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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
A good book. Most people know that the author studied under Brandon Sanderson, and it definitely shows in his worldbuilding, particularly the way the existence of magic and their specific systems inform the world, the characters, and the plot. The story and characters did not blow me away, but did make for an enjoyable enough read. I'll certainly pick up the sequel when it comes out.
I read a number of Brian McClellan's short stories before I committed to his main work. I really enjoyed them and had good expectations for this book. I was not let down.
The book is a mix of Napoleonic era war with fantasy magic. The mix worked fairly well, but there was always that nagging feeling if some of these magic users were that powerful, why hadn't they dominated.
The story itself has a little bit of historical warfare, investigation and betrayal, and epic magic battles. There are three main point of view characters, and while these are interesting characters - some of the better ones were the supporting ones (reading the shorts expands on these a little).
One of the short stories focused on Vlora, and I was expecting a lot more of her in this book - she hardly appeared. I felt that this part of the story was weak, and hopefully it will be expanded in the next book.
Sometime I felt a little lost as the book would sometimes jump a little to get to the next portion of the story. Nothing major, just took a couple of chapters for me to work this out.
I listened to the Audiobook. The production was excellent, as I would expect from new releases now. I did feel that some of the characters seemed a little out of place - but that could just be me.
The book is a mix of Napoleonic era war with fantasy magic. The mix worked fairly well, but there was always that nagging feeling if some of these magic users were that powerful, why hadn't they dominated.
The story itself has a little bit of historical warfare, investigation and betrayal, and epic magic battles. There are three main point of view characters, and while these are interesting characters - some of the better ones were the supporting ones (reading the shorts expands on these a little).
One of the short stories focused on Vlora, and I was expecting a lot more of her in this book - she hardly appeared. I felt that this part of the story was weak, and hopefully it will be expanded in the next book.
Sometime I felt a little lost as the book would sometimes jump a little to get to the next portion of the story. Nothing major, just took a couple of chapters for me to work this out.
I listened to the Audiobook. The production was excellent, as I would expect from new releases now. I did feel that some of the characters seemed a little out of place - but that could just be me.
This book seriously outstayed its welcome with me. While I like the idea of black powder sorcery, it felt curiously lacking in mystery, more like a DnD ruleset than anything else. I liked some of the characters but I wouldn't have finished it without the outstanding audiobook narration of Christian Rodska.
I like the idea of a powder mage and the mechanics behind the power but this book kind of drags itself through the whole 20+ hours of listening. 30 minutes before the ending, and I'm still questioning, where this is all going.
And while Christian Rodska has a pretty good voice for narration, I wish he would make a pause between different settings of characters instead after every sentence. If you're not carefully listening you get easily confused why a certain character is doing at that location if you know he is miles away on a mountain.
And while Christian Rodska has a pretty good voice for narration, I wish he would make a pause between different settings of characters instead after every sentence. If you're not carefully listening you get easily confused why a certain character is doing at that location if you know he is miles away on a mountain.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was introduced to this book from a variety of sources, ranging from Reddit to blogs I follow. Almost all the reviews were positive, so I decided to give it a chance. I'm glad I did.
The book starts you right in the middle of the action. There is no build-up to any big event to start the book. You're thrown right in, and I enjoyed it. The reader was left to fend for themselves as they followed the three story-lines, and the history of the world, as well as what happened was revealed to them, in a similar way to how the peasants in the story found out what was going on. It made for a nice change, and showed that there would be some greater, overarching plot besides the coup.
The story proceeds to follow three main characters: Tamas, the instigator of the coup who wants to give the country to the people and despises how the last king ran things, Taniel, Tamas' son, a man conflicted personally and professionally, and Adamat, a retired detective who must continue to take jobs to pay back a loan on a printing press that exploded, leaving him penniless except for his house.
Of all the characters, Taniel was my favorite, his story line was the most interesting to me and his relationships as well, specifically with his "savage" companion, Ka-poel. Tamas' story was intriguing, dealing a lot with the fallout of the coup, as well as the advances of a rival nation and various factions who want to dispose of him and take over the country, making it a colony of their own. Adamat is a man conflicted between doing his job, thus saving his honor and integrity, and protecting his family, and his own inner conflict made his story riveting, and him a likable character.
The conflict between the different types of magic is also interesting. You have the Privileged, who, if they could be classified as anything, are your typical fantasy magic-users. Then, opposite them, you have the Marked, also known as the "powder mages." As the name suggests, they control gunpowder for their magic, something not typically seen in fantasy novels. Outside of the main country, the Marked are frowned upon, being viewed as a perversion to magic, and this leads to lots of trouble for Tamas and Taniel, both of whom are Marked. It is quite interesting to see how the prejudices between these two groups push forward the action in some cases.
On the whole, this book is great, especially for an author's debut. I would recommend it to any fantasy readers, though non-regular readers of the genre might have a bit of difficulty getting into it.
The book starts you right in the middle of the action. There is no build-up to any big event to start the book. You're thrown right in, and I enjoyed it. The reader was left to fend for themselves as they followed the three story-lines, and the history of the world, as well as what happened was revealed to them, in a similar way to how the peasants in the story found out what was going on. It made for a nice change, and showed that there would be some greater, overarching plot besides the coup.
The story proceeds to follow three main characters: Tamas, the instigator of the coup who wants to give the country to the people and despises how the last king ran things, Taniel, Tamas' son, a man conflicted personally and professionally, and Adamat, a retired detective who must continue to take jobs to pay back a loan on a printing press that exploded, leaving him penniless except for his house.
Of all the characters, Taniel was my favorite, his story line was the most interesting to me and his relationships as well, specifically with his "savage" companion, Ka-poel. Tamas' story was intriguing, dealing a lot with the fallout of the coup, as well as the advances of a rival nation and various factions who want to dispose of him and take over the country, making it a colony of their own. Adamat is a man conflicted between doing his job, thus saving his honor and integrity, and protecting his family, and his own inner conflict made his story riveting, and him a likable character.
The conflict between the different types of magic is also interesting. You have the Privileged, who, if they could be classified as anything, are your typical fantasy magic-users. Then, opposite them, you have the Marked, also known as the "powder mages." As the name suggests, they control gunpowder for their magic, something not typically seen in fantasy novels. Outside of the main country, the Marked are frowned upon, being viewed as a perversion to magic, and this leads to lots of trouble for Tamas and Taniel, both of whom are Marked. It is quite interesting to see how the prejudices between these two groups push forward the action in some cases.
On the whole, this book is great, especially for an author's debut. I would recommend it to any fantasy readers, though non-regular readers of the genre might have a bit of difficulty getting into it.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A very fun book, fast paced, a lot of interesting characters, unique setting and magic system, some very funny moments and a great setup for the rest of the trilogy.
“I’ve never resorted to assassination before. Not in twenty-five years of command.”
“I can remember a few times you should have,” Sabon said.
What in the pit?!!
I can’t believe this is over! I know there’s two more books (thank Adom for completed series) but I didn’t want it to end!
(also, meet my new favourite expletive: pit, no more ‘hell’ or ‘fuck’ or ‘heck’ etc)
STRENGTHS:
1. Characterisation (stellar work)
2. Magic system (powder mages, Privilegeds, predii – love the concepts)
3. World-building (I only know two gods so far and not much about other lands except Kez but it was enough whet my appetite)
4. Plotting
5. Writing
6. Themes (won’t say much for now because I feel like I need a wider scope)
7. That cover
WEAKNESSES:
1. That one character who died - you'll know which one - shouldn't have died (won't name them because of spoilers)