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A review by aoeada
Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
3.0
3.5/5
McClellan certainly improved in some areas here. The largest change is the pacing. Rather than the breakneck pace of the first trilogy, he takes things more slowly in all POVs and leans into an investigative, mystery type novel. For the first 30-50% of the book you're left wondering how everything will tie together and what all the mysteries happening around town have to do with one another.
This is the trapping of this type of novel. If the stories don't align then you've essentially just written a novel with random narratives that vaguely interact. That's what happens here. His three POVs do interact with one another, with Vlora at the center. The problem lies in how they come together. They truly don't in any coherent way.
Things happen in this novel because McClellan finds them cool and convenient. The trappings of the final novel in his previous trilogy are still here. All those loose ends are tied up, but they have nothing to do with the overarching narrative as the true final boss is revealed in the last 30% of the book. It's strange and leaves you feeling empty. Especially because the mystery isn't particularly exciting.
The excitement comes from McClellan's ability to make bursts of action so exhilarating. He excels at directing multiple POV battles and having climaxes occur simultaneously. There are two climaxes here, and both are very well telegraphed and paid off. If only he was able to string together this type of narrative around his mystery arcs, then this would have been excellent.
My problem is that I'm going to read the next two books. That payoff is Sanderson-esque, in that way. The characters are largely flat and the world isn't fleshed out as well as it could be, but when the action happens that's what you really remember.
McClellan certainly improved in some areas here. The largest change is the pacing. Rather than the breakneck pace of the first trilogy, he takes things more slowly in all POVs and leans into an investigative, mystery type novel. For the first 30-50% of the book you're left wondering how everything will tie together and what all the mysteries happening around town have to do with one another.
This is the trapping of this type of novel. If the stories don't align then you've essentially just written a novel with random narratives that vaguely interact. That's what happens here. His three POVs do interact with one another, with Vlora at the center. The problem lies in how they come together. They truly don't in any coherent way.
Things happen in this novel because McClellan finds them cool and convenient. The trappings of the final novel in his previous trilogy are still here. All those loose ends are tied up, but they have nothing to do with the overarching narrative as the true final boss is revealed in the last 30% of the book. It's strange and leaves you feeling empty. Especially because the mystery isn't particularly exciting.
The excitement comes from McClellan's ability to make bursts of action so exhilarating. He excels at directing multiple POV battles and having climaxes occur simultaneously. There are two climaxes here, and both are very well telegraphed and paid off. If only he was able to string together this type of narrative around his mystery arcs, then this would have been excellent.
My problem is that I'm going to read the next two books. That payoff is Sanderson-esque, in that way. The characters are largely flat and the world isn't fleshed out as well as it could be, but when the action happens that's what you really remember.