I had a whole review typed up and then the browser ate it. I'm so bitter.

Okay, from the top:

I'm not sure how to talk about this book because the worldbuilding is so original that there are very few points of comparison I know how to make. It reminds me, a little of LeGuin's [b:A Wizard of Earthsea|979683|A Wizard of Earthsea|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1179964011s/979683.jpg|41219814], maybe because of the island nations, but it is really nothing like that. It reminds me a little of [b:The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms|6437061|The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303143211s/6437061.jpg|6626657], because of how richly textured the world is, but it's only a little like that.

The cover, actually, gives a pretty good taste of the book, although my copy has a slug from Jerry Pournelle, who may have pretty good name recognition, but is not, IMO, appealing to the same tastes. (Also, I think the last time I saw a non-white, non-sexualized, brown woman on a genre novel's cover, it was a book by Nnedi Okorafor.)

Lightreads, in her review, links to a post by the author in which he talks about how bankruptcy proceedings are basically a form of necromancy, which gives you some idea of what this book is about.

The story follows Tara, a student who has been violently graduated from the Hidden Schools, where she gained mastery of Craft, and a highly placed enemy. She subsequently gains employment with the firm of Kelethras, Albrecht, and Ao, and for her first job, must deal with the death of the god Kos Everburning, who powers the city of Alt Coulumb.

Tara is an interesting protagonist, because she has a steel-sharp ethical flexibility which made her a bit difficult for me to feel confident liking. She has convictions, but also a sort of unshakable faith in her convictions and education that allows her to highhandedly lie, withhold, and interfere in the affairs of entire cities without too much second-guessing.

Also, this is a book written by a dude, mainly about ladies, that never made me go "this was a book written by a dude" so props.