Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy) Brian McClellan

Promise of Blood Vs World Cup Football

I’m not mucking about here, I have missed quite a bit of football reading this book but it was worth the sacrifice.

A very refreshing new world, with some unique characters and a wonderful system of magic, and one I got a massive kick out of being part of.

We start with the toppling of a king who was about to sell out his land and people in order to relieve himself of his debts. Adamat, an old inspector with the ‘knack’ for perfect memory, must discover the meaning of some dying men’s final and prophetic final words as well as the identity of a traitor and assassin. We also follow Tamas, the man who has dethroned the king with honourable intentions and his son Taniel who loves a good snort and can nail someone with a bullet at extreme distance.

This is a fully fleshed out reality and I for one love little details like one of our main men being on a mission but stopping to grab a pie on the way. Every time a little detail like this pops out it draws you further into the real lives of the main protagonists.

I’d have liked to see some more development of some of the relationships through some more conversational dialogue but the entire book seems to take place within a fairly short time span, so this may have been a choice by the writer. Casual conversations about random stuff may have fleshed out some relationships but also might have felt totally at odd with the pacing of the book and the relative importance of events happening around them.

There is a genuinely interesting and complex bond between Taniel and the powerful Ka-poel and a real bromance between Tamas and his bodyguard Olem who has the knack of never needed to sleep, and it is the moments between these two pairs respectively that for me made the book.

Olem – ‘It’s well known you wont abide smoking’

Tamas – ‘The why are you hiding it behind your back’

Olem – ‘Waiting for you to turn around so I can have a hit, sir’

This is a fantastic story with a different twist to the normal fantasy/quest approach. At times it is an intimate, intriguing, old fashioned murder mystery but then it melds quite seamlessly into a fast paced action story with bullets flying, cave lions, explosions and to finish it off, a simply lovely Chef called Mihali. I count myself fortunate to have read it and to be able to jump into Crimson Campaign whenever I please.

If you want to get a signed copy of this book Brian is selling them through his Website at a great price.

I would rate this books as a Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllll for Brian McClellan

For more of my reviews, giveaways, thoughts and books and links to well priced and signed first Editions check out my site at http://www.areadingmachine.com