The Crimson Campaign

The hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions.

4.5 stars but since Goodreads doesn't do those and I'm not willing to rate it 4/5 it's 5.
Edit: After some time and consideration I'm lowering to 4 stars. Taniel's storyline annoys me too much when it could've been so easy to make it more believable.

Follow up to incredible debut book The Crimson Campaign suffers a little from middle-book syndrome. Especially Taniel's story felt stretched and over the top because author needed other characters to move their storylines forward before he could “unleash” Taniel.

Oh yes, Taniel. I really like him. His cocky and yet down to earth attitude. The mysterious connection with Pole. What is she doing to him? Is she really only protecting him or something more? We see him going through sort of a PTSD reaction at the beginning of the book but once his story gets going his character improves.

I can't say the same about his storyline, though. It's maddening and frustrating. Half the time I was wondering if this is really happening. I was checking out because his “adversary” is comically evil and stupid seemingly without a reason. Taniel Two-Shot is one of the most famous men in Adro and this person constantly punishes and degrades him every chance she gets even though there is no one else who could raise the army's morale more than him. And the thing is, there is a traitor among the generals. But she can't be it, can she? That's way too obvious, right? Right?! RIGHT?!!!

And the other generals aren't any better. I couldn't comprehend how these could be Tamas's highest ranking officers. Did he take almost everyone with IQ above 60 with him? If it wasn't for Taniel's parts I would've finished this book in half the time. It was infuriatingly frustrating most of the time. But... there is a possibility that upon re-read I would enjoy these parts better.

Tamas gets a shit ton of character development in this book. We get to know him more intimately. In the first one he was a (almost) merciless leader of Adro. During his Crimson Campaign he starts to reflect on his life and especially his son. It's no spoiler to say that he gets trapped behind the enemy lines and has to fight his way through Kez back into Adro. We get a glimpse into his past and his regrets. There is a huge fight which I wish was more epic but the briefness makes sense, narrative being told from one soldier's perspective instead of a bird eye view. It's very tight and focused instead of epic. Like someone on the field would see things. It's how the whole series is written but it was still a bit of a missed opportunity.

Adamat is much more interesting in this book than in the first. Out of the three main characters his was the most boring story in Promise of Blood. It's not so in this one. Stakes aren't higher but they are more reachable now. Adamat decides to save his family and kill the abductor. And for that he will need help of a certain Privileged and dive deeper into Adrian underground than ever before.

Fourth character, Nila, plays larger part here. I didn't count her among the main ones in Promise of Blood since there were only a few POV parts from her perspective but in this one there's more. I still don't like her but I'm curious where her storyline will lead in the final book.

The small nods to Malazan series aren't lost to me and I love it. Malazan is my favorite series and McClellan plays with some of the characters in dangerous ways. My heart skipped a beat. The similarities between Tamas and Whiskeyjack can't be coincidental. There's also one scene where a character asks another what is happening to him and I just wanted to scream "it's called ascension!"

All in all a great sequel but it doesn't reach the quality of the first novel. Mostly because villains were almost caricatures. I bought Vetas, he's a psycho with interesting background so it makes sense. But the general staff? Hang them all for treason, I say. Or write them as characters, as people, and not as cardboard cutouts. Unless they're all traitors, that is. I hope this improves in the final book. Tamas's storyline was stellar and I wish we got more of that. His adversary was also very refreshing take on an enemy. I loved the endings of his and Adamat's storylines.

The first book had a terrible ending, I wanted to confirm the author had nothing more interesting to say, that he hasn't been holding any cards on his sleeves.

The story is just boring now. The main characters are still present, but the novelty of getting to know them has passed, and the plot has no content.

The author takes a GoT approach of telling a little bit about what each character is doing.

Taniel is upset with what he had to sacrifice for this war, and that his father barely gives him any acknowledgment. So he is getting high on opium.

Tamas is planning an attack on the fleeing Kez army, trying to go under a mountain and flank them from the back by surprise. He tries to get help from his “Cook God”, but he has nothing much to say.

Adamat is trying to find the whereabouts of his wife and Lord Victus, the man who took her.

This all may sound compelling, but the pacing is slow, it feels more close to a biography then a fantastical tale.

Read 1:30 / 20:05 8%

The Powder Mage series as a whole offers an intriguing twist on the classical European Fantasy standard. We are still in a European setting, but here we have an explicitly Napoleonic setting with muskets, bayonets and cannon forming the mainstay rather than swords, spears and arrows. The magic system has also taken that more modern setting and now gunpowder is a fuel for some of the magics. This all makes reading these books a step up from the standard fantasy tropes - this all feels novel and interesting.

Brian McClellan takes this interesting twist and then takes up some really fascinating world building and mythologizing, topped off with supremely likeable characters with an interesting plot. We pick up close to where the previous book left off - Adopest is still under threat of invasion although the angle of attack has changed. Tamas has taken the fight to Kez, but his ambitious plans are put in turmoil after the Kez reveal a secret weapon trapping him behind enemy lines. Taniel Two-Shot has awoken but gone into a spiraling descent into drugs to try to forget his run in with a god. Adamat is trying to hunt down his wife and kids, who were kidnapped in the previous novel. These three POVs form the backbone of the book, with the story rotating between all three of them in each chapter. There is plenty of political intrigue and the action sequences are phenomenally well written.

The end result is a beautiful sequel, that builds on the original in a satisfying way. Although this is the middle book in a trilogy it doesn't feel like that with plenty of satisfaction to be found within rather than a holding exercise to the next installment. Highly recommended.