Reviews

I'm sad to give this three stars, because I did enjoy reading it. But I can't in good consciousness give more, especially since I already gave the previous one four.

I enjoy these books, their worlds, their characters and their dialogue and writing. But the plot and character development have too many issues and I've been making excuses in the past, always looking to the next book to fix what was missing in the one I was reading, but now I've reached the last book of the series and I can no longer use that excuse.

Ben spends most of the novel just sitting on the side-lines watching another character do his thing, which ultimately goes nowhere, leaving you feeling this whole, several hundred pages long, part could have simply been skipped. You'd think with him being out of action, this might have been a good opportunity for us to see him explore his personal relationships with several other characters old and new, but no. Nothing happens. Orz is even forgotten by the end of the novel, as is pretty much everyone one else in the Etzi Household despite how much of the book is spent there, making these characters feel extremely wasted. Ka-Poel is also part of this expedition and for the millionth time I have to reiterate how much the books (all six of them) would have been improved if we had POV chapters from her. The way Taniel was used in this book was nothing short of ridiculous.

Vlora has powderblindness and can't use her magic, she's also still recovering from her injuries. The result is, she too is sitting on the side-lines for most of this book making her storyline also slow and a lot of it pointless. Her battle to regain her sorcery, her broken relationship with Olem, her rivalries with Etepali and Delia, all could have been exciting plot points to see develop, except they don't. They're sort of just there and then right before the final battle they're not anymore. Again, you get the feeling this could have been skipped.

Michel is sort of running around in this book, doing very little and accomplishing less still. Once again you get the feeling a lot of this could have been skipped and the rest of what was set up ends up going nowhere or being of little to no importance. His relationship with Ichtracia had a lot of potential, but about 90% of it happens off page, so you get little satisfaction from it.

In the end the book seems to meander on for what seems like forever, before switching gears and then moving way too fast. Blink and you've missed the climax. Character deaths are just swept past, there are no post battle moments of growth that we get to see, everything happens off page and some characters just disappear. So many confrontations that I wanted to see didn't happen or happened off page or post book events. A lot of build-up, very little satisfying pay off. I also didn't like how the conflict got resolved in the end.

So basically a great world, great magic system, great dialogue and characters, but poor plotting, sloppy grammar too, I forgot to mention that, and a lacklustre ending. I can't say this book is bad, I'd call a lot of it good even, but it could have been so much better still.

blainembentley's review against another edition

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4.0

What a great conclusion to this trilogy! The biggest thing I did not like about the Powder Mage Trilogy was how it ended. I am so satisfied with this trilogy, with the story and with the ending. It was a very intense and epic ending to this trilogy.

There was one aspect of this ending that I didn’t fully agree with. There is a character who was important for the climax of the book. I had anticipated/seen that this was coming. I really think that this character shouldn’t have made it, but instead they survived. I feel the explanation for their survival was weak and to me it felt they only survived to have a happier ending. For me this did weaken the ending and made some of the things surrounding this event feel cheap.

There were some issues that I had towards the end of Wrath of Empire. This book did help explain one particular event. It was an acceptable explanation, though it wasn’t my favorite of explanations. From this there is one character who, due to those events, had some struggles throughout this book. I felt they were justified, but looking at this character's overall arc in this book, I don’t feel those struggles really changed them or did anything for them. If anything, where their arc ended was a little unsatisfactory as I feel they ultimately had no long term consequences. They didn’t really learn much and walked away as the same person. So it made their struggles feel useless.

I did feel like this book was longer than it needed to. I felt there were parts that weren’t essential to the overall plot, and would have liked to see things progress a little faster.

I know this is a lot of negative for such a high rating. However, I do feel it was a strong entry in this trilogy and that it was a really great ending for this trilogy. This book wasn’t perfect and I did have complaints. I didn’t focus on everything I loved about this book, as I felt like it’s strengths were similar to those in the previous installments and felt like it would be repetitive to sit and laud those same strengths. I would highly recommend picking this up for any Powder Mage fans!

topdragon's review against another edition

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5.0

This final volume in the “Gods of Blood and Powder” trilogy finds our three main protagonists now separated, each with their own mission and agenda but all working desperately to prevent the Godstones from being used to summon a new god. Spy Michel Bravis is the point man, returning to the capital city of Landfall to somehow prevent the unlocking of the Godstone. Meanwhile Ben Styke, the Mad Lancer himself, has invaded Dynize, but his fleet now lays scattered by a storm and there are but twenty Mad Lancers left to help. Lady Vlora Flint is now powder blind as well as broken in body and spirit, but she still has her vengeance to keep her going. She’ll need to bring together politicians and use their influence to allow her to lead the Adran army against the greatest general among the enemy Dynize.

No small tasks among any of the three.

This final volume of the trilogy is also the final book in the entire “Powder Mage” saga. Six major books plus several novellas, short stories, and a role-playing game, and it all comes to a conclusion here in this novel. A tall order with lots of pressure to finish it off right, but I’m here to say all is well. Brian McClellan has done another fabulous job in this concluding adventure.

Like all of the Brian McClellan’s books I’ve read, this one is a slow burn with lots of character development and interaction, obstacles to overcome, and political intrigue. Occasional surprises lurk here and there, offering plot twists and U-turns that will keep readers on their toes. The plot develops smoothly and builds and builds toward a climax that explodes right off the page. His books can’t be put down at any point in the last 75 pages or so.

I’m very happy I read these novels. Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy, especially those who like a little gunpowder mixed in.

entron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

mridzyreads's review against another edition

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5.0

The end to what was a great series. I'm gonna miss Flint and Bravis. And the bloody mad lancers.

lobsterjohn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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