It’s a 18th century-esque world where men have tired of kings and gods.

Unlike most epic fantasy worlds, the world of the Nine (nations) has gun and gunpowder technology. What is a powder mage? This is where Promise of Blood’s world-building gets interesting.

Tamas is joined as a main character with Adamat, a retired police inspector with a photographic memory, and Taniel, Tamas’ son and a powerful powder mage in his own right. A powerful female sorcerer escapes Tamas’ purge of the king’s cabal of sorcerers, those sorcerers die with an enigmatic warning on their lips, royalists remain, a traitor is in their midst, and a mysterious master chef arrives (yes, a chef).

The coup is a success, but things get very interesting very quickly. Promise of Blood opens as Field Marshal Tamas-the ranking military officer in Adom-completes a successful coup over the rightful, but dissolute, king. My review of Sins of Empire will be posted next Tuesday. The next chapter in the powder mage world opens tomorrow, March 7, with Sins of Empire, the first book in the Gods of Blood and Powder series. McClellan’s full Powder Mage Trilogy makes good on that promise.

The action, plot, dialogue, pacing, and world-building are all top notch. Promise of Blood is a fantasy debut that shows epic promise.

Promise of blood review