Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
This book is getting a solid 4.5* rating from me which is really good considering I'm not usually one for battle-heavy books. This is a fantasy debut book but it really doesn't feel like the author is settling into fantasy. It's very well paced with only one or two moments of slow writing, a lot of moments of intrigue, and an explosive ending. I constantly had questions and when I wasn't reading the book I did wonder about it. I have to say I am very glad I picked this up because it's a really brilliant series and whilst I didn't adore Brian McClellan's take on fantasy and flintlock I am happy to say that Django Wexler's approach was far more interesting and compelling for me.
This story follows two different characters, Winter who is a young soldier in the Vordanai Army, and Marcus who is a leading commander in the army. Neither of these characters know each other specifically when the story begins, but we follow each of their journeys as they are both part of the army trying to take on the Khandarians.
Firstly I have to say that there's clearly going to be a lot of warfare and battles and attacks throughout this whole book and that's certainly the case. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the way that Wexler handled it was that he did his research and he's clearly got a passion for describing battles and this shows through in his writing. Even though I personally don't love battles on a large scale as I find it easy to get confused, this book had a very clear and well put together way of detailing the battles so I felt that I knew exactly who was where and what they were doing in the battle at all times. The descriptions of the warfare and attacks and the layout of the regiments was excellent, and I think it's one of the better battle-focused books I've ever read for sure as it makes it easy to comprehend.
The characters themselves are both very interesting in their own way as due to their position within the Army each one gets a different perspective on the goings on. Whilst Marcus is a high up commander and knows a lot more than anyone else about the military tactics and best route to take, he's tested when a new Colonel is brought in to lead the new attack. The Vordanai and the Khandari have lived in peace up until fairly recently when we join the story, and with the new fracturing and attacking of the Khandari the Vordani are forced to act so the King sends in a new Colonel called Janus. Janus is a very, very clever character so much so that no one really knows if he's so clever he's better than anyone else, or he's so insane that he can convince everyone he knows what he's doing even without truly knowing. Marcus is unsure how to react to this new, odd character, and over the course of the book we see him having to deal with not only his own troops and friendships, but be the go-between for the main army and the Colonel who refuses to talk to anyone but him.
I really enjoyed seeing Marcus' take on the situation and there were multiple moments within this book where I felt that we saw Marcus in an impossibly tough situation where he had to choose one thing over another. I really enjoyed getting to know him and his backstory because at first glance he's your typical grizzled Commander, but of course there's more to him than just that and as the story goes on we see his true feelings and alliances.
Winter is a solider in the army but she's masquerading as a male to escape her past. She's a very conscientious and aware soldier who not only knows more languages than most, but has a rather sad backstory which haunts her wherever she goes. I felt that her character was one I could easily connect to and sympathise with, and I was instant;y very intrigued by her predicament and the situations she was put in.
I felt like Winter's storyline was a brilliantly told one and one where I felt I could guess some things, but I was so wrong. There were a great number of twists and turns in this book and I didn't expect them which made it so interesting and Winter's story certainly had it's fair share. I loved seeing her character and learning how she dealt with tricky situations, and I also appreciated her resourcefulness! She's a very strong and wonderful character to learn about, and I really appreciated her character.
The Magic in this book is handled well because there's not a whole load of it used which means that whenever we do see any magic we feel it's effects more and it's far more intimidating. I really liked the ideas of the magic within this world as it's a very mysterious form and we don't find out too much about it until the ending where everything kicks off, but I certainly am looking forward to learning more because what we do learn and see glimpses of is a very cool idea.
Also there are some lgbt themes within this story which I really enjoyed because although there's nothing too explicit, this is certainly something we don't often see within fantasy and I found it very well-handled and quite refreshing. I wonder if this too may come into play more as the series goes on.
On the whole this is a very satisfying and interesting book and I would highly recommend it. I plan to pick up book 2 in June before the release of book 3 this year and I'm highly excited by the ending and the way everything will continue and shape up in book 2. A solid 4.5*s!
This story follows two different characters, Winter who is a young soldier in the Vordanai Army, and Marcus who is a leading commander in the army. Neither of these characters know each other specifically when the story begins, but we follow each of their journeys as they are both part of the army trying to take on the Khandarians.
Firstly I have to say that there's clearly going to be a lot of warfare and battles and attacks throughout this whole book and that's certainly the case. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the way that Wexler handled it was that he did his research and he's clearly got a passion for describing battles and this shows through in his writing. Even though I personally don't love battles on a large scale as I find it easy to get confused, this book had a very clear and well put together way of detailing the battles so I felt that I knew exactly who was where and what they were doing in the battle at all times. The descriptions of the warfare and attacks and the layout of the regiments was excellent, and I think it's one of the better battle-focused books I've ever read for sure as it makes it easy to comprehend.
The characters themselves are both very interesting in their own way as due to their position within the Army each one gets a different perspective on the goings on. Whilst Marcus is a high up commander and knows a lot more than anyone else about the military tactics and best route to take, he's tested when a new Colonel is brought in to lead the new attack. The Vordanai and the Khandari have lived in peace up until fairly recently when we join the story, and with the new fracturing and attacking of the Khandari the Vordani are forced to act so the King sends in a new Colonel called Janus. Janus is a very, very clever character so much so that no one really knows if he's so clever he's better than anyone else, or he's so insane that he can convince everyone he knows what he's doing even without truly knowing. Marcus is unsure how to react to this new, odd character, and over the course of the book we see him having to deal with not only his own troops and friendships, but be the go-between for the main army and the Colonel who refuses to talk to anyone but him.
I really enjoyed seeing Marcus' take on the situation and there were multiple moments within this book where I felt that we saw Marcus in an impossibly tough situation where he had to choose one thing over another. I really enjoyed getting to know him and his backstory because at first glance he's your typical grizzled Commander, but of course there's more to him than just that and as the story goes on we see his true feelings and alliances.
Winter is a solider in the army but she's masquerading as a male to escape her past. She's a very conscientious and aware soldier who not only knows more languages than most, but has a rather sad backstory which haunts her wherever she goes. I felt that her character was one I could easily connect to and sympathise with, and I was instant;y very intrigued by her predicament and the situations she was put in.
I felt like Winter's storyline was a brilliantly told one and one where I felt I could guess some things, but I was so wrong. There were a great number of twists and turns in this book and I didn't expect them which made it so interesting and Winter's story certainly had it's fair share. I loved seeing her character and learning how she dealt with tricky situations, and I also appreciated her resourcefulness! She's a very strong and wonderful character to learn about, and I really appreciated her character.
The Magic in this book is handled well because there's not a whole load of it used which means that whenever we do see any magic we feel it's effects more and it's far more intimidating. I really liked the ideas of the magic within this world as it's a very mysterious form and we don't find out too much about it until the ending where everything kicks off, but I certainly am looking forward to learning more because what we do learn and see glimpses of is a very cool idea.
Also there are some lgbt themes within this story which I really enjoyed because although there's nothing too explicit, this is certainly something we don't often see within fantasy and I found it very well-handled and quite refreshing. I wonder if this too may come into play more as the series goes on.
On the whole this is a very satisfying and interesting book and I would highly recommend it. I plan to pick up book 2 in June before the release of book 3 this year and I'm highly excited by the ending and the way everything will continue and shape up in book 2. A solid 4.5*s!
Plot:
Military intervention in faux-Arabia, with an added dose of magical archeology. Or is it grave robbing? I can't tell.
Thoughts:
1. So uhm. I really do like military stories. But this book helped me draw clear demarcations between the type of military fiction I actually adore and the one where I’m mostly just along for the ride.
2. And here’s the embarrassing bit- I like certain military stories (The Way of Kings, Monstrous Regiment) for the same reason I like sports stories. It’s all about the ensemble. Of people coming together and relying on teamwork and sweat and innovation to overcome impossible odds. That’s the kind of thing that completely bypasses the logic parts of my brain and goes directly to the hippocampus where I have a lot of irrationally strong Feelings.
3. The parts narrated by Winter is exactly that- Winter escaped an Orphanage from Hell and snuck herself into the army where she discovers that she has an affinity for not letting the men under her command be mistreated and/or die. Her narrative is one of how large-scale conflicts affects the footsoldiers, and her character motivation is keeping as many of said footsoldiers alive for as long as possible. I can get behind that. I have no choice but to get behind that, because my brain has latches on to such plots like a clingy octopus and I have no way of pulling myself free.
4. The Janus bits, on the other hand… uh. Hmm.
5. The parts where Janus methodically uses a bunch of newly recruited soldiers and a lot of tricks (tactics, semantics) to conquer the desert rebels is very cerebral. It’s political (which I like), involved finding hidden magic (good) and it’s theoretically interesting, but I don’t have an emotional attachment to it. I think part of it stems from how I can’t get over the fact that Janus’ maneuvering affects Winter’s footsoldiers. And all of the other footsoldiers. When the two stories are in juxtaposition, feeling strongly about one seems to require being emotionally removed from the other, at least for me.
6. Not to digress into a rendition of “War? What is it god for?” but… look. Janus? A politically ambitious little bitch too smart for his own good. I like him, I really do. I love my little bitches. But the fact remains that at the end of the day he’s interfering in the affairs of another nation to put a drunken, spoiled sot on the throne, while also killing thousands of people in the process. Now this is offset a little by the rebels being murderous religious fanatics who are pretty terrible to the people they are usurping(is it just me or does this whole situation sound eerily familiar?), but that’s a band-aid, not proper wound dressing.
7. This could have been fine, you know. If we stuck around in quasi-Arabia for another book or so, to explore the political consequences of military intervention. However, we then get back to the political minefields of the country doing the intervention which… hmm. As excited as I am to see Janus work in a mileu where he does a little less collateral damage, the abrupt shift was a bit disorienting and more akin to a new book altogether (new setting, new conflict) than a sequel. I’ll get back to it eventually, but I need to let this one fade a little so I can give it a fair chance.
Verdict: It’s a good story! But I am a touchy, touchy little bitch and I have Issues with the perceived themes.
Military intervention in faux-Arabia, with an added dose of magical archeology. Or is it grave robbing? I can't tell.
Thoughts:
1. So uhm. I really do like military stories. But this book helped me draw clear demarcations between the type of military fiction I actually adore and the one where I’m mostly just along for the ride.
2. And here’s the embarrassing bit- I like certain military stories (The Way of Kings, Monstrous Regiment) for the same reason I like sports stories. It’s all about the ensemble. Of people coming together and relying on teamwork and sweat and innovation to overcome impossible odds. That’s the kind of thing that completely bypasses the logic parts of my brain and goes directly to the hippocampus where I have a lot of irrationally strong Feelings.
3. The parts narrated by Winter is exactly that- Winter escaped an Orphanage from Hell and snuck herself into the army where she discovers that she has an affinity for not letting the men under her command be mistreated and/or die. Her narrative is one of how large-scale conflicts affects the footsoldiers, and her character motivation is keeping as many of said footsoldiers alive for as long as possible. I can get behind that. I have no choice but to get behind that, because my brain has latches on to such plots like a clingy octopus and I have no way of pulling myself free.
4. The Janus bits, on the other hand… uh. Hmm.
5. The parts where Janus methodically uses a bunch of newly recruited soldiers and a lot of tricks (tactics, semantics) to conquer the desert rebels is very cerebral. It’s political (which I like), involved finding hidden magic (good) and it’s theoretically interesting, but I don’t have an emotional attachment to it. I think part of it stems from how I can’t get over the fact that Janus’ maneuvering affects Winter’s footsoldiers. And all of the other footsoldiers. When the two stories are in juxtaposition, feeling strongly about one seems to require being emotionally removed from the other, at least for me.
6. Not to digress into a rendition of “War? What is it god for?” but… look. Janus? A politically ambitious little bitch too smart for his own good. I like him, I really do. I love my little bitches. But the fact remains that at the end of the day he’s interfering in the affairs of another nation to put a drunken, spoiled sot on the throne, while also killing thousands of people in the process. Now this is offset a little by the rebels being murderous religious fanatics who are pretty terrible to the people they are usurping
7. This could have been fine, you know. If we stuck around in quasi-Arabia for another book or so, to explore the political consequences of military intervention. However, we then get back to the political minefields of the country doing the intervention which… hmm. As excited as I am to see Janus work in a mileu where he does a little less collateral damage, the abrupt shift was a bit disorienting and more akin to a new book altogether (new setting, new conflict) than a sequel. I’ll get back to it eventually, but I need to let this one fade a little so I can give it a fair chance.
Verdict: It’s a good story! But I am a touchy, touchy little bitch and I have Issues with the perceived themes.
Good Flintlock Fantasy. Multiple POV characters. I would have given it 5 starts, but it did have a few predictable characters; the girl disguised as a boy, the brutal sgt.
Despite that, it was a good story, i devoured it in about 2 days, and will be reading the rest of the series.
Despite that, it was a good story, i devoured it in about 2 days, and will be reading the rest of the series.
A fascinating debut. Flintlock fantasy to the fore with compelling characters and a hint of the bigger overaching theme in place..
The beginning of this was a bit slow but considering all the world-building that had to be established I was not that bothered, it definitely picked up in the second half of the book.
Also I was very happily surprised by the amount of good female characters in this, because when it comes to fantasy series written by white men you never know if you're going to end up with just one female character who actually has an important role.
Now time to go buy book 2.
Also I was very happily surprised by the amount of good female characters in this, because when it comes to fantasy series written by white men you never know if you're going to end up with just one female character who actually has an important role.
Now time to go buy book 2.
I think for the right person (someone who really likes gunpowder fantasy, or military fantasy) this would be an easy 5 stars for them. It's certainly well done, with the "fantasy" aspect coming more into play near the end.
Would heartily recommend it to any fan of military fantasy.
Would heartily recommend it to any fan of military fantasy.
It starts off a bit slow but the build up is worth it. The cast of characters is great and if you like fantasy soldiers you'll definitely enjoy this story.
Interesting narrative and good cast of characters. Just enough info is provided to keep you reading in interested while not leaving your feeling entirely lost.