Quick review: Brothers Cabal
Feb. 16th, 2016 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackFourth in the Johannes Cabal series of straight-faced comic fantasy.
Prior to the first book, Johannes Cabal became a necromancer, aimed not at raising armies of the dead, but to scientifically find a method a true resurrection. I love the scientist persona, even as he's a total bastard about caring about the lives of people who he thinks are less clever than him (ie. almost everyone).
In Johannes Cabal, Necromancer he enters into a wager with Satan to run a carnival for a year and entrap 100 souls, in order to regain his previously-sold soul. In the following books, his conscience grows back by inches, just enough to make it bearable to read, but not enough to suggest he was especially empathic before he sold his soul in the first place.
In Johannes Cabal, Detective, he becomes tangled up in the politics of a fictional eastern-european nation, flies in Airships and Entomoptors (insect-winged planes), and reluctantly solves a murder.
In The Fear Institute, he travels to the land of dreams, and closes off some plot threads from the first book.
In Brothers Cabal, he gets tangled up in different Eastern-european politics, a different non-damned Entomopter circus, resolves several plot threads from the previous two books and maybe, maybe, finds a first solid lead about true resurrection.
There are also several short stories where he invariably does something heroic under protest.
Prior to the first book, Johannes Cabal became a necromancer, aimed not at raising armies of the dead, but to scientifically find a method a true resurrection. I love the scientist persona, even as he's a total bastard about caring about the lives of people who he thinks are less clever than him (ie. almost everyone).
In Johannes Cabal, Necromancer he enters into a wager with Satan to run a carnival for a year and entrap 100 souls, in order to regain his previously-sold soul. In the following books, his conscience grows back by inches, just enough to make it bearable to read, but not enough to suggest he was especially empathic before he sold his soul in the first place.
In Johannes Cabal, Detective, he becomes tangled up in the politics of a fictional eastern-european nation, flies in Airships and Entomoptors (insect-winged planes), and reluctantly solves a murder.
In The Fear Institute, he travels to the land of dreams, and closes off some plot threads from the first book.
In Brothers Cabal, he gets tangled up in different Eastern-european politics, a different non-damned Entomopter circus, resolves several plot threads from the previous two books and maybe, maybe, finds a first solid lead about true resurrection.
There are also several short stories where he invariably does something heroic under protest.