Craft Sequence Essays
Welcome to our archive of essays about the Craft Sequence. Scroll for all of our essays, or go wherever suits you:
Relatively spoiler free essays if you’re new to the series / partway through and don’t want to spoil yourself
Spoilerific essays if you’ve read the series and want to delve deeper
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Untangling Dead Hand Rule: what happens AFTER the skazzerai arrives
In the final part of ‘Untangling Dead Hand Rule’, we look at what happens AFTER the ancient space skazzerai arrives: why the herald HAD to be who it is, why Elayne is eternally a badass, and the importance of Saint Abelard.
Untangling Dead Hand Rule: within the Argent Library
In part 3 of ‘Untangling Dead Hand Rule’, let’s examine what exactly is going on within the Argent Library. We’ll look at the stories of Kai, Mal, Dawn, and Tara.
Untangling Dead Hand Rule: what happens to Caleb, Izza, Temoc, and the King in Red?
In part 2 of ‘Untangling Dead Hand Rule’, we recap the final battle and look in depth at what happens to Caleb Altemoc, Izza Jalai, Temoc Almotil, and the King in Red.
Untangling Dead Hand Rule: setting the scene for the endgame
Attacked by vampires. Drowning in a market terminal. Tortured by a psychic attack. Imprisoned in skazzerai iron chains. These are just a few of our characters’ fates at the climax of Dead Hand Rule. But what is actually going on? Is there somebody pulling the strings?
Demographics of POV characters (UPDATED 2026)
A nerdy deep dive into demographics of POV characters in the Craft Sequence (updated for Dead Hand Rule).
POV Distribution in the Craft Sequence (UPDATED 2026)
With 50 POV characters across 9 books, who has the most narrative page-time in the Craft Sequence so far? Who are the ‘main’ characters, and what does that mean for the story?
Top 10 details from Man in the Middle
I can never get enough of the Craft Sequence, and when I discovered this short story I was THRILLED. In honour of Halloween, here are ten of my favourite details from this spookyish horrorish short story.
Flight in the Craft Sequence
Flying is super cool. Magical flying is even cooler. So here’s a rundown of how Craft Sequence aeroplanes work, in honour of my plane-obsessed brother’s birthday.
Crafting your argument (and reality) | How Magic Works in the Craft Sequence
Craftsfolk are necromancer-lawyers, and as such a significant part of how they perform magic is via a strong argument, and asserting their truth onto reality. This essay looks at the magical components of a Craft argument.
How Craft Sequence characters know each other (part 2)
Wicked Problems has so many characters meeting up, hooking up, fighting (...up?) that we need an update to the character connections post - so here's even more ways characters know each other.
The problem with Tara Abernathy's timeline
Something is wrong with Tara Abernathy’s timeline… but is it a purposeful point, or author error? I’m still not sure, but let’s take a look at the problem and *theorise*.
This is one of those way-too-deep-dives about something that is ultimately probably a typo rather than a grand conspiracy, so if that’s your jam then strap in.
Everything we know about Craft Sequence VAMPIRES
Vampires are creatures of Craft, and we get to know one - Raz Pelham - early on in the series. Yet, something doesn’t add up; despite how commonplace we’re told they are, we rarely see vampires in the rest of the books. But something tells me we’re going to see more soon…
Masterpost: Everything we know about the skazzerai
Masterpost of all essays in the Skazzerai / Space Spiders series.
Character Connections
The Craft Sequence is a sprawling series with characters showing up in different narratives and meeting all sorts of characters. This somewhat crazy article tracks the connections between the main characters in a conspiracy theory style wall.
Masterpost: Tara Abernathy Deep Dive
Masterpost of all essays in the Tara Abernathy Deep Dive series.
Tara Abernathy's Childhood and Upbringing | Craft Sequence Character Deep Dive
Our upbringings shape us, for better or for worse. What was Tara Abernathy’s childhood and upbringing like? How did it shape the woman she became? Part of the Tara Deep Dive series.
The Body, the Others, and what Denovo did in the desert | Space Spiders
Third in the skazzerai series. Tara has learnt a lot about the demonic space spiders en route to the Craft world, but it isn’t until the end of Dead Country that she finds out their connection to her old nemesis Alexander Denovo - and what he did in the desert.
Who is Alexander Denovo and what does he want?
Alexander Denovo looms large over the Craft Sequence despite his early death. As his influence comes back in the Craft Wars trilogy, we ask: who is he, and what does he want?
Visions in the Edge Storm | Space Spiders
A magical storm showing every possible future now only shows one: the end of the world. What did Tara and Dawn see in the edge storm? What does that mean for the rest of the Craft Wars trilogy?
What has Tara learnt about the skazzerai since Alikand? | Space Spiders
The end of the world is coming. Tara and her allies are gearing up to fight the skazzerai, spider-like creatures from deepest space - but how much do they (and we) know about this great enemy? Here’s everything we find out in the first half of Dead Country.
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