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morris42's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Murder, War, Death, Genocide, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
wardenred's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
People do not exist to serve their governments or their kings. Governments exist to serve the people.
This was a pretty epic read. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding with all of its different magic systems and the gradually unveiled secrets. Also, I found the overall concept of the story super interesting. There are lots of stories where overthrowing a king who's been harming the kingdom is the goal; here, it's an inciting incident. The story is about what happens after that one big change, and all the small changes that needs to be done, and the not-so-nice-and-shiny decisions that need to be made, and the payoff of the risks that had been taken, and all sorts of previously unknown information coming to light a little too late for contingency plans. I drew a lot of parallels with the real world events as I read, both from the faraway past and the recent history, and generally found this portrayal of a changing country compelling.
For the most part, I liked how the multiple POVs worked here, though sometimes I felt the need for some extra points of view. In particular, I'm sad that we never got into Ka-poel's head; I loved her so much. There were also times I wished the narration lingered more in a particular POV before the imminent switch to another one, or simply went deeper. That is mostly like a case of "it's not you, and me"; while objectively the characterization in general is pretty good here and the depth of character building is 100% appropriate for a more setting and plot focused story like this, subjectively I enjoy a slightly more character-driven approach.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Ableism, War, Gun violence, Death, Violence, and Racism
hopepunkmonk's review
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Hated this book. Almost did not finish. This review described my feelings exactly. https://papertigertale.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/promise-of-blood-powder-mage-1-by-brian-mcclellan-review/?fbclid=IwAR2N6NKNcdu_cXX7srsOdLe5uYzi5jB6NCn9EOMwTOEu8SP1CIPdO1MeKNM
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Rape
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Racism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
The Powder Mage trilogy has been on my TBR for a long time and I was so so looking forward to reading it, that I bought the entire trilogy in one go, confident I'd blast through it for the following reasons:
1) The story is inspired by the French Revolution; 100% my bag
2) Brian McClellan is repeatedly recommended to fans of the grimdark genre, particularly Joe Abercrombie. Admittedly, I am very wary of comparisons to Joe Abercrombie because no one writes like Joe Abercrombie, but on this occasion I was ready to be convinced.
3) The cover is fantastic.
4) I'd heard only good things.
Well, I first tried to read this book back in October 2022 and didn't get very far. I felt myself going into a slump and stopped, thinking I was perhaps just a bit burned out. Then I picked it up again at the beginning of this month (March 2023) because I felt like I was in the mood again.
I was not in the mood. I still found myself feeling extremely bored, uninterested in what was happening, and overall just massively disappointed that this trilogy I'd convinced myself I was going to love just wasn't living up to my expectations. The writing is pedestrian, the characters flat, the plot uninteresting and often obscured by tedious action sequence after action sequence to the point I can't really remember what the hell is going on or why I'm supposed to care. What's more, the title of this story is 'Promise of Blood'. WHERE IS THE BLOOD? Considering the amount of action sequences, you'd think there'd be a bit more gore, a bit more violence, a bit more brutality, but there's nothing. The death scenes are off-screen (yes, even the deaths of the nobles and the monarchs that inspired this revolution) and the betrayals and backstabbings are completely predictable. I'm not uncomfortable, I'm not invested, I'm not repulsed, horrified, moved or disturbed. I'm just bored. SO BORED.
So I tried. I tried to read this book twice—really forced myself to try because I was so convinced I was going to love it—and the sad truth, I just don't. This isn't the book for me, let alone the trilogy. So I give up. I'm done.
And I'm so, so sad about it.
1) The story is inspired by the French Revolution; 100% my bag
2) Brian McClellan is repeatedly recommended to fans of the grimdark genre, particularly Joe Abercrombie. Admittedly, I am very wary of comparisons to Joe Abercrombie because no one writes like Joe Abercrombie, but on this occasion I was ready to be convinced.
3) The cover is fantastic.
4) I'd heard only good things.
Well, I first tried to read this book back in October 2022 and didn't get very far. I felt myself going into a slump and stopped, thinking I was perhaps just a bit burned out. Then I picked it up again at the beginning of this month (March 2023) because I felt like I was in the mood again.
I was not in the mood. I still found myself feeling extremely bored, uninterested in what was happening, and overall just massively disappointed that this trilogy I'd convinced myself I was going to love just wasn't living up to my expectations. The writing is pedestrian, the characters flat, the plot uninteresting and often obscured by tedious action sequence after action sequence to the point I can't really remember what the hell is going on or why I'm supposed to care. What's more, the title of this story is 'Promise of Blood'. WHERE IS THE BLOOD? Considering the amount of action sequences, you'd think there'd be a bit more gore, a bit more violence, a bit more brutality, but there's nothing. The death scenes are off-screen (yes, even the deaths of the nobles and the monarchs that inspired this revolution) and the betrayals and backstabbings are completely predictable. I'm not uncomfortable, I'm not invested, I'm not repulsed, horrified, moved or disturbed. I'm just bored. SO BORED.
So I tried. I tried to read this book twice—really forced myself to try because I was so convinced I was going to love it—and the sad truth, I just don't. This isn't the book for me, let alone the trilogy. So I give up. I'm done.
And I'm so, so sad about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and War
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Violence, and Racial slurs
Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Torture, and Ableism
natashazaleski's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Sexual assault
keesreads's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, and Misogyny
lighterthaneyre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
That's a very resentful 3.5 stars.
Going to start with criticisms so I can end with the stuff that genuinely did hook me enough that I want to read the next book. And I do want to read the next book, I'm just grumpy that I need to put up with the most irritating bits.
This book is very bro. By that I mean it's got a lot of casual sexism, that it both doesn't notice and doesn't investigate very much. It takes 4 chapters to introduce a reoccuring female character. The first one was mute, and I was honestly prepared to be furious if the only recurring female character was literally not allowed to speak. Instead there are a few more women introduced, if we don't count the cheating ex-fiance (which I don't; she doesn't do anything in the book and she's mostly there for one of the PoV men to angst about). The women are mages, considered 'uncontrolable' and 'dangerous' and they're all some permutation of bad guy. It's just so tired.
The only woman who isn't a mage has a very small part of the story- granted, so do the mages. She has an interesting conflict, contrasting love for an indivisual against an unjust ruling class.But don't worry, that conflict is solved for her by a man, she doesn't need to solve any problems or take any action, lord forbid.
The mute lady is also referred to constantly as 'the savage' and it's the single most irritating thing I can imagine. I think this was meant to be period/setting instances of racism but fuck off can we not.
I did find that actively grating. It was honestly less grating when there weren't women in the chapter, because the I felt the women were handled so poorly. All in all, the women characters feel like after thoughts, shallow, and the book doesn't seem to realize this. This is just a 'default' for women. Which. Fine. Whatever, lets not get into that right now.
The other thing I found really annoying was one of the PoV characters- the son, Two-Shot. I think he's just an archetype I don't connect with, but I did find myself glossing over his chapters later in the book, which is a shame because those sections had a lot of the action scenes, and I do think the action scenes are written well.
Which ties into a positive- the action is very cool! This is a gunpowder universe and it's got a very cowboy-western style approach to action. If you want to count bullets and go into the nuance this is maybe not for you, but if you want the feel of a shoot out with character's minds quickly racing to find the next move, the next surprise, this is going to work really well. There's a good variantion in setting for the action scenes, and the city feels very dynamic and unpredictable. Digging it.
AND this book opens with overthrowing the monarchy. Hell Yes. I had this book pitched as "Napoleonic" and I can see why but I wish it wasn't. I think later in the series these feel way closer to Napoleon parrallels, but off we kick off with the Reign of Terror and a guy trying to keep as tight control on it as possible. It's a really interesting setup- there are moving political motivations and tactical control elements that interesct well, and you do get the sense that the author has thought through world building very well.
There is also a mystery plot woven in, and while I am... annoyed by the detective's family plot, the actual investigation and gumshoe-ing is very fun.
This book has a little "Les Mis" syndrome, by which I mean while I have zero interest in the younger generation of characters, the older generation is interesting and engaging.
Honestly, at about 60% I decided to finish this book out of spite, and by 95% I was hooked enough to need to read the sequel."What if Divine Right of Kings was Real™, and now God is Mad and coming to Wreck Shop" is such a cool idea, and it slots in so well with the French Revolution parallels this book has going on. I'm here for it, I want it, I'm going to read the next book.
Going to start with criticisms so I can end with the stuff that genuinely did hook me enough that I want to read the next book. And I do want to read the next book, I'm just grumpy that I need to put up with the most irritating bits.
This book is very bro. By that I mean it's got a lot of casual sexism, that it both doesn't notice and doesn't investigate very much. It takes 4 chapters to introduce a reoccuring female character. The first one was mute, and I was honestly prepared to be furious if the only recurring female character was literally not allowed to speak. Instead there are a few more women introduced, if we don't count the cheating ex-fiance (which I don't; she doesn't do anything in the book and she's mostly there for one of the PoV men to angst about). The women are mages, considered 'uncontrolable' and 'dangerous' and they're all some permutation of bad guy. It's just so tired.
The only woman who isn't a mage has a very small part of the story- granted, so do the mages. She has an interesting conflict, contrasting love for an indivisual against an unjust ruling class.
I did find that actively grating. It was honestly less grating when there weren't women in the chapter, because the I felt the women were handled so poorly. All in all, the women characters feel like after thoughts, shallow, and the book doesn't seem to realize this. This is just a 'default' for women. Which. Fine. Whatever, lets not get into that right now.
The other thing I found really annoying was one of the PoV characters- the son, Two-Shot. I think he's just an archetype I don't connect with, but I did find myself glossing over his chapters later in the book, which is a shame because those sections had a lot of the action scenes, and I do think the action scenes are written well.
Which ties into a positive- the action is very cool! This is a gunpowder universe and it's got a very cowboy-western style approach to action. If you want to count bullets and go into the nuance this is maybe not for you, but if you want the feel of a shoot out with character's minds quickly racing to find the next move, the next surprise, this is going to work really well. There's a good variantion in setting for the action scenes, and the city feels very dynamic and unpredictable. Digging it.
AND this book opens with overthrowing the monarchy. Hell Yes. I had this book pitched as "Napoleonic" and I can see why but I wish it wasn't. I think later in the series these feel way closer to Napoleon parrallels, but off we kick off with the Reign of Terror and a guy trying to keep as tight control on it as possible. It's a really interesting setup- there are moving political motivations and tactical control elements that interesct well, and you do get the sense that the author has thought through world building very well.
There is also a mystery plot woven in, and while I am... annoyed by the detective's family plot, the actual investigation and gumshoe-ing is very fun.
This book has a little "Les Mis" syndrome, by which I mean while I have zero interest in the younger generation of characters, the older generation is interesting and engaging.
Honestly, at about 60% I decided to finish this book out of spite, and by 95% I was hooked enough to need to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny
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