'The Powder Mage Trilogy' by Brian McClellan

Promise of Blood: * * * * * \ The Crimson Campaign * * * * \ The Autumn Republic * * * *

I'll put it in the words of my roommate 'yeah sold'. I asked him how he would like an epic fantasy title with magic and guns set in a colonial setting. My sentiments exactly.

These books are fun. They are well written and they are lean and mean. What I mean by that is that I was never bored. There's no filler and no sidetracking. Promise of Blood mixes magic, artillery, war, muskets all together in an epic fantasy tale combined with a detective mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed each book- especially 'Promise of Blood' and 'The Autumn Republic'. The Promise of Blood won 1 of 2 of my 'Book of the Year' awards for 2017.

The only character I felt was underdeveloped was Kapole. It's not because she is mute (a fun twist on a character) but that she remains such a mystery. I guess that's the 'lure' so to speak, but I am nit picking. My favorite character in the series has to be Borbador. He is hilarious, witty and fun to imagine. Taniel and Tamas were also favorites. Scenes have just the right amount of fun when they need, the right amount of humor when they need it and action scenes that will keep me coming back to the series. Yes- I'll probably read it all again in the future it's that good.

Great job Brian. I am definitely going to be watching for new books from you!