Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, Book # 1 of the Powder Mage Series.
Introduction
Promise of Blood is a gunpowder fantasy by Brian McClellan. It is somewhat a retelling of the French Revolution. I enjoyed the magical background and well-developed characters. It is the first book in a series.
Summary
There are three main characters. The book opens with the story of Adamat. He is a retired detective. His magical gift is a perfect memory. His deductive reasoning reminds me of Agatha Christie ‘s Hercule Poirot. The royal class in the country of Adro in the city of Adopest has been overthrown by a group headed by Field Marshal Tamas. Adamat meets with Tamas, who sends him on a quest. Tamas is the second main character, a wise leader of men. He is a powder mage, a person that can use gunpowder as magical dust to heal oneself or to manipulate bullets. The third main character is Tamas’s son Taniel.
Taniel is a powerful powder mage, the action hero of the story. He uses gunpowder as a narcotic. His reaction to snorting gunpowder is a cross between snuff and cocaine. I wonder if he will have an accounting with his addiction in further novels. This novel’s strongest asset is in the connections between the main characters and the secondary characters. Tamas is haunted by the execution death of his wife. His assistant Olem has romantic chemistry with the laundress Nila. I want to see where that leads.
Taniel had a broken engagement with another powder mage, Vlora. She is undeveloped in this novel, but I am sure that she has a part to play. There is interesting romantic chemistry between Taniel and his barbarian assistant Ka-poel. I look forward to seeing examined. Taniel’s friend Bo and Bo’s women are interesting. The mysterious Gavril and the chef Mihali seem to have important parts to play as well.
Recommendation
Adamat is my favorite character. I am glad that I signed up for the author’s email list because I received the novella Murder at the Kinnen Hotel which is about Adamat’s back story. The next novel in the series is The Crimson Campaign and I have put it on my to-read list.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15790883-promise-of-blood
My review of Murder at the Kinnen Hotel, a prequel novella. The novella is set 22 years before the novel Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. It is not necessary to read the novel first to understand this story. Knowing the character of Adamat from the novel enhances the themes explored in that novel.