Shadowhawk takes a look at the first Powder Mage novel from debut author Brian McClellan.

“This could be the start of something really, really good!” ~Shadowhawk

Promise of Blood is a novel that I picked as one of my “51 Most Anticipated Releases of 2013” over at my blog last month. At the time, the decision was based on this excellent cover art by Orbit Art Team, led by Lauren Panepinto. The cover is truly striking, and conjures some really vivid imagery.

“A soldier holding his weapon in his hands, his head down, sitting in a throne. Somebody is tired of fighting and wants a way out, but isn’t sure what to do. Maybe he even has to make some tough decisions, decisions that don’t sit well with him.”

Of course, the tagline of “The Age of Kings is dead… and I have killed it” is just icing on the cake. I really love the colours, which give the whole scene a feeling of faded grandeur and lost glories (fitting in with the blurb, the story, and the rest of the cover), and the whole sense that this is akin to reading some grand adventure-style historical fiction. And it’s fantasy with “Powder Mages”, which by itself is an awesome term, and hints at what kind of technology and magic can be found in the setting.

Release: 16th April, 2013

Hardcover: $23.99 US/$26.99 CAN | eBook: $9.99 US/$9.99 CAN | Audiobook: $26.98 US/$29.98 CAN | 560pp

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

Field Marshal Tamas’ coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and greedy scrambling for money and power by Tamas’s supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces. Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should…

So, what do you think?