I completely agree with your view on Adamat's intelligence. The things we are told about his mental prowess give off the impression that Adamat should be a witty and somewhat manipulative character in order to solve the missions Tamas gives him. However, he just kind of seems to be like any other random person who was blessed with the knack of never forgetting anything. We never really get to see him fool any of the characters, or we never get to have a moment where we can go "Omg, that was soo smart". If you would compare him to Tyrion Lannister, In the scene where he tricks the members of the council by telling them false sensitive information to see who is trustworthy, Adamat just kind of seems boring and completely unimaginative, with his only advantage being his knack. Whereas Tyrion, a person born without any supernatural ability, seems to be more in line with the traits of being intelligent.
Yeah, basically the same problems I had with it, though I think you liked the gods and stuff in it way more than I did. It'll be interesting to see if they get any better.
I recently purchased Promise of Blood because Lena from "Sufficiently Advanced Lena" raves about the Powder Mage Trilogy and I'm very intrigued by the concept of flintlock fantasy. I didn't realize it was such a polarizing book!
Me either haha! I do think I’m in the minority though. I’m very interested to hear what you think about it, so please do let me know when you get to it. I’m hoping the rest of the series will be a step up. Not all is lost yet!
I've grown to love Military and Flintlock Fantasy but based of everything I've heard about McClellan's work I've a strong feeling he might not be the author for me.
I tend to agree with most of your criticism surrounding this book, I will say the characters do improve for me as the trilogy goes on. His second trilogy is probably better than his first, but the one criticism I think that bothers me the most is without spoiling anything I don’t think he sticks the landings to either of his series endings. Overall though I would rate both series as solid fantasy books, not the best, but nowhere near the worst for me either. I like the channel so far, keep up the good work!
Thanks Joe! That sucks re the landings, and kind of puts me off it even more haha, but I have made a commitment to read it now. The best thing about it is the magic system so as long as we get some development of that, I’ll be happy. I’ve heard the same sentiment about his second series, so will need to just power through the next two books.
Loved this review! I don't really have much to say other than that because I haven't read the book. I hope you find the answers you're looking for for the trilogy.
I can see some issues with it, but I’m also a plot focused reader so i enjoyed it. Some of the characters were meh but I was ok just focusing ok then magic and plot. Kinda like a guilty pleasure. Though the daddy issues trope is annoying.
@@bookswithzara ha I dont really care about the family support, but dont cry about it your whole life and move on. you are who you are, they are who they are.
Excellent review, Zara! Very thorough on the potential this book had and how the execution fell flat. Being told characters are smart but never seeing how can be frustrating. I read this with Shelf Space last year and gave it 2-stars on GoodReads. If you have the time, I highly recommend watching the live show with Allen and Jessie. I agree that the magic system was such a cool concept. At the very least I can say that there were many great ideas presented and I was never bored.
@@bookswithzara I was pretty certain you wouldn't like it! Haha! I will not be continuing the series. Too many other books I need to read, including all the Abercrombie books! 😁
Generally what I tell ppl when recommending this series is, read book 1, it wont blow you away, but if you like the magic system or any of the characters (especially Tamas), then read book 2 - if you don't feel that book 2 deserves more than 3 stars at the most, then the author/series probably isn't for you, but if you feel like book 2 is at least 3.5 stars then it will probably only go up for you from there :) Lol this is one of those series I struggle to recommend to ppl even though I'm a huge fan because I know the first book is rough XD Like, I enjoyed Promise of Blood well enough, but I did not feel compelled to continue with the rest of the series. I only came back to the series on a whim one day lol about a year and a half later and found the quality of the following books to be substantially better than the first one. The first book was 2 stars for me and Crimson Campaign and Autumn Republic were both 4 stars for me (note: I pretty much almost never give 5 stars to anything lol) There is also a follow up trilogy set ten years after this one, and imo that trilogy is even better than this first one. The author just keeps on improving as a writer with each book. Even though it took me a year and a half between reading book one and book two, everything else I binge read straight through with only smaller, lighter standalone books in between because I enjoyed them so much. And also (last thing I PROMISE lol see what I did there? okay I'll stop XD) there are several short stories and/or novellas set in this universe, but I have never read any of them, I have only read the main series of novels from the two trilogies, so I cannot personally attest to whether the supplementary material is worth reading or not
I’m really intrigued by the follow up trilogy but the fact that I might have to read a few books that I don’t like to get there kind of puts me off. BUT, given what you’ve said, I feel more comfortable with my choice to eventually pick up the second book, which will probably be either next year or the year after. I’ve heard very mixed things about the novellas. I don’t really bother reading novellas unless I absolutely have to haha, or if it’s following a character I love. You’ve definitely made me less worried. I do have hopes for it, I just hope it doesn’t fall flat on its promise (see what I did there? Sorry, couldn’t help myself from copying you 😂).
Hi 👋 sorry to hear that you didn’t like the book, it’s not nice feeling when u don’t read a good book. I hope ur next read??? Happy weekend reading to you!! 😊🍁📖🍂
Terrible dialogue, neat magic 'system', telling instead of showing, boring... Sounds like an author making use of the Sanderson template. Is Brian also a homophobic cult member? edit: oh, actually he is? Orson Scott Card student according to google. I was joking but, there you go. Glad his book sucks.
I completely agree with your view on Adamat's intelligence. The things we are told about his mental prowess give off the impression that Adamat should be a witty and somewhat manipulative character in order to solve the missions Tamas gives him. However, he just kind of seems to be like any other random person who was blessed with the knack of never forgetting anything. We never really get to see him fool any of the characters, or we never get to have a moment where we can go "Omg, that was soo smart". If you would compare him to Tyrion Lannister, In the scene where he tricks the members of the council by telling them false sensitive information to see who is trustworthy, Adamat just kind of seems boring and completely unimaginative, with his only advantage being his knack. Whereas Tyrion, a person born without any supernatural ability, seems to be more in line with the traits of being intelligent.
Yeah, basically the same problems I had with it, though I think you liked the gods and stuff in it way more than I did. It'll be interesting to see if they get any better.
Here’s hoping 🤞🏽
I think the chef and the bodyguard were my favorite.
I liked the chef too!
I recently purchased Promise of Blood because Lena from "Sufficiently Advanced Lena" raves about the Powder Mage Trilogy and I'm very intrigued by the concept of flintlock fantasy. I didn't realize it was such a polarizing book!
Me either haha! I do think I’m in the minority though. I’m very interested to hear what you think about it, so please do let me know when you get to it. I’m hoping the rest of the series will be a step up. Not all is lost yet!
I've grown to love Military and Flintlock Fantasy but based of everything I've heard about McClellan's work I've a strong feeling he might not be the author for me.
It’s such a shame that it was a let down. Had so much potential.
I tend to agree with most of your criticism surrounding this book, I will say the characters do improve for me as the trilogy goes on. His second trilogy is probably better than his first, but the one criticism I think that bothers me the most is without spoiling anything I don’t think he sticks the landings to either of his series endings. Overall though I would rate both series as solid fantasy books, not the best, but nowhere near the worst for me either. I like the channel so far, keep up the good work!
Thanks Joe! That sucks re the landings, and kind of puts me off it even more haha, but I have made a commitment to read it now. The best thing about it is the magic system so as long as we get some development of that, I’ll be happy. I’ve heard the same sentiment about his second series, so will need to just power through the next two books.
Loved this review! I don't really have much to say other than that because I haven't read the book. I hope you find the answers you're looking for for the trilogy.
Thank you!
I couldn't get through Promise of Blood, and I'm glad I'm not the only one.
Also you've convinced me to read Joe Abercrombie.
YEEESSSS! This has made my day.
I can see some issues with it, but I’m also a plot focused reader so i enjoyed it. Some of the characters were meh but I was ok just focusing ok then magic and plot. Kinda like a guilty pleasure. Though the daddy issues trope is annoying.
That’s totally fair. The daddy issues trope is boring - I’d like a fantasy character to come from a more supportive family.
@@bookswithzara ha I dont really care about the family support, but dont cry about it your whole life and move on. you are who you are, they are who they are.
@@AverageJoesLibrary so true hahahaha.
Excellent review, Zara! Very thorough on the potential this book had and how the execution fell flat. Being told characters are smart but never seeing how can be frustrating. I read this with Shelf Space last year and gave it 2-stars on GoodReads. If you have the time, I highly recommend watching the live show with Allen and Jessie. I agree that the magic system was such a cool concept. At the very least I can say that there were many great ideas presented and I was never bored.
Thanks, Johanna! I will definitely watch it, and I’m glad you also didn’t like it 😂 do you think you’ll pick up the others too?
@@bookswithzara I was pretty certain you wouldn't like it! Haha! I will not be continuing the series. Too many other books I need to read, including all the Abercrombie books! 😁
@@Johanna_reads YES!!! Can’t wait for you to read the next standalone’s.
Generally what I tell ppl when recommending this series is, read book 1, it wont blow you away, but if you like the magic system or any of the characters (especially Tamas), then read book 2 - if you don't feel that book 2 deserves more than 3 stars at the most, then the author/series probably isn't for you, but if you feel like book 2 is at least 3.5 stars then it will probably only go up for you from there :)
Lol this is one of those series I struggle to recommend to ppl even though I'm a huge fan because I know the first book is rough XD Like, I enjoyed Promise of Blood well enough, but I did not feel compelled to continue with the rest of the series. I only came back to the series on a whim one day lol about a year and a half later and found the quality of the following books to be substantially better than the first one. The first book was 2 stars for me and Crimson Campaign and Autumn Republic were both 4 stars for me (note: I pretty much almost never give 5 stars to anything lol)
There is also a follow up trilogy set ten years after this one, and imo that trilogy is even better than this first one. The author just keeps on improving as a writer with each book. Even though it took me a year and a half between reading book one and book two, everything else I binge read straight through with only smaller, lighter standalone books in between because I enjoyed them so much.
And also (last thing I PROMISE lol see what I did there? okay I'll stop XD) there are several short stories and/or novellas set in this universe, but I have never read any of them, I have only read the main series of novels from the two trilogies, so I cannot personally attest to whether the supplementary material is worth reading or not
I’m really intrigued by the follow up trilogy but the fact that I might have to read a few books that I don’t like to get there kind of puts me off. BUT, given what you’ve said, I feel more comfortable with my choice to eventually pick up the second book, which will probably be either next year or the year after.
I’ve heard very mixed things about the novellas. I don’t really bother reading novellas unless I absolutely have to haha, or if it’s following a character I love.
You’ve definitely made me less worried. I do have hopes for it, I just hope it doesn’t fall flat on its promise (see what I did there? Sorry, couldn’t help myself from copying you 😂).
Did you every finish the trilogy? If so, what were you final thoughts?
No I didn’t. Had zero desire to. Might do so on the future but got way too many other books I actively want to read first.
Hi 👋 sorry to hear that you didn’t like the book, it’s not nice feeling when u don’t read a good book. I hope ur next read??? Happy weekend reading to you!! 😊🍁📖🍂
It’s ok, not every book is going to be amazing :) My current read is fantastic! Happy reading to you too, Safina!
Taniel what's the worst POV character I've ever read. He got worse and worse as the book went on.
Terrible dialogue, neat magic 'system', telling instead of showing, boring...
Sounds like an author making use of the Sanderson template. Is Brian also a homophobic cult member?
edit: oh, actually he is? Orson Scott Card student according to google. I was joking but, there you go. Glad his book sucks.
What pathetic statement. Looking at your review and your followers posting, looks like I’ve made a good choice.