Russell

**Overall:** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Prose ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Dialogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Worldbuilding ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Pacing ⭐⭐⭐ | Originality ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A gut punch of a novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars matches a well thought-out future world with a scathing indictment of the current carceral system in America. Go in expecting a beautiful, wrenching character study, examining the motivations and feelings of the imprisoned, those protesting the carceral system, the guards, the executives, and the fans.

Definitely a must-read.

**Overall:** ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Prose ⭐⭐⭐ | Dialogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Worldbuilding ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ | Pacing ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ | Originality ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

After reading all of Dungeon Crawler Carl, I knew I had to support Matt Dinniman's other works too. Operation Bounce House is a clever & quick, and full of heart. The characters are diverse and interesting, the premise is unique, and it has Matt's signature humor throughout.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

Prose ⭐⭐ | Dialogue ⭐⭐ | Worldbuilding ⭐⭐⭐ Characters ⭐⭐⭐ | Pacing ⭐⭐⭐ | Originality ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finally made it through this series. There was lots to like in the trilogy, and you can definitely see a lot of growth from the author between Promise of Blood and The Autumn Republic, but overall, I left a bit unsatisfied. All the pieces are there -- interesting magic, interesting world, and engaging plot, but somehow none of them seemed to fully land. The main antagonist feels like it's meant to be a major twist, but it just ended up feeling like a hasty addition to justify the end-of-trilogy action, as the major conflicts of Promise and Campaign were mostly resolved.

Several developments that could have been really interesting are also just left unexplained, for example, we're told that Nila is unique and special, and that she'll be incredibly powerful, but that uniqueness and level of power is never explained. Similarly relationships, for example between Taniel & Ka-poel don't feel like we worked for them, and long standing inter-character conflict falls into the standard trope of one good, tear-filled conversation solving conflict permanently.

Overall, I'm not ready to give up on this author yet, it seems like the DNA is all there, but despite substantial growth, the end of this trilogy was just lacking for me. This was an entertaining read, but not one I plan to return to.

Prose ⭐⭐⭐ | Dialogue ⭐⭐⭐ | Worldbuilding ⭐⭐⭐ Characters ⭐⭐⭐ | Pacing ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Originality ⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Crimson Campaign, Brian McClellan is clearly getting his feet under him, the pacing issues in Promise of Blood seem to be largely resolved. While many trilogies can sag in the middle book, Campaign instead accelerates, as Tamas finds himself leading his troops through a gripping chase.

Taniel & Adamat each face their separate crucibles, both with much stronger consistency to their characters than in Promise, both largely closing their character arcs to make way for Tamas & Olem to face their in Republic.

As with Promise, I would still like to see stronger dialogue, but the interactions between Gavril and Tamas, and Taniel & Ka-poel made the three men a bit more three dimensional (I wish I could say the same for Pole, but unfortunately the female characters are all still a bit flat).

Overall, this was a reasonably fun read, but not a book I see myself re-visiting.

Promise of Blood is very clearly a debut album, but Brian shows a lot of promise. There was plenty of innovation, between the flintlock sorcery, and the political setting -- the book starts at the tail end of a planned coup, and explores the months that follow, with all the intrigue you'd expect. The world-building is as deep as you'd expect from a student of Sanderson, with an interesting take on magic, spread across the Privileged, who can touch the Else to to control the elements, the Marked, who have a special affinity for gunpowder, and the Knacked, who have small, unique talents.

Where the book stumbles a bit is in it's pacing. He's again clearly influenced by Sanderson here, typically following one POV per chapter, but there are various points in the book where the POV shifts inexplicably in the middle of the chapter short of where you'd expect to shift. Towards the end of the book this can get a bit confusing, with multiple POVs in the last few chapters. While the action is fast paced, the constant shifts pull you out of the action a bit, requiring a mental reset.

The characters are also a mix, with a few quite interesting characters (Adamat, Taniel), who are relatable both in their virtues and flaws, but several characters, especially the female characters, that are a bit one-dimensional (I'd have to re-read to be sure, but I think if this book passes the Bechdel test, it's incidental). There are also a few odd moments in the book which seem to dramatically break with the setup of the character, for example, whenthe normally even-keeled, logic driven Adamat appears to lose himself in the bloodlust of a boxing match.

All in though, this was an admirable debut, I'm looking forward to the next few in the series.