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A review by lighterthaneyre
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
That's a very resentful 3.5 stars.
Going to start with criticisms so I can end with the stuff that genuinely did hook me enough that I want to read the next book. And I do want to read the next book, I'm just grumpy that I need to put up with the most irritating bits.
This book is very bro. By that I mean it's got a lot of casual sexism, that it both doesn't notice and doesn't investigate very much. It takes 4 chapters to introduce a reoccuring female character. The first one was mute, and I was honestly prepared to be furious if the only recurring female character was literally not allowed to speak. Instead there are a few more women introduced, if we don't count the cheating ex-fiance (which I don't; she doesn't do anything in the book and she's mostly there for one of the PoV men to angst about). The women are mages, considered 'uncontrolable' and 'dangerous' and they're all some permutation of bad guy. It's just so tired.
The only woman who isn't a mage has a very small part of the story- granted, so do the mages. She has an interesting conflict, contrasting love for an indivisual against an unjust ruling class.But don't worry, that conflict is solved for her by a man, she doesn't need to solve any problems or take any action, lord forbid.
The mute lady is also referred to constantly as 'the savage' and it's the single most irritating thing I can imagine. I think this was meant to be period/setting instances of racism but fuck off can we not.
I did find that actively grating. It was honestly less grating when there weren't women in the chapter, because the I felt the women were handled so poorly. All in all, the women characters feel like after thoughts, shallow, and the book doesn't seem to realize this. This is just a 'default' for women. Which. Fine. Whatever, lets not get into that right now.
The other thing I found really annoying was one of the PoV characters- the son, Two-Shot. I think he's just an archetype I don't connect with, but I did find myself glossing over his chapters later in the book, which is a shame because those sections had a lot of the action scenes, and I do think the action scenes are written well.
Which ties into a positive- the action is very cool! This is a gunpowder universe and it's got a very cowboy-western style approach to action. If you want to count bullets and go into the nuance this is maybe not for you, but if you want the feel of a shoot out with character's minds quickly racing to find the next move, the next surprise, this is going to work really well. There's a good variantion in setting for the action scenes, and the city feels very dynamic and unpredictable. Digging it.
AND this book opens with overthrowing the monarchy. Hell Yes. I had this book pitched as "Napoleonic" and I can see why but I wish it wasn't. I think later in the series these feel way closer to Napoleon parrallels, but off we kick off with the Reign of Terror and a guy trying to keep as tight control on it as possible. It's a really interesting setup- there are moving political motivations and tactical control elements that interesct well, and you do get the sense that the author has thought through world building very well.
There is also a mystery plot woven in, and while I am... annoyed by the detective's family plot, the actual investigation and gumshoe-ing is very fun.
This book has a little "Les Mis" syndrome, by which I mean while I have zero interest in the younger generation of characters, the older generation is interesting and engaging.
Honestly, at about 60% I decided to finish this book out of spite, and by 95% I was hooked enough to need to read the sequel."What if Divine Right of Kings was Real™, and now God is Mad and coming to Wreck Shop" is such a cool idea, and it slots in so well with the French Revolution parallels this book has going on. I'm here for it, I want it, I'm going to read the next book.
Going to start with criticisms so I can end with the stuff that genuinely did hook me enough that I want to read the next book. And I do want to read the next book, I'm just grumpy that I need to put up with the most irritating bits.
This book is very bro. By that I mean it's got a lot of casual sexism, that it both doesn't notice and doesn't investigate very much. It takes 4 chapters to introduce a reoccuring female character. The first one was mute, and I was honestly prepared to be furious if the only recurring female character was literally not allowed to speak. Instead there are a few more women introduced, if we don't count the cheating ex-fiance (which I don't; she doesn't do anything in the book and she's mostly there for one of the PoV men to angst about). The women are mages, considered 'uncontrolable' and 'dangerous' and they're all some permutation of bad guy. It's just so tired.
The only woman who isn't a mage has a very small part of the story- granted, so do the mages. She has an interesting conflict, contrasting love for an indivisual against an unjust ruling class.
I did find that actively grating. It was honestly less grating when there weren't women in the chapter, because the I felt the women were handled so poorly. All in all, the women characters feel like after thoughts, shallow, and the book doesn't seem to realize this. This is just a 'default' for women. Which. Fine. Whatever, lets not get into that right now.
The other thing I found really annoying was one of the PoV characters- the son, Two-Shot. I think he's just an archetype I don't connect with, but I did find myself glossing over his chapters later in the book, which is a shame because those sections had a lot of the action scenes, and I do think the action scenes are written well.
Which ties into a positive- the action is very cool! This is a gunpowder universe and it's got a very cowboy-western style approach to action. If you want to count bullets and go into the nuance this is maybe not for you, but if you want the feel of a shoot out with character's minds quickly racing to find the next move, the next surprise, this is going to work really well. There's a good variantion in setting for the action scenes, and the city feels very dynamic and unpredictable. Digging it.
AND this book opens with overthrowing the monarchy. Hell Yes. I had this book pitched as "Napoleonic" and I can see why but I wish it wasn't. I think later in the series these feel way closer to Napoleon parrallels, but off we kick off with the Reign of Terror and a guy trying to keep as tight control on it as possible. It's a really interesting setup- there are moving political motivations and tactical control elements that interesct well, and you do get the sense that the author has thought through world building very well.
There is also a mystery plot woven in, and while I am... annoyed by the detective's family plot, the actual investigation and gumshoe-ing is very fun.
This book has a little "Les Mis" syndrome, by which I mean while I have zero interest in the younger generation of characters, the older generation is interesting and engaging.
Honestly, at about 60% I decided to finish this book out of spite, and by 95% I was hooked enough to need to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny