Promise of Blood: Book 1 in the Powder Mage trilogy

Product Information

Brian now lives on the side of a mountain in Utah with his wife, Michele, where he writes books and nurses a crippling video game addiction. I’m not just mentioning Sins of Empire out of melancholy for by-gone times; rather, I mean to venture into a small comparison. If you came to me, asking which of these two books to get, I would point you to Sins of Empire. The writing is better, the twists and the action more memorable. The beginning of McClellan’s second trilogy is an established writer’s fourth novel, where Promise of Blood is Brian’s debut. I like to think that most writers, as they continue working on the craft, grow in skill, find more and more distinct voices and Brian is an excellent example of that. Lady Winceslav, an Adran noblewoman who leads a powerful mercenary company known as the Wings of Adom; I like badass characters. Tamas and Taniel definitely fit the description as well as Ka-Poel later on. But it felt like the characters were just badass for the sake of badassery. There weren’t many consequences to their actions or it seemed like everyone just forgets their actions—specifically Taniel’s and even Tamas’ at times.

In Adopest, Tamas forms a council to govern Adro until a permanent replacement for the monarchy can be established: You’ve one mark on your record,” Tamas said. “You once punched a na-baron in the face. Broke his jaw. Tell me about that.” I’ve been excited about the idea of challenge coins for the Powder Mage Universe for years, and I’m excited to be making this happen. As the city reacts to the coup – the royal family and supporting lords and their families put to the guillotine, the Royalist military’s last stand, the new council in charge – Tamas sends Adamant on a mission to find out what Kresimir’s Promise is, apart from the final words on a dying Privileged’s lips. Adamant gets knee-deep in Adro’s underworld to find out what danger comes the realm’s way. Taniel chases the mystery Privileged through the city, before being retasked with taking out the last Royal Cabal member, his best friend Bo. All the while, Tamas tries to keep his new city and council in one piece, and the mighty Kez nation have smelled blood in the water and are on the way with their immense army. White, Peter (January 14, 2021). " 'Utopia Falls' Showrunner Joseph Mallozzi To Adapt Fantasy Novels 'Powder Mage' As TV Series With No Equal Entertainment & Frantic Films". Deadline . Retrieved January 15, 2021.This is an excellent novel, which begins with a promise of blood and delivers through and through. Whether you’re following Tamas’ decisive dealings against internal and external threats alike, Taniel’s chasing around of dangerous targets or Adamat’s investigations, there’s plenty to be loved about this first part of the Powder Mage trilogy. Shortly after the confrontation, the group find the Kez army marching on South Pike, its Royal Cabal coming to assist Julene in reaching its peak where they will summon Kresimir. Alongside Adro's Mountain Watch, Taniel, Borbador and Ka-Poel fight for months to hold off the Kez forces. At the climax of the summoning ritual, Taniel uses his mage abilities to shoot the resurrected Kresimir directly in the eye, apparently killing him. Brian's novels include the Powder Mage Trilogy (Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, and The Autumn Republic), Gods of Blood and Powder (Sins of Empire, Wrath of Empire, and Blood of Empire), and Valkyrie Collections (Uncanny Collateral) Brian McClellan is an American epic fantasy author from Cleveland, Ohio. He is known for his acclaimed Powder Mage Universe and essays on the life and business of being a writer.

While sensibly contained to one book, the story does allow for that anticipatory desire to keep reading, following the story into further and more interesting locations. The world surrounding our characters, and the history and mythology preceding them, all combine to create a whole that is utterly compelling. Tense action, memorable characters, rising stakes . . . Brian McClellan is the real thing' Brent WeeksField Marshal Tamas has staged a coup against the king of Adro. His powder mages have slaughtered the king's Privileged cabal of sorcerers and the nobility has been rounded up to face the guillotine with their king. Tamas has brought revolution to his country in one bloody night to save his people and right the wrongs caused by the old regime. Yet his actions have far-reaching consequences of which no reasonable man could have conceived, and the king will prove the easiest obstacle to overcome in his quest to free Adro. Which makes the inclusion of the guns a non-issue – even more so considering the way that McClellan wove the introduction of guns and gunpowder into the world’s magic system. Some purists might wonder at the outset just why there are apparently three – and maybe more – types of magic. However, I’ve never been overly concerned about issues like that, given the inherent magic of … magic. Love, betrayal, swords, magic, muskets and Kresimir returned, there is trouble on the horizon for Tamas in book two. I will say this now, Tamas will die; he is going to sacrifice himself to the Kresimir to save the world or his son or both. I just can’t see another out outcome for him. Thankfully we are a while away from that, maybe I should say hopefully… Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown

How about the score? It’s a five out of five on Goodreads and it bags the ‘Most Promising to Deliver Loadsa Blood’ trophy! Vanessa Armstrong Horror Film It Follows to Get a Sequel, Reasonably Titled They Follow 5 hours ago The overall plot is fantastic, weaving together several characters’ viewpoints, skills, and faults, to create an utterly compelling and fascinating tapestry. Each character comes with their own misconceptions of the world, and strengths that help them drive past their faults and quirks. While the plot is at times helpfully contrived to reach a specific destination, this actually helps the story, creating a heightened tension for the reader as they wait for the expected to happen – more often than not, at entirely unexpected times.

Field Marshal Tamas, powder mage and favored soldier of the Iron King Manhouch, stages a coup to kill Manhouch, slaughter the nobles, and free the country of Adro from their oppression. Despite centuries of corruption, Tamas still has an uphill climb ahead of him, between royalist holdouts, priests who believe in the Divine Right of Kings, and ordinary people who are caught up in the violence of the times. Privileged are powerful sorcerers; being exceedingly rare, they are almost exclusively gathered into "Royal Cabals" in direct service to the Nine Kingdoms' various monarchs. Civil unrest cripples the citizens of Adro in the aftermath of the revolution that obliterated the monarchy. Now, Field Marshal Tamas and his lieutenants must confront the true cost of freedom in book one of the Powder Mage Trilogy. The real issue I have with the female characters was that they were just bland. Rozalia Julene, and Ka-Poel are these really powerful women but they were just boring to me. It felt like they were only there to move the plot along and weren’t developed themselves or didn’t lead to significant development of other characters. It's bloody good, I promise you that! (I don't know how to stop with all the awful title jokes that come to mind!)

Field Marshal Tamas’ attempt to build a working government with his co-conspirators while securing peace with the Kez. The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: While there is no question that Manhouch was a corrupt hedonist and most of the government was just as bad, the books don't shy away from the fact that killing him requires fighting through a lot of innocent people who are just trying to defend the government that they have been raised to believe is sacred and they're not exactly wrong either. The day of executions is an absolute bloodbath, and the common people have no problem tearing apart royal soldiers when given the chance. Tamas is also perfectly willing to kill noble children to keep the monarchy from resurfacing.Field Marshal Tamas, commander of the Adran Army, has just committed a brutal coup against Adro's monarchy. When he kills every single member of the Royal Cabal, they all utter the same mysterious phrase: "You can't break Kresimir's Promise". Olem grimaced. “Officially, sir, I was pushing him out of the way of a runaway carriage. Saved his life. Half my company saw it.” vinsentient on It’s No Fun To Be Alone: Communicating With Cryptids in The Shape of Water 3 hours ago Regardless, I loved these characters during their trials and tribulations. Tamas now shares in Dalinar Kholin’s title of “most likely older general to inspire me into fictional military service”. But Tamas is far from perfect — his past grievances with the Kez force his hand at a critical time.