Saevus Corax Deals With the Dead
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4.1 • 77 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The first novel in a new epic fantasy trilogy from World Fantasy Award-winner K. J. Parker.
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. For more from K. J. Parker, check out: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled CityHow to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World
The Two of SwordsThe Two of Swords: Volume OneThe Two of Swords Volume TwoThe Two of Swords: Volume Three The Fencer TrilogyColours in the SteelThe Belly of the BowThe Proof House The Scavenger TrilogyShadowPatternMemory Engineer TrilogyDevices and DesiresEvil for EvilThe Escapement The CompanyThe Folding KnifeThe HammerSharps
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The first installment of K. J. Parker’s Corax Trilogy introduces the most down-to-earth fantasy antihero ever. Saevus Corax is a battlefield salvage contractor, grabbing what valuables he can from the barely cold casualties of medieval warfare. The cranky, devious smart aleck is more principled than some in his line of work (at least he doesn’t dress up like a nun to steal from the bodies), but Corax still has secrets in his past that are about to catch up with him. Parker (the fantasy pseudonym for history writer Tom Holt) wowed us with his gift for world-building while slaying us with a weapons-grade supply of black humor. His writing style is so visual, you can all but see the story play out like an epic movie. Get to know Corax—an antihero who might surprise you at any moment by actually telling the truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this epic trilogy opener, Parker (A Practical Guide to Conquering the World) offers dark humor and bloody conflict alongside a cutting examination of the cost of war and the people who exacerbate and profit from it. The man calling himself Saevus Corax, self-described as "arrogant, callous, selfish and utterly devoid of any redeeming qualities," has a perfectly good life as a battlefield salvage contractor, taking advantage of the ever more frequent conflicts between Sirupat and its neighboring nations. But when a routine stop to deposit fresh inventory in his supposedly secret storehouse goes awry, Saevus discovers that his checkered past is catching up to him. Soon, it looks like he'll have to return to the real family business: ruling Sirupat. Retaking his place among the royal family puts Saevus smack in the middle of the two most powerful factions in the world. With a massive war looming that Saevus wants no part of, he'll need to rely on every bit of his devious nature to escape unscathed. Saevus is not so much an active protagonist as one to whom things just happen, resulting in an extended, bloody travelogue dotted with humor and snark. As told through Saevus's self-aware voice, it's a promising series starter that's sure to appeal to Parker's fans.
