First Snow
(Craft Sequence #4)
by
The fourth novel set in the compellingly modern fantasy world of the Craft Sequence
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 Ki ...more
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 Ki ...more
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Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
July 14th 2015
by Tor Books
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Start your review of Last First Snow (Craft Sequence, #4)

Sep 25, 2014
carol.
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
people who want something different in fantasy
It’s not a kissing book.
I feel I have to mention that because both people who saw me reading it at work said the title sounded like a romance. Since one was reading A Game of Thrones, I was a bit surprised at her lack of knowledge about Gladstone’s standout fantasy series, The Craft Sequence. It deserves far more recognition among fantasy and sci-fi fans than it currently receives. My best guess is that Gladstone is such an unusual writer, he travels above and below the average radar. The serie ...more

I'm sure I'm not the only one to feel that this book doesn't really take off until negotiations turn to crap, but I'll say it anyway. :) The book REALLY takes off after the assassination attempt and that's also the spark that turns all the powers in the city upon each other. The Soul-Rich versus the Soul-Poor.
And it's not easy to negotiate with ourselves, as readers, just who is bad and who is good. It's very complicated, but more than that: it's vivid. We start out ten years before the events o ...more
And it's not easy to negotiate with ourselves, as readers, just who is bad and who is good. It's very complicated, but more than that: it's vivid. We start out ten years before the events o ...more

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/09/28/b...
The Craft Sequence is unlike many conventional fantasy series in that each book can be read as a stand-alone, their stories ping-ponging unapologetically all over time and place, focusing on different characters. It makes it an unusual, albeit very special series. That said, many of these characters and events connect to each other, and there is a clear advantage to reading these books in the order in which they are publ ...more
The Craft Sequence is unlike many conventional fantasy series in that each book can be read as a stand-alone, their stories ping-ponging unapologetically all over time and place, focusing on different characters. It makes it an unusual, albeit very special series. That said, many of these characters and events connect to each other, and there is a clear advantage to reading these books in the order in which they are publ ...more

We used to tell a lot of stories about gods. They got drunk, cheated on each other, held grudges, and fought long ruinous wars over small things. They had our problems, except bigger.
Dresediel Lex used to have gods. Now Red King Consolidated runs the city, a necrocapitalist water consortium helmed by a skeleton, staffed by wizard lawyers called Craftspeople, and dead-set on making everything better for everyone (as long it's net profitable). If you get in their way, well — we'd say gods help you ...more
Dresediel Lex used to have gods. Now Red King Consolidated runs the city, a necrocapitalist water consortium helmed by a skeleton, staffed by wizard lawyers called Craftspeople, and dead-set on making everything better for everyone (as long it's net profitable). If you get in their way, well — we'd say gods help you ...more

Fantasy Review Barn
Have you started reading the Craft Sequence yet? Because if not you are now four books behind in what is probably the best series running under the speculative fiction label. I come to this conclusion slowly. I have not personally five starred any of the previous outings despite finding them all highly enjoyable. And here is a spoiler for you; I will be giving Last First Snow four stars instead of five at the end of the review.
Because what we have here is a series that is gre ...more
Have you started reading the Craft Sequence yet? Because if not you are now four books behind in what is probably the best series running under the speculative fiction label. I come to this conclusion slowly. I have not personally five starred any of the previous outings despite finding them all highly enjoyable. And here is a spoiler for you; I will be giving Last First Snow four stars instead of five at the end of the review.
Because what we have here is a series that is gre ...more

3 Stars
The Last First Snow was a huge disappointment for me. The Craftwork Sequence by Max Gladstone has up to this point been an incredible breath of fresh air. In this series he demonstrates how incredible an adult oriented fantasy can be. Max Gladstone is on top of his game. Each of the books in The Craftwork Sequence is an improvement on the last, with this book being a slight miss. Gladstone is rare in that he wants each book to be able to read alone, even though they are very connected. T ...more
The Last First Snow was a huge disappointment for me. The Craftwork Sequence by Max Gladstone has up to this point been an incredible breath of fresh air. In this series he demonstrates how incredible an adult oriented fantasy can be. Max Gladstone is on top of his game. Each of the books in The Craftwork Sequence is an improvement on the last, with this book being a slight miss. Gladstone is rare in that he wants each book to be able to read alone, even though they are very connected. T ...more

I love this world, but the plot of this particular one didn't interest me as much as I'd hoped.
...more

Jul 29, 2015
Ken Liu
added it
I blurbed this book:
Brilliant, elegant, epic, astonishing, smart, gritty—that's just the zoning debate that starts the book. Last First Snow is another wondrous visit to the fantastic world of the Craft Sequence whose only flaw is that it is too short. ...more
Brilliant, elegant, epic, astonishing, smart, gritty—that's just the zoning debate that starts the book. Last First Snow is another wondrous visit to the fantastic world of the Craft Sequence whose only flaw is that it is too short. ...more

The God Wars are over, and the lower classes of Chakal Square sit in protests. The capitalist overlord monsters (literally, the King in Red is a living skeleton who runs a corporation) want to rewrite its laws, including the laws of physics, to prevent any demons from breaking through, but they have to be careful, as the locals getting too upset could wake the ancient gods and split reality open. They must negotiate peace before the crowd's anger itself triggers an apocalypse.
You can't read "___ ...more
You can't read "___ ...more

Mar 09, 2019
Kaa
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorite-series,
group-buddy-reads
What an amazing book. As ever, the world of the Craft Sequence is beautifully drawn and completely fascinating. I enjoyed Elayne's role in Three Parts Dead, but I like her even better in this book as a younger woman growing into her power and making some hard decisions. Fantasy politics are always my jam, and I think Last First Snow does an exceptional job of creating a political story full of people and nuance. There are a few minor things within the book that I don't love, but honestly my bigg
...more

Ahoy there me mateys! So in previous times, wendy @ thebiliosanctum 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 ...more
So me hearties. I loved this book. But I found when I was ...more

Honesty, worth five stars for the line about prophets.
Who would have thought lawyer magical fantasy would be so good?
Who would have thought lawyer magical fantasy would be so good?

3 Stars
The Last First Snow was a huge disappointment for me. The Craftwork Sequence by Max Gladstone has up to this point been an incredible breath of fresh air. In this series he demonstrates how incredible an adult oriented fantasy can be. Max Gladstone is on top of his game. Each of the books in The Craftwork Sequence is an improvement on the last, with this book being a slight miss. Gladstone is rare in that he wants each book to be able to read alone, even though they are very connected. T ...more
The Last First Snow was a huge disappointment for me. The Craftwork Sequence by Max Gladstone has up to this point been an incredible breath of fresh air. In this series he demonstrates how incredible an adult oriented fantasy can be. Max Gladstone is on top of his game. Each of the books in The Craftwork Sequence is an improvement on the last, with this book being a slight miss. Gladstone is rare in that he wants each book to be able to read alone, even though they are very connected. T ...more

Quality writing & world building. Extremely irritating protagonist. Couldn't get into this one on account of how much I hated Temoc. The fact that this book is a prequel to Two Serpents Rise, which is about his equally irritating son, didn't help.
...more

Good addition to the series. And impressive as the writer choses different stories for his books centered on the same world.
Maybe this volume had some flaws, the late start of the whole action, not so much deity around and other crazy stuff like the others (for example the city, Dresediel Lex, in the second volume, has vampires, zombies, and more, more creatures and fantastic beings roaming around ), in truth this one has some golems and some others in the end, but, anyway, still, not complainin ...more
Maybe this volume had some flaws, the late start of the whole action, not so much deity around and other crazy stuff like the others (for example the city, Dresediel Lex, in the second volume, has vampires, zombies, and more, more creatures and fantastic beings roaming around ), in truth this one has some golems and some others in the end, but, anyway, still, not complainin ...more

A couple of years ago I read Three Parts Dead, the first published novel in this series. It took me a while to get into it, but by the end I really enjoyed it. Since then I’ve been collecting the other books in the series. Maybe two years ago I tired to read the second book publish, Two Serpents Rise, but couldn’t get into so I just planned on coming back to the series one day.
Yesterday I decided I would read the series in internal chronology because I didn’t remember Three Parts Dead enough to ...more
Yesterday I decided I would read the series in internal chronology because I didn’t remember Three Parts Dead enough to ...more

“…war always had been a chance for great powers to play with their most exquisite toys”
These books are really hard to rate. On the one hand, I feel they’re too complicated, so interwoven that I hardly understand them and have trouble to keep focus. But on the other hand, there is a brilliance too them (that is just a little out of my grasp) and there is always just something that keeps me going. One of those somethings was the overall story of this series, that finally started to come together ...more

Characters: 5*
Universe: 5*
Plot: 3.5*
After reading book 5 by accident this book was *slightly* spoiled for me by myself (and book 5 now makes a bit more sense).
It was good to return to this universe and I greatly enjoy the concept of this series. What if religion and faith and miracles were based on math, science, and economics? You'd have the craft sequence. ...more
Universe: 5*
Plot: 3.5*
After reading book 5 by accident this book was *slightly* spoiled for me by myself (and book 5 now makes a bit more sense).
It was good to return to this universe and I greatly enjoy the concept of this series. What if religion and faith and miracles were based on math, science, and economics? You'd have the craft sequence. ...more

If you're not reading this series, then it seems a bit silly from the outside looking in...maybe that's not the right word. Definitely weird.
That's what I thought when I started the series. Even after finishing Three Parts Dead, I just kept thinking, "What a weird book." I really liked it, though. It was new and fresh and exciting. And every other book in the series has continued that. And now I'm here, four books deep, and it all seems normal. It's a series where characters range from skeleton ...more
That's what I thought when I started the series. Even after finishing Three Parts Dead, I just kept thinking, "What a weird book." I really liked it, though. It was new and fresh and exciting. And every other book in the series has continued that. And now I'm here, four books deep, and it all seems normal. It's a series where characters range from skeleton ...more

This is probably my second favorite book of the first four written in the Craft sequence.
Gladstone has written these books in a non-chronological order, with the numbers in the title indicating how the order works. That means that this book is first in the series time-wise. It's a prequel to the events in Two Serpents Rise, with Caleb's father Temoc as one of the main characters.
Temoc is what makes this book for me. He is a priest who can no longer practice the blood rites of his psuedo-Aztec g ...more
Gladstone has written these books in a non-chronological order, with the numbers in the title indicating how the order works. That means that this book is first in the series time-wise. It's a prequel to the events in Two Serpents Rise, with Caleb's father Temoc as one of the main characters.
Temoc is what makes this book for me. He is a priest who can no longer practice the blood rites of his psuedo-Aztec g ...more

This was a book about destruction and loss. Prequel to Two Serpents Rise, it tells of the rift that sprang up between Temoc and his son. The Red King is considerably more of a jerk than I remembered.
The first book in the series, I was surprised and impressed by the creativity put into the setting and worldbuilding. Four books in, it's the same setting, and it doesn't surprise me any more.
The tone of the series has been all over the place but this one was just depressing. Nobody in this book is h ...more
The first book in the series, I was surprised and impressed by the creativity put into the setting and worldbuilding. Four books in, it's the same setting, and it doesn't surprise me any more.
The tone of the series has been all over the place but this one was just depressing. Nobody in this book is h ...more

If you are a fantasy fan, and you HAVEN'T read Max Gladstone, stop reading this, go get your paypal, credit card, pint of blood, etc..and hit up your bookstore/crack dealer of choice and buy the Craft Sequence series.
On a five star rating system, the book in this series I like the LEAST is 4 and a half stars.
so...........GO BUY IT. ...more
On a five star rating system, the book in this series I like the LEAST is 4 and a half stars.
so...........GO BUY IT. ...more

So far my favorite Craft novel; the sense of inevitable tragedy and the conflicts were the emotional equivalent of being punched in the gut (repeatedly). I loved seeing a younger, more humane Elayne, a more terrifying Kopil, and most of all - Temoc before he became who he was in Two Serpents Rise. That's fine, I guess I didn't need my heart that much anyway.
...more

Originally published at Reading Reality
Dresediel Lex is a desert city. The last time it snowed was also the first time it snowed – 40 years ago during the God Wars.
It was also the first and last time that Craftswoman Elayne Kevarian met Temoc, the last Eagle Knight of the Old Gods.
Forty years ago, Elayne and Temoc were both young and idealistic, and Kopil, the King in Red, still had a fleshly body. Now Elayne and Temoc are both older and wiser, and Kopil has made the final transition of a Crafts ...more
Dresediel Lex is a desert city. The last time it snowed was also the first time it snowed – 40 years ago during the God Wars.
It was also the first and last time that Craftswoman Elayne Kevarian met Temoc, the last Eagle Knight of the Old Gods.
Forty years ago, Elayne and Temoc were both young and idealistic, and Kopil, the King in Red, still had a fleshly body. Now Elayne and Temoc are both older and wiser, and Kopil has made the final transition of a Crafts ...more

***NOTE: While each book in the Craft Sequence can be read as standalones, I shall be discussing them in toto, with emphasis on LAST FIRST SNOW. It really wouldn't be to your advantage to read this before reading the three previously published books.
LAST FIRST SNOW (hereinafter 'LFS') is the fourth book published in Max Gladstone's 'Craft Sequence' series. Chronologically first, it goes back to Dresediel Lex long before the events in TWO SERPENTS RISE (hereinafter '2SR'). In a development that s ...more
LAST FIRST SNOW (hereinafter 'LFS') is the fourth book published in Max Gladstone's 'Craft Sequence' series. Chronologically first, it goes back to Dresediel Lex long before the events in TWO SERPENTS RISE (hereinafter '2SR'). In a development that s ...more

2.5 ⭐
On the recommendations of WBtM members, I started the Craft Sequence with book 3 (Three Parts Dead), and am now reading them in chronological (title number) order rather than publication order.
I picked Last First Snow up early for the buddy read as I'm in the need for escapism right now. Like in book 3, Gladstone displays complex and impressive world-building, and I'm interested to see which cities we'll visit in the next books (though I have to admit it took me a moment to realise Dresdiel ...more
On the recommendations of WBtM members, I started the Craft Sequence with book 3 (Three Parts Dead), and am now reading them in chronological (title number) order rather than publication order.
I picked Last First Snow up early for the buddy read as I'm in the need for escapism right now. Like in book 3, Gladstone displays complex and impressive world-building, and I'm interested to see which cities we'll visit in the next books (though I have to admit it took me a moment to realise Dresdiel ...more

This is the first Craft book I've read since the first in the sequence, Three Parts Dead. I think I liked that one a little more; Last First Snow sputters a bit at the beginning, and the climax is a little too heavy on spectacle for my taste. These are minor quibbles, however - Gladstone has a terrifyingly vast imagination and a gift for building story momentum with his meaty prose; all of his considerable gifts as a writer are on display here. And Temoc, a conflicted warrior priest who has too
...more

I think story (rather than release) order is the way to go. this is a better introduction to elayne and king red and caleb, and I think the world building is smoother, but then again, I already know how this world works, so who knows.
original review (still accurate):
t: "hey. dude. what if Occupy had, like, *magic* {does twinkly fingers}?"
b: "dude, if Occupy had Magic, the Powers That Be would have More Magic, because they have more everything"
t: "but gods would be on our side, see, so it'd work ...more
original review (still accurate):
t: "hey. dude. what if Occupy had, like, *magic* {does twinkly fingers}?"
b: "dude, if Occupy had Magic, the Powers That Be would have More Magic, because they have more everything"
t: "but gods would be on our side, see, so it'd work ...more

4.75/5
Last First Snow is the fourth book in Craft Sequence publication-wise, but chronologically it’s the first. If you don’t like spoiler in the mildest form, you might want to read this book before Two Serpents Rise. However, personally I see great merits of reading 2SR first.
In 2SR, we get to see the status quo of Dresediel Lex, and how Temoc is an very different person compared to what he is in this book, to say the least. Caleb, the protagonist in 2SR, is a broken man in some ways, because ...more
Last First Snow is the fourth book in Craft Sequence publication-wise, but chronologically it’s the first. If you don’t like spoiler in the mildest form, you might want to read this book before Two Serpents Rise. However, personally I see great merits of reading 2SR first.
In 2SR, we get to see the status quo of Dresediel Lex, and how Temoc is an very different person compared to what he is in this book, to say the least. Caleb, the protagonist in 2SR, is a broken man in some ways, because ...more

It's the first book of the 'Craft Sequence' that I did not enjoy, and I put that down mostly to the fact that it is actually a prequel to one of the prior books.
Prequels are always difficult to pull off. The fact that we have the subsequent story means that we already know the general shape of what this story is going to be. We have to at the least know where things are going to end up - who is dead, who endured tragedy, which relationships are formed or broken, and so forth. Since the Max Glad ...more
Prequels are always difficult to pull off. The fact that we have the subsequent story means that we already know the general shape of what this story is going to be. We have to at the least know where things are going to end up - who is dead, who endured tragedy, which relationships are formed or broken, and so forth. Since the Max Glad ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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SF/F Read Alongs: Last First Snow | 44 | 31 | Oct 12, 2015 12:40PM |
Max Gladstone is the author of the Craft Sequence: THREE PARTS DEAD, TWO SERPENTS RISE, FULL FATHOM FIVE, and most recently, LAST FIRST SNOW. He's been twice nominated for the John W Campbell Best New Writer award, and nominated for the XYZZY and Lambda Awards.
Max has taught in southern Anhui, wrecked a bicycle in Angkor Wat, and been thrown from a horse in Mongolia. Max graduated from Yale Univer ...more
Max has taught in southern Anhui, wrecked a bicycle in Angkor Wat, and been thrown from a horse in Mongolia. Max graduated from Yale Univer ...more
Other books in the series
Craft Sequence
(6 books)
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“We cannot save our clients from themselves. Someday in your career, Elayne, you will represent a man—almost certainly a man—who wants you to help him barter his soul to a demon for three wishes. When that day comes you may refuse his business, you may try to change his mind, but in the end if hell he wants, hell he will achieve.”
—
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“Your son," she said, "needs a father."
"He needs a world less broken than this. All the sons need that. And the daughters, too."
"Is there such a world?"
"There must be.”
—
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More quotes…
"He needs a world less broken than this. All the sons need that. And the daughters, too."
"Is there such a world?"
"There must be.”