Sins of Empire

Well, McClellan has done it again. I have to say that, in terms of the books I read, I am always hesitant at how a sequel series is going to go. Is it going to be like Rick Riordan with his Heroes of Olympus series, where the characters and action are, more often than not, as good as the previous series? Or is it going to be like his Gods of Asgard series, where often the characters and humor just feel all the same, so that it feels like he is trying the same thing over and over again? I am happy to report that McClellan has improved vastly with this first installment of his Gods of Blood and Powder series.

A word of caution to the reader: If you haven't read his previous series, The Powder Mage Trilogy, then this won't make sense to you. He doesn't waste time explaining things that the reader should already know. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest it. The books are an excellent read.

I think that the element that the author has improved on is the plotting and planning of his novel. We follow several characters through the story. Michel Brevis, a member of the Blackhats, a kind of secret police, who must accomplish finding a mysterious Lawyer named Tampo, who is considered an enemy of the state. Then there is Ben Styke, a former military man who has been freed from a prison camp by Tampo, who orders him to either protect or kill Lady Volara Flint. We then follow Lady Flint's perspective, as she leads a band of mercenaries, who are charged with capturing a local revolutionary. All of these perspectives weave in and out of each other, along with other elements that add up to excellent dramatic irony. We the reader, wait for the metaphorical shoe to drop, as the characters all come closer and closer to revealing their ties to each other. This is definitely the best part of the book. In his other series, when certain characters were brought together, it felt forced, and the mysteries were the weakest part of the Powder Mage trilogy as a whole. Here the author manages to create an intriguing mystery that had me reading late into the night. I greatly enjoyed this mystery.

As for the negatives, well, I would say it is that it tends to drag in the 1st half of the book. We the reader know that the metaphorical bomb of dramatic irony should explode sometime soon, and yet, it just seems to keep going, with some plot points being metaphorically swept under the rung once a major event happens in the halfway mark of the book. After that, it moves at almost breakneck speed.

Still, I greatly enjoyed this book. It was far better paced, and had better plots for characters old and new. I give this book a four out of five. I am excited to see where McClellan takes this series.