Promise of Blood

Executive Summary: An enjoyable novel from a first-time author that has me looking forward to his next book. If I were to summarize it in one sentence I might say “The French Revolution with magic”.

Full Review
With many first novels, it is often apparent the writer is new. This one is no different. There are some confusing parts that could stand to be rewritten, and some minor plot lines that seem to be unimportant or go nowhere.

I'm pretty forgiving of such things if the story and characters are interesting/different enough however, and this fits the bill. It's possible Mr. McClellan is trying to leave the reader a bit confused at this point, since this is the start of a trilogy. It will be really hard to say until the story is finished.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially most of his females ones. My only gripe is that none of them are POV characters, save the least interesting one. Hopefully that will change in the next book. Ka-poel is probably my favorite, and I'm looking forward to understanding more about her as the series goes on.

Mr. McClellan has developed several magic systems whose details aren't really clear at this point in the series, from the Privileged who appear to be more traditional Mages to the bizarre and interesting Powder Mages that the series is named for.

The gunpowder snorting soldiers can do really amazing things with guns and gunpowder in a very unique magic system that stands in contrast to the more traditional Privileged.

This book was a little slow to grab me. It might be because Mr. McClellan has set up numerous subplots that seem to go off in several directions that may turn some people off as slow or confusing.

Personally I enjoyed them all, even if the pacing maybe suffers a bit as a result. We've got the grizzled and hardened commander Tamas, who leads a coup and execution of the nobility including the King making for politics and intrigue. Spies and Assassins.

Then there is his son Taniel, who appears to have a Gunpowder problem that makes me think of Coke-head. He's in pursuit of a powerful Privileged who killed many of his father's Powder Mages that leads to him being on the front lines of an invasion and the threat of ancient powers.

Finally there is the investigator Adamat who starts by investigating a cryptic prophecy uttered by every Privileged in the King's cabal as they lay dying.

Many of these story lines are left lingering as the book stops more than it ends. I'm left with more questions that have me eager for the next book, but some may find the ending unsatisfactory.

Overall an enjoyable read. 3.5 Stars rounded up since it's his first novel.