Book Review - SAEVUS CORAX DEALS WITH THE DEAD by K.J. Parker

 

(Title: Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead / Author: K.J. Parker / Publisher: Orbit / Publication Date: October 3, 2023 / Total Pages: 384)

Back Cover Blurb

There's no formal training for battlefield salvage. You just have to pick things up as you go along. Swords, armor, arrows - and the bodies, of course.

Over the years, Saevus Corax has picked up a lot of things. Some of them have made him decent money, others have brought nothing but trouble. But it's a living, and somebody has to deal with the dead.

Something else that Saevus has buried is his past. unfortunately, he didn't quite succeed.

Review

K.J. Parker has a tremendous reputation in fantasy writing circles. I'm embarrassed to admit that SAEVUS CORAX DEALS WITH THE DEAD is my first experience with the author. Based on his reputation I was eager to check this one out and see if I would be as enamored with his books as most readers seem to be. And so with that I embarked on the opening entry in Parker's Corax Trilogy.

The first thing I noticed as I started reading is that this story is written in first person. That's not a deal-breaker by any means but I will say that I don't read many books told in this way so there was a bit of an adjustment period. It's not that I don't appreciate first-person narratives either. If the story is good, it's good no matter the style of voice. And once I settled into it in earnest this was not a factor at all with regard to my opinion of the book.

I was immediately hooked by the main character's occupation, as that's how we are introduced to him in the first chapter. You see Saevus Corax and his "team", so to speak, comb over the dead bodies of fallen soldiers after battles to gather up whatever valuables and weapons they can recover. Saevus though refuses to admit that what he does is in any way objectionable or callous, preferring to call himself a Battlefield Salvage Contractor. And this is how the story begins. You are either going to be completely turned off by it or like me, desire to delve further into Saevus' life and history.

As the story progresses we do get a glimpse (although murky at best) of Saevus' previous life via the dialogue of other characters that he encounters who seem to recognize him from that time period. He continually tells them that they are mistaken, he is Saevus Corax after all! But it's obvious that he is hiding a dubious background and his new lifestyle and job are a convenient cover. It's that mystery of who Saevus Corax was and really is that makes this book such an entertaining read. And along the way we get treated to some pretty shady encounters of swashbuckling adventure.

There were some things that I didn't enjoy as much as at times the pace slows down quite a bit and it was admittedly more frequently than I would have preferred. During those times my mind kind of wandered until I was eventually pulled back in by an interesting exchange of dialogue or threatening encounter with an enemy. And speaking of dialogue, it is of the extremely snarky variety and reminded me a lot of the type that you would see in a Joe Abercrombie or Clayton W. Snyder book. So that part of it was fun and I did enjoy some of the back and forth between the characters.

In the end I enjoyed SAEVUS CORAX DEALS WITH THE DEAD and am also delighted to see that the next two books in the trilogy will be released in November and December of this year, following the October release of SCDWTD. So the entire trilogy will be published in only a three month span! How often do you see that these days? Pick this one up if you enjoy fantasy with a morally gray main character that leans toward the dark/gloomy but with a slight dose of biting humor as well. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where this series goes from here. 

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