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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I got this book from the library because the premise intrigued me. Too often in fantasy it's either/or with gunpowder and magic. To see that the two were combined was a good promise.
PROS:
- Incredibly interesting levels of magic. There are gods, demi-gods, people with god-like powers, Marked, Privileged, Knacked, Bone-Eyes, and other things we don't have names for yet. Each have their powers and, nicely, their weaknesses.
- Layers upon layers of story and betrayal for just about everyone. People are real and complicated and things are messy.
CONS:
- Most of the female characters are the exception to the second statement above. Vlora seemed to serve no purpose at all, other than being Taniel's ex-fiancé. Nila's story came in short bursts, separated by a hundred or more pages, going through a relationship with one of the main characters in only a few words.
- The pacing is uneven at times. There seemed to be parts McClellan wanted to write, which were incredibly detailed and wonderfully done, and parts that he rushed through to get to the next thing.
- There was no good sense of time passing. We're told that Taniel's been away for a few months, but we don't feel it. When we see Taniel, there's no real indication that all this time has passed.
I will definitely look for the sequel, because the story is left at a marvelous cliffhanger. I am hoping that this new author improves on his craft.
PROS:
- Incredibly interesting levels of magic. There are gods, demi-gods, people with god-like powers, Marked, Privileged, Knacked, Bone-Eyes, and other things we don't have names for yet. Each have their powers and, nicely, their weaknesses.
- Layers upon layers of story and betrayal for just about everyone. People are real and complicated and things are messy.
CONS:
- Most of the female characters are the exception to the second statement above. Vlora seemed to serve no purpose at all, other than being Taniel's ex-fiancé. Nila's story came in short bursts, separated by a hundred or more pages, going through a relationship with one of the main characters in only a few words.
- The pacing is uneven at times. There seemed to be parts McClellan wanted to write, which were incredibly detailed and wonderfully done, and parts that he rushed through to get to the next thing.
- There was no good sense of time passing. We're told that Taniel's been away for a few months, but we don't feel it. When we see Taniel, there's no real indication that all this time has passed.
I will definitely look for the sequel, because the story is left at a marvelous cliffhanger. I am hoping that this new author improves on his craft.
An interesting world and setting. The Powder Mage trilogy starts off with an appropriate bang as Field Marshal Tamas enacts a sudden and merciless coup d'etat against the leaders of the industrial nation of Adro. As most revolutions tend to do, this results in the blood of royals flowing freely in the palace courtyard on the day of executions. More unsettling to the coup enactors is the mysterious phrase, "You can't break Kresimir's promise." It is this phrase that our main character, Adamat, is tasked to investigate, and the thread that he and his son, powder mage Taniel, pull on in their own relative courses threatens to throw the world into turmoil.
Along the way, we learn more about this world and its magic system. There are the Privileged, who can manipulate the elements, Powder Mages who can control, redirect, and manipulate the energy of gunpowder to their own ends (for example, burning up gunpowder to redirect a bullet mid-flight), and then those with Knacks, singular magical quirks like not needing sleep, being able to eat as much or as little food as you like, etc.
Along the way, we learn more about this world and its magic system. There are the Privileged, who can manipulate the elements, Powder Mages who can control, redirect, and manipulate the energy of gunpowder to their own ends (for example, burning up gunpowder to redirect a bullet mid-flight), and then those with Knacks, singular magical quirks like not needing sleep, being able to eat as much or as little food as you like, etc.
Promise of Blood suffered from being recommended to me too much I think. My assumption is that people are talking about the trilogy as a whole, and not the first book. Because this felt like a very long act 1. The plot is easy enough to follow, the characters are interesting, the setting is cool, and the magic system is pretty neat.
I just never connected with the plot at all. You are not really told what's at stake until the last 50 pages or so, and at that point, things suddenly happen very quickly. I didn't like it, and the author seems to know this as well, as the interview in the back of the book mentions that he sees this lack of overall clear plot as a bit of a divise point of the book. As it is, I really struggled to get invested enough to want to sit down and read.
I understand why people would like the trilogy, I am definitely looking forward to book #2, but this first entry is unlikely to be something I read again I feel.
I just never connected with the plot at all. You are not really told what's at stake until the last 50 pages or so, and at that point, things suddenly happen very quickly. I didn't like it, and the author seems to know this as well, as the interview in the back of the book mentions that he sees this lack of overall clear plot as a bit of a divise point of the book. As it is, I really struggled to get invested enough to want to sit down and read.
I understand why people would like the trilogy, I am definitely looking forward to book #2, but this first entry is unlikely to be something I read again I feel.
You can find the original review on my blog: https://wp.me/pbesru-nn
The story is not your usual medieval set fantasy story and this is what picked my interest from the beginning. The story is set in a, I think I've seen it described as Napoleonian settings, where guns and gun-powder add a new twist to your typical fantasy story.
Things I liked
-The story is fast-paced and action-packed throughout the book.
-The plot is not straight forward. It has so many aspect and branches that even after the first book you can tell that there is still so much to uncover.
-I really enjoy having a mix of magic and guns. It was something that personally I haven't read before and it was refreshing.
-We have the hint of a battle coming between two (or maybe more) Gods that sound really epic and makes you want to read the next book straight away.
-You have three main magic systems very different between them but yet they intertwine in a very unique and interesting way.
-You have many characters with different relationships between them and I'm really hoping that those will be explore in-depth as the story progress.
-I loved Taniel and Ka-Poel dynamic. Also, Ka-Poel was one of the best characters. There is so much mystery surrounding her and so much more to learn about her.
Things I didn't like
-At the end of the book, although it had a lot going on, I felt like this book was more like a set up for the next two books. Fair enough it is a trilogy you need to have the build-up but... I don't know, sometimes it felt like some events where there just to get to a 600page count and could be cut out.
-In some occasions some characters made decisions that felt out of character, just to move the plot forward or to create more mystery.
-The book was very plot-driven and sometimes I felt like we didn't really explore the relationship between characters. We know the basics Tamas and Taniel don't have a very nice father-son relationship, Taniel wants his father's approval and deep down Tamas loves his son but doesn't show it. But I never really felt it, if that makes sense. I wanted maybe some more small moments that are there to emphasis the feeling and not just a line or two.
-Same with Vlora. She is a powerful Powder Mage, Taniel's ex-fiance and Tamas sees her as a daughter and treat her better than his own son. Throughout the book, you have this feeling that she is supposed to be an important character but we only see her for a couple of chapters and that just Tamas giving her orders. Again I wanted to see more. Maybe that will come in the next book but I was left hungry for more and not in a good way.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book I do believe that we have a great setting for an epic story. I already ordered book two and hope to get to it soon!
The story is not your usual medieval set fantasy story and this is what picked my interest from the beginning. The story is set in a, I think I've seen it described as Napoleonian settings, where guns and gun-powder add a new twist to your typical fantasy story.
Things I liked
-The story is fast-paced and action-packed throughout the book.
-The plot is not straight forward. It has so many aspect and branches that even after the first book you can tell that there is still so much to uncover.
-I really enjoy having a mix of magic and guns. It was something that personally I haven't read before and it was refreshing.
-We have the hint of a battle coming between two (or maybe more) Gods that sound really epic and makes you want to read the next book straight away.
-You have three main magic systems very different between them but yet they intertwine in a very unique and interesting way.
-You have many characters with different relationships between them and I'm really hoping that those will be explore in-depth as the story progress.
-I loved Taniel and Ka-Poel dynamic. Also, Ka-Poel was one of the best characters. There is so much mystery surrounding her and so much more to learn about her.
Things I didn't like
-At the end of the book, although it had a lot going on, I felt like this book was more like a set up for the next two books. Fair enough it is a trilogy you need to have the build-up but... I don't know, sometimes it felt like some events where there just to get to a 600page count and could be cut out.
-In some occasions some characters made decisions that felt out of character, just to move the plot forward or to create more mystery.
-The book was very plot-driven and sometimes I felt like we didn't really explore the relationship between characters. We know the basics Tamas and Taniel don't have a very nice father-son relationship, Taniel wants his father's approval and deep down Tamas loves his son but doesn't show it. But I never really felt it, if that makes sense. I wanted maybe some more small moments that are there to emphasis the feeling and not just a line or two.
-Same with Vlora. She is a powerful Powder Mage, Taniel's ex-fiance and Tamas sees her as a daughter and treat her better than his own son. Throughout the book, you have this feeling that she is supposed to be an important character but we only see her for a couple of chapters and that just Tamas giving her orders. Again I wanted to see more. Maybe that will come in the next book but I was left hungry for more and not in a good way.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book I do believe that we have a great setting for an epic story. I already ordered book two and hope to get to it soon!
I was interested in this series because McClellan was in Brandon Sanderson's BYU creative writing class and he gave a blurb about how "just plain awesome" it was. After my immense enjoyment of Foundryside (a Sanderson 5 star), this series rose quite quickly to the top of my list.
Safe to assume this is the most disappointing book of 2019 so far.
Promise of Blood is a flintlock fantasy with a vague French Revolution inspiration---I say vague because this series starts with a military coup, not with a commoner uprising. In fact, the commoners didn't appear to be upset with their predicament at all, despite how often characters say the people are being starved.
There are 4 main POVs and 3 of them are men. Field Marshall Tamas is a grizzled soldier/Powder Mage in charge of the country's Powder Mages (one kind of magic in this world). Taniel is a Powder Mage with a crippling addition and lives in the shadow of his father. Adamat is an investigator with a huge debt hanging over his head. And Nila is a laundress who for some reason is loyal to the noble family she served under.
There. Now you know all you need in order to understand these characters. Every decision they make, every line of dialogue, is based off something I said above. And yet nothing is a spoiler because you know all of this as soon as you meet them. They're just that plain.
The female characters in here are just awful. There's the ex-fiancee(?) who "was seduced/stolen away by a professional philanderer". There's the wife who is ushered away to the countryside for safekeeping and never heard from again. There's the witch of an antagonist, powerful but with thin motives. There's a young commoner and someone attempts to rape her the first time she's introduced. The most interesting woman is conveniently mute and defined by her relationship with a man.
I said in my updates that one reviewer called this "a manly book about manly men doing manly things with their manliness" and I stick by that. But for all of the gunpowder explosions and sword fights and old-style battles this ended up being one of the most dull books I've ever read. The setting has nothing new to offer and seemed like a playground for showing off a mildly interesting magic system.
And the traitor. Really? The priest? That's a bit on the nose.
Needless to say I will not be continuing this series and I will be removing this book from my personal library as soon as I can. Normally I give an author 2 tries to "keep" me as a reader, but I know in my gut that McClellan's work isn't for me.
Safe to assume this is the most disappointing book of 2019 so far.
Promise of Blood is a flintlock fantasy with a vague French Revolution inspiration---I say vague because this series starts with a military coup, not with a commoner uprising. In fact, the commoners didn't appear to be upset with their predicament at all, despite how often characters say the people are being starved.
There are 4 main POVs and 3 of them are men. Field Marshall Tamas is a grizzled soldier/Powder Mage in charge of the country's Powder Mages (one kind of magic in this world). Taniel is a Powder Mage with a crippling addition and lives in the shadow of his father. Adamat is an investigator with a huge debt hanging over his head. And Nila is a laundress who for some reason is loyal to the noble family she served under.
There. Now you know all you need in order to understand these characters. Every decision they make, every line of dialogue, is based off something I said above. And yet nothing is a spoiler because you know all of this as soon as you meet them. They're just that plain.
The female characters in here are just awful. There's the ex-fiancee(?) who "was seduced/stolen away by a professional philanderer". There's the wife who is ushered away to the countryside for safekeeping and never heard from again. There's the witch of an antagonist, powerful but with thin motives. There's a young commoner and someone attempts to rape her the first time she's introduced. The most interesting woman is conveniently mute and defined by her relationship with a man.
I said in my updates that one reviewer called this "a manly book about manly men doing manly things with their manliness" and I stick by that. But for all of the gunpowder explosions and sword fights and old-style battles this ended up being one of the most dull books I've ever read. The setting has nothing new to offer and seemed like a playground for showing off a mildly interesting magic system.
And the traitor. Really?
Needless to say I will not be continuing this series and I will be removing this book from my personal library as soon as I can. Normally I give an author 2 tries to "keep" me as a reader, but I know in my gut that McClellan's work isn't for me.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve had Brian McClellan’s Promise of Blood (Book 1 of the Powder Mage Trilogy) on my list for years. Magic mystery, kings and revolutions, war and prophecy? What’s not to love? And flintlock fantasy adds a unique twist to the mix, intertwining gunpowder weapons with magic (when epic fantasy usually trends toward medieval technology).
I’m also reading the Powder Mage books in part for research into the genre of flintlock fantasy. It’s no secret I’m writing an epic fantasy series which I’ve identified as a “flintlock climate fantasy.” If I’m to write a good book, though, I need to learn from the greats. I’ve read Sanderson. I’ve read Jemisin. I’ve not yet read McClellan.
And now, I’m quite glad I’ve read McClellan.
Promise of Blood begins with an incredible opening scene the Field Marshal, Tamas, overthrowing the government in Adopest, the capital of of Adro. The scene feels straight out of the French Revolution, and throughout the novel, the parallels to the Enlightenment thinking of France and the liberty (and tyranny) of that Revolution ring true.
Within the first few chapters, we see characters performing incredible feats of magic and sorcery. At first, I was unsure if I would enjoy the world McClellan was building, but by the time I was through the first half of the book, everything began to click.
And then, a character named Mihali enters the scene. I don’t want to spoil much of his story, but let’s just say he can create food out of thin air. And he becomes almost a “Tom Bombadil” type figure in the story, mysterious and wonderful and magnificent in the narrative. It’s not clear at first, but his nature becomes quite pivotal to the overarching plot of the story, and the narrative twists and turns in directions not obvious at first.
When the story begins, you expect a military-war narrative. And it’s there. But the story becomes quite a bit more, with a focus on human nature, lust for power, and the nature of the divine.
If you’re looking for an epic flintlock fantasy and a story quite different from your typical “fantasy” novel, I highly recommend Promise of Blood. It will not disappoint.
Five Stars.
I’m also reading the Powder Mage books in part for research into the genre of flintlock fantasy. It’s no secret I’m writing an epic fantasy series which I’ve identified as a “flintlock climate fantasy.” If I’m to write a good book, though, I need to learn from the greats. I’ve read Sanderson. I’ve read Jemisin. I’ve not yet read McClellan.
And now, I’m quite glad I’ve read McClellan.
Promise of Blood begins with an incredible opening scene the Field Marshal, Tamas, overthrowing the government in Adopest, the capital of of Adro. The scene feels straight out of the French Revolution, and throughout the novel, the parallels to the Enlightenment thinking of France and the liberty (and tyranny) of that Revolution ring true.
Within the first few chapters, we see characters performing incredible feats of magic and sorcery. At first, I was unsure if I would enjoy the world McClellan was building, but by the time I was through the first half of the book, everything began to click.
And then, a character named Mihali enters the scene. I don’t want to spoil much of his story, but let’s just say he can create food out of thin air. And he becomes almost a “Tom Bombadil” type figure in the story, mysterious and wonderful and magnificent in the narrative. It’s not clear at first, but his nature becomes quite pivotal to the overarching plot of the story, and the narrative twists and turns in directions not obvious at first.
When the story begins, you expect a military-war narrative. And it’s there. But the story becomes quite a bit more, with a focus on human nature, lust for power, and the nature of the divine.
If you’re looking for an epic flintlock fantasy and a story quite different from your typical “fantasy” novel, I highly recommend Promise of Blood. It will not disappoint.
Five Stars.