Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
This is my second flintlock fantasy and both times I went in very skeptical because for some reason fantasy and guns don't mix in my head. However both experiences were great despite my initial reluctance. So I need to let that go.
This book has so many great things that I love to see in books. Magic system is a bit derivative from Sanderson, but still really cool. I liked the magic addiction aspect, which is interesting to see, though at this point is more hinted at than actually explored. The characters and their relationships are interesting and complicated and messy. The world building is great. There is politics, intrigue, revolutions, gods walking among people, messy family dynamics... I am very interested to see how this continues.
This book has so many great things that I love to see in books. Magic system is a bit derivative from Sanderson, but still really cool. I liked the magic addiction aspect, which is interesting to see, though at this point is more hinted at than actually explored. The characters and their relationships are interesting and complicated and messy. The world building is great. There is politics, intrigue, revolutions, gods walking among people, messy family dynamics... I am very interested to see how this continues.
This was my first experience with flintlock fantasy and I quite enjoyed it. The magic of the powder mages being tied into the essential flintlockiness (shut up, it’s a word) contributed greatly to this enjoyment. It makes this a fantasy story and world that could not exist without having technology progressed to this level.
All three types of magic in the book are engaging with their limitations and consequences. I have my fingers crossed that those consequences in particular get explored in greater depth in later books. The one issue I have with the magic is the conflict between the powder mages and the privileged; it never felt natural to me. There are some reasons for the conflict given in the book but to me none of them seemed like enough to justify the amount of disdain and prejudice between the two.
The characters are really the main strength of the novel. The plot can feel a bit meandering at times, especially early on, but the characters always kept me centered. Each POV character is unique and interesting with their own storyline. Each ties together to form a greater whole rather tightly. This is not a book that will have you wondering how the disparate plot threads are going to link up. We never get more than in necessary to understand these characters. The constant hints of back story and depth made it feel as though I could understand the characters without them ever losing a sense of mystery.
Sadly things are less than wonderful when it comes to the female characters. There are a handful of very important women, but they never get the same time and attention as their male counterparts. It isn’t that they are uninteresting either; there just isn’t enough time spent on them. I was incredibly intrigued by Vlora in particular. I couldn’t wait to find out more about her and was very let down when I finished the book with the exact same questions about her that I started with. I do feel like this will be remedied in the next book. The strong, interesting, female characters are there, now we just need them to play a bigger, more visible, role.
All three types of magic in the book are engaging with their limitations and consequences. I have my fingers crossed that those consequences in particular get explored in greater depth in later books. The one issue I have with the magic is the conflict between the powder mages and the privileged; it never felt natural to me. There are some reasons for the conflict given in the book but to me none of them seemed like enough to justify the amount of disdain and prejudice between the two.
The characters are really the main strength of the novel. The plot can feel a bit meandering at times, especially early on, but the characters always kept me centered. Each POV character is unique and interesting with their own storyline. Each ties together to form a greater whole rather tightly. This is not a book that will have you wondering how the disparate plot threads are going to link up. We never get more than in necessary to understand these characters. The constant hints of back story and depth made it feel as though I could understand the characters without them ever losing a sense of mystery.
Sadly things are less than wonderful when it comes to the female characters. There are a handful of very important women, but they never get the same time and attention as their male counterparts. It isn’t that they are uninteresting either; there just isn’t enough time spent on them. I was incredibly intrigued by Vlora in particular. I couldn’t wait to find out more about her and was very let down when I finished the book with the exact same questions about her that I started with. I do feel like this will be remedied in the next book. The strong, interesting, female characters are there, now we just need them to play a bigger, more visible, role.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like the book had a lot of buildup with the investigation of the Promise. I am interested to see what happens with the aftermath of the fight at the mountain. I felt like I was thrown into the story headfirst into the action.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was very good. I loved the three magic systems that overlapped with one another. We follow three main characters in this one. Tamas who overthrew the monarchy at the start of the book. Taniel who is Tamas son and a powerful Powdermage who is coming back from the frontier and a war there. Then we follow and investigator named Adamat who is given a phrase spoken as a group of people died and asked to find it’s meaning.
Power Mage’s are cool they use gunpowder like Cocaine/ Steroids/Magic juice that can put them in a trance where sense are heightened and they can nudge bullets in the air and ignite powder from afar.
The start of the book Tamas overthrows the King and his royal Kabal of Sorcerers. Then he tries to remake the government for the people. It felt a bit like revolutionary France.
If I did half stars this would be 4 and a half but I don’t so I said 5. Very good book.
Power Mage’s are cool they use gunpowder like Cocaine/ Steroids/Magic juice that can put them in a trance where sense are heightened and they can nudge bullets in the air and ignite powder from afar.
The start of the book Tamas overthrows the King and his royal Kabal of Sorcerers. Then he tries to remake the government for the people. It felt a bit like revolutionary France.
If I did half stars this would be 4 and a half but I don’t so I said 5. Very good book.
This was an impressive debut novel. It was fun from start to finish and the storytelling was pretty tight. (This is no sprawling novel.) While the story was unique, I could tell that the author was heavily influenced by Brandon Sanderson (it came as no surprise to me at the end when I read the acknowledgements that he credits Sanderson as a source of writing help), so Sanderson fans are likely to enjoy this book.
The story takes place in a fantasy world that seems to be roughly equivalent to Western early 1800s history, but with magic, of course. (I love medieval fantasy, but it's really refreshing to read fantasy that takes place in such a different time period.) It begins with a coup that evokes the French Revolution, though it quickly adds in conspiracies and threat of invasion as the revolutionary government attempts to establish order and stability. The characters are interesting and the story is complex. As one would expect in a book about revolution, McClellan starts to explore themes of corruption, influence, power, and the challenges of setting up a new government.
My thoughts on the magic systems in the book so far have been kind of "meh." I think I've been spoiled by Brandon Sanderson, since his magic systems are both cool and follow a logical system of rules. McClellan's magic systems are cool, but they made less sense to me than other stuff I've read. While the reader gets to learn all about the Powder Mages' power and how it works, the Privileged remain fairly mysterious in what exactly they can do with their powers. Knacked powers seem even more random. And then there's Ka-poel, whose (quite exceptional) powers remain an utter mystery. I assume the rest of the books offer more explanation, but for now, I'm not impressed, despite the magic being fun to read about. Magic with unknown rules comes across as incoherent to me.
In terms of gender, the women are pretty much just props and side characters, despite there being some interesting ones (Ka-poel in particular). Women do serve in the military and hold some important positions, but in general, this is a book about men. The most notable example of woman-as-prop is Tamas's dead wife (think 'women in refrigerators' trope there). There are also tons of harems and brothels and poor women threatened with rape. McClellan does make an effort to show that a few of the women are interesting but then fails to do much with them beyond using them as motivations for male characters' arcs. I do have hopes for the next book, however. I started it today and it seems Adamat's wife will finally get to do do something.
The TL;DR version is that the book was fun, novel, and generally well-written (far better than the copy on the book cover would suggest). As a debut novel, this was impressive, and I have a feeling McClellan's work will only get better with time. I wasn't crazy about certain aspects of the book, but all in all, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
The story takes place in a fantasy world that seems to be roughly equivalent to Western early 1800s history, but with magic, of course. (I love medieval fantasy, but it's really refreshing to read fantasy that takes place in such a different time period.) It begins with a coup that evokes the French Revolution, though it quickly adds in conspiracies and threat of invasion as the revolutionary government attempts to establish order and stability. The characters are interesting and the story is complex. As one would expect in a book about revolution, McClellan starts to explore themes of corruption, influence, power, and the challenges of setting up a new government.
My thoughts on the magic systems in the book so far have been kind of "meh." I think I've been spoiled by Brandon Sanderson, since his magic systems are both cool and follow a logical system of rules. McClellan's magic systems are cool, but they made less sense to me than other stuff I've read. While the reader gets to learn all about the Powder Mages' power and how it works, the Privileged remain fairly mysterious in what exactly they can do with their powers. Knacked powers seem even more random. And then there's Ka-poel, whose (quite exceptional) powers remain an utter mystery. I assume the rest of the books offer more explanation, but for now, I'm not impressed, despite the magic being fun to read about. Magic with unknown rules comes across as incoherent to me.
In terms of gender, the women are pretty much just props and side characters, despite there being some interesting ones (Ka-poel in particular). Women do serve in the military and hold some important positions, but in general, this is a book about men. The most notable example of woman-as-prop is Tamas's dead wife (think 'women in refrigerators' trope there). There are also tons of harems and brothels and poor women threatened with rape. McClellan does make an effort to show that a few of the women are interesting but then fails to do much with them beyond using them as motivations for male characters' arcs. I do have hopes for the next book, however. I started it today and it seems Adamat's wife will finally get to do do something.
The TL;DR version is that the book was fun, novel, and generally well-written (far better than the copy on the book cover would suggest). As a debut novel, this was impressive, and I have a feeling McClellan's work will only get better with time. I wasn't crazy about certain aspects of the book, but all in all, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
I decided on writing another review for this book because my previous one was just bad. It pretty much consisted of ’yay this is awesome read it’. Don't judge.
.........
So here we go.
From start to finish this book is outstanding, I don't think I can find one thing I didn't like about this book. I was that good.
This was a completely new genre for me having never read flintlock fantasy and I can definitely say it won't be my last. I think the fact I had never read a book of this nature before only added to it's enjoyment because I found the magic system brilliant. It was new and well thought out and sometimes costly.
McClellan’s writing ability is flawless, he creates deep and meaningful connections and evokes a full range of emotions from the reader despite being beautifully crisp and simple. Pair that with the realism his characters possess and you have a winner.
McClellan also excels in his world building, I didn't once find myself overwhelmed with information, he gently weaves its setting (industrial revolution), culture and religion into the character interactions seamlessly. Laying what is a solid foundation for the other installments.
Promise of Blood is told from several POV’s; Tamas, Taniel and Adamat (and that is probably the order in which I rate them
.........
So here we go.
From start to finish this book is outstanding, I don't think I can find one thing I didn't like about this book. I was that good.
This was a completely new genre for me having never read flintlock fantasy and I can definitely say it won't be my last. I think the fact I had never read a book of this nature before only added to it's enjoyment because I found the magic system brilliant. It was new and well thought out and sometimes costly.
McClellan’s writing ability is flawless, he creates deep and meaningful connections and evokes a full range of emotions from the reader despite being beautifully crisp and simple. Pair that with the realism his characters possess and you have a winner.
McClellan also excels in his world building, I didn't once find myself overwhelmed with information, he gently weaves its setting (industrial revolution), culture and religion into the character interactions seamlessly. Laying what is a solid foundation for the other installments.
Promise of Blood is told from several POV’s; Tamas, Taniel and Adamat (and that is probably the order in which I rate them
On paper this is absolutely everything I love: political manoeuvring, the death of empires, spies, detailed magic systems, multifaceted gods, and all of that was done really well...But.
There was just something about this book that wasn't for me, and the only way I can think to phrase it is that I could just really tell this was written by a white bloke the entire time. Which is so say, the way women and minorities were treated didn't really have any nuance and, while it wasn't prominent, it was enough that the writing didn't click with me.
The way Ka-poel is treated and discussed is a whole...thing by itself, and the way all the male characters treat women was very off putting. It's always in terms of whether they're in or could be in a sexual relationship with them, whether they're married, whether they're beautiful, and so on. The number of men who have hoards of women who want to sleep with them is also just...creepy. Nothing wrong with those types of relationships, but this cropped up so many times it was almost funny. The old king, the Privileged, Bo, the chef, and on and on...
Some of it is the setting – like the racism and sexism Ka-poel faces – I get it, it's when it's not addressed that it begins to feel off. No one addresses the fact that she's constantly called a savage within hearing, or in a similar way even if the word isn't used. Taniel treats her like an annoyance until suddenly boom, she's of age and her clothes cling to her frame. No one addresses how it's weird all these women are magically drawn to certain people, or potentially forced into being part of a live in brothel - and the one time it is addressed it's to condemn the eugenics aspect (which, obviously, condemn eugenics).
If you enjoy a really well thought out world, with a lot of detail put into making sure the politics works, and enjoy a really logical magical system, I'd still recommend you try this one! I just couldn't get past the way characters treat women.
There was just something about this book that wasn't for me, and the only way I can think to phrase it is that I could just really tell this was written by a white bloke the entire time. Which is so say, the way women and minorities were treated didn't really have any nuance and, while it wasn't prominent, it was enough that the writing didn't click with me.
The way Ka-poel is treated and discussed is a whole...thing by itself, and the way all the male characters treat women was very off putting. It's always in terms of whether they're in or could be in a sexual relationship with them, whether they're married, whether they're beautiful, and so on. The number of men who have hoards of women who want to sleep with them is also just...creepy. Nothing wrong with those types of relationships, but this cropped up so many times it was almost funny. The old king, the Privileged, Bo, the chef, and on and on...
Some of it is the setting – like the racism and sexism Ka-poel faces – I get it, it's when it's not addressed that it begins to feel off. No one addresses the fact that she's constantly called a savage within hearing, or in a similar way even if the word isn't used. Taniel treats her like an annoyance until suddenly boom, she's of age and her clothes cling to her frame. No one addresses how it's weird all these women are magically drawn to certain people, or potentially forced into being part of a live in brothel - and the one time it is addressed it's to condemn the eugenics aspect (which, obviously, condemn eugenics).
If you enjoy a really well thought out world, with a lot of detail put into making sure the politics works, and enjoy a really logical magical system, I'd still recommend you try this one! I just couldn't get past the way characters treat women.
Goodbye fantasy tropes of the all powerful protagonist. McClellan's characters show weakness, physical and mental, which gives this book a gut-wrenching dose of realism alongside the fantastical. I will definitely being picking up the rest of this series.