The Crimson Campaign
“Let the Kez come,” Tamas roared. “Let them send their greatest generals after us. Let them stack the odds against us. Let them come upon us with all their fury, because these hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions!”Brian McClellan is a genius storyteller. There's no doubt about it. The way this follow-up to Promise of Blood continues with a fast paced story complete with a complex plot, sympathetic characters and the most intriguing magic system, there's no holding back the angry tears that threaten to overwhelm the readers. The Crimson Campaign is one of those rare book where the sequel is better than the first.
The book starts out by highlighting the setting of the previous book where Tamas finds himself on the run from the Kez army with a comparatively small force; Taniel, once he emerges from his coma and then the mala haze, finds himself opposed by his own army; Adamat takes a tremendous effort to find his missing family. Probably my only complaint about this book is the absence of strong, important female characters. Otherwise the shifts in viewpoint come at the perfect dramatic times and the hierarchy of magic users in The Powder Mage universe is still the most intriguing.
“I decided to start a war. Not for the people’s rights or because Manhouch was evil or any of the other drivel I tell my supporters. I started a war to avenge my wife and my brother.”
Now bring on The Autumn Republic!
The way things are going I can only see things ending with a bang.
4.5 Stars
“One man always makes a difference. Sometimes it’s a small one. Other times, he tips a war.”
