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Title: Sins of Empire
Series:
Gods of Blood and Powder #1
Author: Brian
McClellan
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre:
Flintlock Fantasy
Pages: 507
Words:
177.5K
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Synopsis: |
Ten years after the Kez-Adran War, General Vlora Flint, now head of the renowned Riflejack Mercenary Company, finds herself hired by the government of the independent colony of Fatrasta. Her mission is to find a dangerous insurgent leader named Mama Palo.
Benjamin "Mad Ben" Styke, former hero of the Fatrastan Revolution and convicted traitor, is released from prison after ten years thanks to the machinations of a mysterious benefactor, who asks him to get into General Flint's good graces and keep an eye on her.
Meanwhile, Agent Michel Brevis of the Blackhats, the Fatrastan government's secret police, is given orders to investigate the origin of a widely circulated political pamphlet titled "Sins of Empire".
Everything comes together as the Dynize Empire, which has been closed to any outsider for the last 100 years, sends a fleet and an army to Landfall, the capital city of Fatrasta, to recapture a magical artifact. An artifact that Taniel and Ka-poel have been seeking. An artifact that can create gods.
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My Thoughts: |
Man, what a rush! I haven't read a lot of epic fantasy recently (outside of my re-reads of the Wheel of Time and the Mistborn books) and it just felt “good” to slide back into this genre. While McClellan is fully a Flintlock fantasy kind of guy, his books do cross over into the Epic, what with their scope and literal size.
The Powder Mage trilogy was gritty. This toned that down as only one of the three points of view was from a powder mage. The inclusion of the political side of things made it feel more of a stiletto kind of story than a powder horn story. The revelation that the godstone could create gods has set some things into motion that I have no idea where McClellan is going to take it. The final revelation that there are two more of the blasted things makes me wonder why the world isn't overrun by gods. I'm hoping the author has some good explanations for all of that.
I am not a fan of Vlora. I didn't care for her in the original trilogy and nothing here makes her any more likeable. Her poor decision making skills endanger herself and by proxy the entirety of the Riflejacks on several occasions and while she is firm once she makes a decision, we as readers get the full view of her internal vacillating. Bleh. She's no Taniel. That and her irrational dislike of Ka-poel grates, as it was Vlora who betrayed Taniel by sleeping with another man during their engagement. Ka-poel only made a move on Taniel once it was clear Vlora disdained him on all levels. So Vlora's dislike just seems like a seed of bitterness that she's nursing. It's ugly.
I have not read any of the short stories (or the book where they are all collected) that McClellan put out on his website back in the day, so I was a complete stranger to Ben Stykes. He's definitely an interesting character. His “mad” added to his name definitely fits and yet he's quite the sympathetic guy too.
I am looking forward to the rest of this trilogy. Just the fact that it is a trilogy and not some bleeding sprawling forever series is a huge plus in my eyes.
★★★★✬
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