Published Jan. 3, 2014 by Little, Brown Book Group.
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.
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 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.
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...
In a rich, distinctive world that mixes magic with technology, who could stand against mages that control gunpowder and bullets? PROMISE OF BLOOD is the start of a new epic fantasy series from Brian McClellan.
Now this was slick. Pushing the high fantasy trope into an age of gunpowder. It wore its influences on it's sleeve I must say (Mistborn, Amber) but was no less for that.
It is a debut novel and it does drop into a few dead ends here and there but that's me just being picky.
I was thoroughly entertained, I will be continuing the series. Definite recommend.
Read it on Sanderson's recommendation, pretty nice for a debut novel. The writing felt far more crisp and better paced compared to other first books I've read in the genre.
The world-building is nicely done, and it draws you in. There are enough viewpoints that the story remains coherent, but not enough to make it jarring.
Also, there is a proper ending., which wraps up all story lines, something I enjoy greatly.
I'm reading Girl of Hrusch Avenue (which is a prequel short story) next.
