Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Blurb:
In this thrilling first book of the Powder Mage Trilogy, civil unrest has crippled the citizens of Adro in the aftermath of the revolution that obliterated the monarchy—now, Field Marshal Tamas and his lieutenants must confront the true cost of freedom.
It's a bloody business overthrowing a king ...
Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.
It's up to a few ...
Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.
But when gods are involved ...
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should ...
Winner of the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut Fantasy.
Review:
The Powder Mage Trilogy has been high on my list of books to read for a while now. The thought of a steampunk story with gunpowder (and magic gunpowder, at that) has always intrigued me. I was not expecting the story to feel so colonial America/Britain, but that did nothing to detract from the story in the slightest.
Promise of Blood starts as all the best books do; by coming out swinging with a coup. Not to mention there is a whole mess of other stuff going on at Skyline Palace in Adopest (apologies if I get spellings wrong, I listened to the audio). We follow four different people throughout the story, and Field Marshal Tamas, the one executing the coup, just has to be my favorite. We also follow Taniel, the field marshal’s son who are not always on the best of terms, on the back end of a nasty betrayal. So too is there an inspector, Adamat, and a young girl named Nila (who is only a very minor character, all things considered).
The side characters, in a way, stole the show. I can’t say there was any of them I disliked, at least in terms of the way they were writing. A loads of them had utterly wretched personalities, but thats just an example of McClellan’s amazing capabilities.
The interplay between the different factions operating in Adopest and beyond were fascinating to watch. The corruption of practically every person was a nice touch. No single man is perfect. Everyone has their vices. Their low points. Even the mightiest in Promise of Blood. In other words, flawed but easily understandable (and I guess relatable, if you’re on the insane side) characters.
The setting was not anything too crazy, but its done very well. The world practically breathes, stepping right off the page while simultaneously placing us right in it. The politics were a lot of fun, though the exact names have since escaped me, and the battle scenes between these political factions were expertly written. Especially considering how gunpowder can be used for more than just firearms. Reminded me of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn; not the consuming gunpowder part, but in the sheer otherness of the magic system, and how original it was. The various types, capabilities, all of it. Just a giant stretch of the imagination that McClellan managed seamlessly.
The atmosphere, as I alluded to in the beginning, was masterfully done. I did not expect to like a colonial-esque setting so much, or for it to be so moody and atmospheric (yes I know “the atmosphere was atmospheric” is excessively redundant, but it makes too much damn sense!). So many little details went into crafting everything about the atmosphere that we can only appreciate as the pages go by.
I will say that it did drag a little bit in the middle stages, especially when there was information to be uncovered by Adamat and the others. I also did not particularly care for Nila’s chapters, though McClellan himself has gone on to say this was his first try at writing a female POV and he wasn’t overly comfortable with it, so I won’t let that influence me overmuch. The beginning and the end, especially THAT part, tying in all of Krezemir’s Promise, was AWESOME. Its hard not to talk about it without spoilers, but damn, I am so excited to get to book 2, hopefully on audio.
Thats another thing. The audiobook was FANTASTIC. I cannot recommend it enough if someone is sitting there, wondering if they’re going to start the series and afraid they’ve not enough time for it. Seriously, Christian Rodska does a phenomenal job and I was fully enraptured the entire time.
Promise of Blood is a fantastic story mixing guns and magic, with a breathtaking world and wonderfully written characters, that I absolutely devoured. For fans of Assassin’s Creed titles and military/political fantasy not dissimilar from Game of Thrones, Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan is definitely for you.
