Promise of Blood

The most enjoyable read of this year.

I finished First Law trilogy earlier and while those are also masterpieces they lacked solid plot, instead they had some of the best characters in fantasy. This book (and hopefully whole series) has excellent mix of both, which I prefer.

Set in a world similar to 18th century France it begins with Adran revolution. King and entire aristocracy are put to guillotine, republic is established. But bordering nations don't like it. Especially Kez, empire who rules other neighboring kingdoms and was suppose to rule Adro as well before Marshall Tamas put an end to the deal by decapitating the deviant king. Was it for the good of the nation or personal revenge against Kez?

Tamas's deed upsets the whole continent however that's not all. Old gods start to stir. But are they even real? People whisper of bad omens. Conflict erupts between royalists and new government, civil war is at hand while Kez is marching to the border. And that's only the beginning.

We follow three characters. Private investigator Adamat is hired by Marshall to investigate royal secrets. He has a knack. A magical talent that allows him to recall any memory. Some gifted individuals have a trait that gives them supernatural powers such as they don't need sleep, can tell if someone is lying, enhanced strength or endurance, etc.

Tamas is army veteran, the most renowned soldier alive in Adro. Revolutionary and leader. His son Taniel is somewhat estranged and often conflicted about his relationship with Tamas. Though who could blame him after he receives an order to assassinate his best friend. Both are powder mages, capable of enhancing their reflexes and stamina, able to ignite black powder with a thought and change bullet direction in flight. Anathema to ordinary mages they're hated and hunted in other countries as twisted unnatural freaks. Ironic, as mage servants known as Wardens are true monstrosities.

The novel has excellent pacing with memorable side characters. Some of the banter reminded me of Malazan. There was one scene about smoking between Tamas and his bodyguard Olem that would fit into Tehol and Bugg's parts perfectly. It toned down after that which fit the book better.

I can't believe this was in my TBR for years but because I didn't expect to love it this much I never got to it until now. As much as this was French revolution I'm expecting sequel to be reminiscent of Napoleonic wars. We shall see.

A readable fantasy novel. A rare treat in my book. It's not exceptional, gets lost along the way sometimes, the ending was very unsatisfactory. I liked the book's pacing, exposition, narrative, plot and characters.

SUMMARY

Field Marshall Tamas's nation Adro has been financially ruined by the king. The neighboring nation of Kez steps in to help out, but in return they would turn them into their vassal. And that did not sit well with the ruling powers of Adro.

The king sees no other way out then to accept the deal, but Tamas thinks otherwise. Motivated by the concern for the well being of the people, as well as for personal reasons, he stages a coup and dethrones the king. He brings down the whole nobility as well, using his soldiers to round up all the members of their families and take them to prison. The following day, they are all beheaded, children included. Except for one child who got away.

The hardest part of the coup was going to be dealing with the Royal Cabal, powerful sorcerers who act as the king's personal guard. But Tamas is a Powder Mage, and his kind is specially capable of countering the sorcerer's powers. So a group of Powder Mages plus the element of surprise was enough to eliminate all of them, except for one that got away.

Before dying one member of the Royal Cabal uttered a sentence that got Tamas intrigued. He hires a private investigator, Adamat, to find out what that means. He calls upon his son, a soldier under his command and the nations best shot, Taniel, to hunt down the remaining Royal Cabal member. She has killed 6 Powder Mages while escaping, a never before heard feat.

There is intrigue, betrayal, misdirection, shadowy figures, investigation, mage fights, a god reincarnated, miracle food, the men of the wall...

ANALYSIS

As far as plot goes, deposing the nobility in order to get their money is fine. He says he did it because they were complicit with the king's actions, but that could just be his rationalization in order to justify such a cruel act. Killing the children is necessary in order to prevent them from getting revenge or revindicating their family possessions when they grow up.

The world is not very unusual, Powder Mages being mostly the only unusual thing. They have some enhanced abilities when snorting gunpowder, mostly granting some magic like powers when using firearms. They also get some increased reflexes, faster healing, and greater endurance.

Tamas is a powerful character, a man of great will and strength, whose actions sometimes put him on the wrong side of the morals and honor he should uphold. His son Taniel si a little more idealistic, but he basically follows his father's command. Both are bound by honor and their loyalty to Adros.

They each have their own story going on, and the book's perspective shift from one to the other, plus Adamat, the investigator. These three characters telling their side moves along the narrative. Tamas is more brutal and tactic, Taniel more adventure and battling, Adamat is about intrigue and mystery.

While Taniel is running one dangerous errand after another, Tamas is dealing with the remaining royalist's forces and coordinating the defenses against the Kez. Meanwhile Adamat is doing detective's work while trying to survive the snake's nest that is putting his nose into powerful people's business.

There is two female side characters of note, Ka-Poel and Julene. Ka-Poel is a mute savage young girl with strange powers. Taniel saved her life, and now she follows him wherever he goes. Julene is a rebel sorcerer, a powerful mercenary who hunts her own kind. They play important roles later on. There is some side plot with Taniel's former fiance Vlora, which never gets anywhere.

The characters change of role along the way was refreshing. Adamat begins investigating X, and when he is done with that, he begins to investigate Y. The same pattern happens with Taniel and Tamas.

The book started out strong. Got a little dull in some parts along the way, and built up too many expectations for the ending to make it plausible. Taniel is a strong Powder Mage, but going after dozens of the most powerful sorcerers almost by himself? One in particular alone might be a god of some kind, and has previously defeated him without breaking a sweat. And she decides to let him live to see her grand plan come to fruition, and of course, that ends up being a bad idea as he single handily prevents the world destruction by shooting up a god in the heart.

The concept and setting of Brian McClellan's Powder Mage series makes for an intriguing take on modern fantasy. Most fantasy authors tend to go for the classic ‘sword and sorcery' style setting - preferring to use medieval archetypes and general feel. The setting here in a quasi-Napoleonic era of gunpowder and rifles is quite a change! This was actually my second dip into this world, as I had read the short story ‘The Siege of Tilpur' previously (looks at the early career of the main protagonist from ‘Promise of Blood' so was actually quite a good starting point) and the taste i got very much encouraged me to dive into the main series.

The magic system and world that Brian McClellan has built works supremely well. The different types/levels of magic users, the caste system and the way they each have strengths and weaknesses integrate in a very pleasing way. The use of gunpowder as a component of the magic system is especially clever. The characters are largely sympathetic and easy to engage with and the story rocks along at a nice pace - it drew me in very well as a reader. As with a surprisingly large amount of good fantasy, the best moments here are really in the intrigue and politics rather than the fighting action. This is done in an organic and believable way, you can recognise the motives for most of the actors. If I am going to have one criticism it may be in the somewhat one dimensional portrayal of the noble class, but in someways I see that is due to the main protagonists being very against that class, so it supports the telling in many ways.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable book in an interesting period setting for a fantasy novel. I am intrigued to see how the story develops and already have the next book in the series on the way!