The world in this novel still felt similar to the industrialized/flintlock setting of The Powder Mage universe. No spoilers, obviously, but he dropped a bomb (figuratively) in the epilogue that had me going… “wth did I just read? As a result, a lot of this book takes place in a forge, involving cables, crucibles, hammers and manual labor. I had genuine interest in what was going on, and wanted to follow what was happening with various characters.

Slatina, other than being a talented cudgelist and quite a good actress, had invited him to meet her parents next weekend. The book's tone is pretty much the same as other of McClellan's long-form work: standard fantasy about war and combat, without dwelling on the darkness. Suffice it to say I had a fantastic time with this book and I am really excited to see where the rest of this series will go after the big reveals, twists, and turns that made up the stunning conclusion to this part of the story.Even exile is no solace for him, as he's dragged back into the very mires that sought to drown him earlier in his life.

The deck was stacked against this book with all the people I know who also got approved for an eARC either not really enjoying it or DNFing. While the first three POVs’ plots were interwoven almost from the very beginning, Idrian’s plot started off as separate from them and slowly merged with the other plots. Outside of his urban fantasy novellas, McClellan has taken a break from traditional publishing for three years, I expected more out of him. Fortunately, he sticks it out and ends up finding himself / finding clarity on the battlefield again.En general me ha gustado bastante, tanto a nivel de worldbuilding, a nivel de personajes y a nivel de la historia. McClellan not only does an excellent job with these elements individually, but also manages to intertwine them in ways I did not expect and that kept me guessing constantly. The goon behind him was well over six feet tall, thick and powerful and with the oft-broken fingers and battered face of a retired cudgelist.

However, there were some pretty big blanks still left concerning it – maybe it will be explored more in the next work. This is book 1 in a series so I'm guessing the priest is the series' Big Bad villain, so the author felt compelled to include him, but I was still a little disappointed by his introduction. While I do enjoy epic fantasy, I felt that the author tried to include too much into a singular work.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Bajo mi percepción me ha parecido el habitual primer tomo introductorio en el que presentan el tablero de juego, los participantes y el tono que tendrá a grandes rasgos la historia y su trama. Meanwhile, Tessa is competent in her field as a siliceer and I like it when she's in her nerd mode but the rest was just too YA for me (she's a grown woman). It has been three years since Brian McClellan concluded his Powder Mage universe series with Blood of Empire, the third and final book in his God of Blood and Powder trilogy. The novel started with a super powerful prologue, and I was feeling incredibly positive that this would indeed be McClellan’s best book so far.

Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. One final thing about the structure: the author arranged the ending so all four of the POV characters were in fight scenes at the same time at the end of the book. And I also didn't get very far, and nothing about the book struck me as bad or egregiously done, so I cannot say I do not recommend the book. I have only read one novella by the author and I loved it so I was excited to give his longer works a shot.They were well-matched—brawn versus speed—and the crowd was absolutely loving it as strikes fell, skin cracked, and blood spattered the sandy floor of the arena. I agree with the reviewers - who read the author's Powder Mage trilogy - saying that the book does not live up to the expectation. The author included some decent descriptions of the world; my favorite was the concept of The Forge.