Here’s the next “Books Off the Shelf” installment. As my favorite mug states so succinctly, “So Many Books, So Little Time”. I will attempt to give you an idea on some books you might enjoy or not enjoy quite as much without ruining it with too many spoilers.
Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy) By Brian McClellan Rating: 9 out of 10 The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it. It's a bloody business overthrowing a king... Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces. It's up to a few... Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail. But when gods are involved... Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should... The Promise Of Blood is a fantastically fun story which opens in Tamus’s coupe and takeover of the nation. He removes the king and inherits all his problems plus some. This book is Unique Unique Unique. McClellan offers us a story of daring, intrigue, betrayal, and war, all wrapped in a fantastically new and fun magic system. In The Promise Of Blood there are actually several magic systems woven into one world. First we have privileged who you might think of as sorcerers, able to do incredible things at short range by manipulating the else with their gloved fingers. Then we have Powder Mages who can manipulate gun powder to make incredible shots out of their muskets or pistols, ignite the powder from a distance, channel the explosion of powder into other things, or, and delightfully, consume gun powder in small doses to enhance their bodies strength and senses. Knack would be classified as an ordinary person with one incredible ability such as a perfect memory or never needing sleep. There is also a mysterious fourth kind of magic that “the civilized world” doesn’t seem to have much knowledge of, but that one of the supporting cast is inclined towards. This book is completely immersing. It’s hard to put it down as we follow not only Tamus, but his son, Taniel, a slightly imbittered brilliant fighter with a slight addiction to gun powder, and Inspector Adamant, the determined investigator with everything to lose. Read this book. Seriously, Read This Book! Have you read The Promise Of Blood? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it or any of McClellan’s books. I’ve just started the next book in the series. I’ll let you know my thoughts after completion. And as ever, if you have suggestions of books to review, please let me know. If it is Science Fiction or Fantasy, there is a good chance it is on my shelf or should be. If you would like to be the first to hear about other great books, feel free to sign up on the right. I’m also giving away the first two chapters of my novel, MIST FALCON. I would love to send them your way, so do me a favor and sign up. |
|
1 Comment
|
Archives
November 2021
Categories
All
Ryan J. Doughan |