Promise of Blood

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.