Tuesday In Review: Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Howdy gang,
This epic fantasy debut had a lot going for it. A lot of interesting magic flying around, very intriguing industrial, turn of the century feel, all written by a very enthusiastic student of Brandon Sanderson, a top notch name in epic fantasy. And while Promise of Blood was an exciting fantasy debut, it was not perfect.
The Age of Kings is dead … and I have killed it.
It’s a bloody business overthrowing a king…
Let me begin with what works.
McClellan has a lot of things working for him in this debut novel: he has some very interesting characters, propped up against a setting not seen so often in epic fantasy, that of an industrial age. In fact, the powder mages of this world are a direct result of that industrial change, their powers being a byproduct of the gunpowder they must ingest. Combine that with a bloody coup at the start of the novel against an indifferent monarchy, you can almost see the two settings of epic fantasy clash, medieval against industrial. This clash between old and new, tradition and invention, plays out rather nicely, with no clear answer given for either side, but with a conflict that is engrossing and engaging to the reader.
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.
It’s up to a few…
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…
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…
(lifted from amazon.com).
Let me begin with what works.
McClellan has a lot of things working for him in this debut novel: he has some very interesting characters, propped up against a setting not seen so often in epic fantasy, that of an industrial age. In fact, the powder mages of this world are a direct result of that industrial change, their powers being a byproduct of the gunpowder they must ingest. Combine that with a bloody coup at the start of the novel against an indifferent monarchy, you can almost see the two settings of epic fantasy clash, medieval against industrial. This clash between old and new, tradition and invention, plays out rather nicely, with no clear answer given for either side, but with a conflict that is engrossing and engaging to the reader.
McClellan’s characters kept me entertained, and for the most part, I didn’t have a problem with them. Of most interest was Field Marshal Tamas, who is doing his very best not to let his newly freed country crumble around him. Of course, he allies himself with vipers large and small, and it is only through a loose string of friends, allies, and newly awoken gods, that he can help his country stay alive.
In that regard, I did like the balance between large scale and small scale battles. Aside from the very meticulous plot, it was refreshing how easily McClellan moved from something as simple as a street brawl to an epic, god-battling moment upon the mountain, sort of feel. McClellan promises his readers that every facet of life is touched upon in this world, and he has more to show.
Debut authors, very rarely, come to the world with an absolutely pristine, holy book of perfection. Unless you’re Patrick Rothfuss, and that was many, many moons in the making. As such, I give some leeway to debut authors, because hell, it’s their first time on the court. You can’t yell at them for not making threes every minute. (And that is the last sports analogy you’ll see on this blog, because that’s all I know). So I’ll look past the moments of info-dumpiness, the moments of plot convenience, the rushing of prose; these are all things that will hopefully appear less and less as time goes on.
For me, there were only a few hang-ups on Promise of Blood. One, is a distinct lack of female viewpoint characters. And the other is the sloppiness of the magic system.
For the first point, McClellan has stated that he knows he needs to work on this. I don’t think the lack of female viewpoint characters comes from any sort of misogynistic or hateful vendetta. In fact, it’s pointed out many times that there are many female soldiers in this world, and many female leaders. But for the most part, we see them from the outside in, hazily guessing at their thoughts, their role, their inner turmoil. I would love to see McClellan tackle this head on, and really give us a chance to live in the heads of some more of his female characters. I know he can do it, and do it well.
As for the second point, (man, this is going to sound so fantasy snobbish, but it’s what’s on my mind), when you have a book in which there are three to four different and distinct types of magic flying around, you need to be brutal in your control and focus of it. There’s the Else, powder magery, knacks, godhood, the tribal magic (of which I have another blog post on the Noble Savage but not today), and maybe more.
Now I’m a guy who loves his magic. Hell, I’ve got a notebook full of ideas, so I empathize with keeping them all tight and focused. But at a certain point, I think, McClellan needed to sit down, and lay out exactly what does what, and how it affects the world around them. I’m all for vague hints and subtle winking to the reader, but the author needs to absolutely be in control of that. I have no doubt, that like the female viewpoints, McClellan will rise to the occasion with the next novel, and make the magic a little crisper, a little more structured, but for this first book it was just a little too all over the road for me.
I have no doubt that McClellan is a fantasy author to watch in the coming years. His writing is solid, and he has no limit to his creativity. And despite my gripes and nitpicks with Promise of Blood, it is a strong debut novel, and is worth a read. If you’re a fan of Brandon Sanderson or Brent Weeks, than no doubt you’ll enjoy Promise of Blood.
