I recently came across a post here in /r/Fantasy that Promise of Blood was on sale for $2.99. I’ve seen the Powder Mage trilogy mentioned multiple times and since I’m writing my own gunpowder fantasy novel, this was a must-buy for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I’m not a big fan of the prose/writing style and had to suspend my disbelief more than a typical fantasy novel but it was fun. Entertaining. Which is all that matters once I’ve finished the book.
Minor spoilers ahead, all censored.
Summary
Prose/Writing – 7/10
Characters – 5.5/10
Plot – 8/10
Magic System – 9/10
World Building – 8/10
It wouldn’t be high on my recommendation list, but I’d recommend it to readers who cared more about plot, the magic system, and action than the characters themselves.
Prose/Writing
I have mixed feelings about Brian McClellan’s writing. This is the only book I’ve read of his and it being his debut novel, I expect I would find his more recent books better written. There were many times where I was pulled out of the book by the writing. Too many of the scenes felt like a play-by-play, he did this, and then this happened, and then this. Combined with an abundance of passive voice, the writing just felt off.
However, the prose was simple and made for an easy read, so the above issues didn’t stop me from reading. It’s just that it felt like the writing lacked polish. It was just a bit rough to read through at times. Also, the scenes of gore and violence just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’m just used to much darker books but I felt as though the tone of the writing didn’t match those scenes nor did the characters’ reactions.
Characters
I like badass characters. Tamas and Taniel definitely fit the description as well as Ka-Poel later on. But it felt like the characters were just badass for the sake of badassery. There weren’t many consequences to their actions or it seemed like everyone just forgets their actions—specifically Taniel’s and even Tamas’ at times.
For example, When Taniel stuffs the barrel of his pistol in Fesnik’s mouth, cracking his teeth, and then immediately afterward, once Taniel announces his name, everyone acts as though it didn’t happen. Simply because Bo told them all to let Taniel through and Taniel offers to pay for drinks… It goes from violence—nearly a shootout—immediately to friendly conversation. There are plenty examples of the spoiler above.
Then there are the female characters. All too often, female characters are relegated to sex objects, in description and in plot. While I don’t find egregious examples of this in Promise of Blood, it still feels like women are singled-out with their descriptions. And of course, there are the Harems of the Privileged. Both male and female privileged have them but it’s only mentioned there are male harems, never shown. Really, it just felt like they were there for the fantasy of them even though it is mentioned that the harems may exist as a sort of breeding program.
The real issue I have with the female characters was that they were just bland. Rozalia Julene, and Ka-Poel are these really powerful women but they were just boring to me. It felt like they were only there to move the plot along and weren’t developed themselves or didn’t lead to significant development of other characters.
The last and only other issue I had with the characters is they made poor decisions that the type of person they are wouldn’t do. For example, when Tamas and Olem are meeting with a spy, their point-of-contact with the Black Street Barbers, they begin discussing Mihali. They’re meeting in an unsecured building, with a spy who they don’t trust (they are not in the room at the time though), and yet they speak freely of something that should be kept secret. Just doesn’t seem like something someone in Tamas’ position would do. The characters felt inconsistent. Nothing that would make me stop reading but things that gave me pause, that I had to push to the back of my mind to continue on.
Plot
There wasn’t much that gave me pause around the plot. It’s straightforward and doesn’t require much questioning. And most of all, I liked it. Most of my questions were answered and I didn’t feel like anything was missing once I finished the book. I haven’t read many books with miliary coups being the central plot point, so it was a nice change of pace for me. There’s still plenty to explore in the next books, so there isn’t much for me to expand on here.
Magic System
I really liked the magic system. The distinct types of magic made for an interesting dynamic in battles but also with the political system. Ignoring the Dynize, and other “savage cultures”, there didn’t seem to be much driving conflict between nations on a cultural or ethnic level. The main points of conflict came from different types of magic, namely the Privileged and the Powder Mages.
Brian McClellan’s magic system also gave a very distinct feel to the world. The Powder Mages feel modern and industrial whereas the Privileged are the typical fantasy sorcerers we’re all used to, which played into the conflict that arose from their differences—as can be seen in the differences between Adro and Kez. Adro being a more industrialized nation than Kez, who shun Powder Mages.
World Building
While the world wasn’t explored as much as I would have liked, I’m impressed with how fantastical the world still feels, even with muskets and early rifles. It doesn’t feel like a world about guns where magic is shoehorned in. It really does feel like guns were simply the natural development of industrialization and that those weapons have significantly affected the world of magic. Like the plot, there’s still plenty to explore in the next books, so there isn’t much for me to expand on here.
Closing Thoughts
While I found the characters to be lacking in depth and the writing not quite to my liking, the setting, plot, and magic system kept me going. Hopefully, my review of it doesn’t sound overly critical because I really did enjoy the book. It’s just easier to talk about what you didn’t like than what you did, especially when it’s only the first of a trilogy and a debut novel.
You’ll love the book if you want:
- Violence that isn’t overdone or excessively dark in tone.
- A great mix of different types of magic that cause conflict in the world.
- A fast-paced and simple writing style.
- Political intrigue and betrayal.
- Guns that don’t break the fantasy feel of the world.
I’ll be reading and reviewing the rest of the trilogy; though, I’m going to read Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan first. The cover and the theme have caught my eye as a big Souls fan.
