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this reviewerSynopsis
General Tamas overthrows the king of his land because said king was going to pretty much sell the country out to pay off his debts.
Only problem is, there's a god's curse. So Tamas not only has to deal with making his country work again, but plan against an invasion and investigate what this god's curse is and what it means.
My Thoughts
This was flintlock fantasy. So while I liked it, it was grim, gritty, dirty, bloody, smoky and violent. I also liked the idea of there not only being magicians, but also people who could use black powder to power themselves up.
As for characters, it was a real mixed bag. General Tamas is a control freak who wants things done his way the first time and if it doesn't work, then somebody didn't follow orders. His son, Taniel is considered to be one of the most skilled of the Powdermages, but he's addicted to powder and is snorting the stuff the whole book through.
And those are the good guys.
Turns out that the god, Kresimir, was real and because Tamas has killed a king, he's coming back to destroy the land and start things over. And we find out Kresimir isn't the only god kicking around. Then you've got the magicians, who all hate powdermages and a foreign power getting ready to invade.
This was not a light read. At over 600 pages, I felt like I'd been dragged through the blood and muck right along with everybody else. Betrayal, distrust, weakness, disbelief, helplessness, all were there in spades. The bright hopeful spots were few and far between. Definitely not something to read if you're feeling low or depressed.
I found the writing itself to be topnotch. I don't normally like or continue reading very dark and gritty books but I do plan on reading the short stories and the rest of this series when it comes out.
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Author: Brian McClellan
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