Promise of Blood

Meh. Way too many things happen for no reason. The powers of the powder mages aren't very interesting. They're like low-tech steampunk soldiers mostly and any enemy who knows their weakness (which is also the fuel for their power... it's in the title of the series) could (and at one point does) pretty much disable them. To say nothing of the nonsensical use and non-use of people-melting powers of the Privileged. They're said to have godlike powers that can move the land and sea, yet end up in sword fights, get killed by normal bullets, forget to put their power-gloves on sometimes, etc. It's all pretty silly and won't satisfy readers who enjoy richly-constructed worlds and peoples and magic systems that make sense and care about a map of the world. This one also suffused with earth-talk and earth technologies, which took me out of feeling like I was immersed in a fantastic world. It mostly feels like 1500s France, complete with an extremely catholic-sounding religious order, but not France, and with some magic-ish people thrown in.

P.S. the reviewers who point out the misogyny and pathetic female characters here are spot-on. If that stuff bothers you (and it's so ham-fisted here that I can't see how it wouldn't), steer clear.