The Thousand Names

I really enjoyed this one. Taking a foreign legion approach to Fantasy was fascinating, and the desert setting was a nice change from the usual European inspired fantasy. Like a lot of modern fantasy this one really plays down the fantasy quite a lot - the magical and fantastical elements do appear and play a strong role in the climax, but mostly this story focusses on the day to day running of a foreign legion (‘The Colonial') and their campaigning in a North African inspired fantastical land.

The book uses two main POV characters, First Captain Marcus and the rapidly promoted Winter Ihernglass, who rises from Ranker to Lieutenant over the course of the book. In addition, a couple of other POVs are used in ‘prequal' section to each part of the novel, giving an alternative point of view from the other side of the conflict. The characters are well drawn and likeable. The different rivalries that a world weary foreign legion would possess are interestingly captured.

There are strong imperialistic overtones to the story, inherent in its setting. I know some people would object to the caricaturing of the native inhabitants, but to me this is told from the perspective of the ‘imperials' so this captures how they would view it. I post this as a warning to those who may be offended - to me this was not a big issue.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this - it takes in interesting setting and applies a refreshing take on fantasy. Looking forward to continuing the series!

Gunpowder period in time, I have an absolute abhorrence to this particular time, maybe because while in battle, both sides just march until a certain point and start shooting at each other........this to me is so illogical, a pity Brian Mcclellan was able to made his powder universe different and interesting, this one just made me hate it again............

Well, this particular was slow in starting, it had a lot of viewpoints to introduce, hey let's face it, this is an Army, among the protagonists, I sincerely like Ihernglass, then Captain D'Ivoire and least is the Colonel Vhalnich (this guy has a lot of secrets that I can not guess).......

Then the introduction of some magic and the mystery surrounding it..........hope the action heats up on the second book!!!!

Executive Summary: This one is more flintlock than fantasy. It should appeal to any military fantasy, or maybe even military fiction fans, but may be found slow/uninteresting to sword and sorcery readers.Audio book: Mr. Poe is a decent reader, but nothing spectacular. I think he does attempt to distinguish voice a little, but it was mostly too subtle for me to really tell the difference. He does have good inflections and emotion in his reading at least.Full ReviewI didn't know much about this one coming in, just that it was supposed to be another “Flintlock Fantasy” similar to [b:Promise of Blood 15790883 Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage, #1) Brian McClellan https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1350337505s/15790883.jpg 21512438]. While I enjoyed both, these series seem to be very different.Apart from the prologue the first half of this book contained almost no magic at all. There is pretty much just a lot of military protocol and character development. I'm not a big reader of military fiction in any form, but it is one of the aspects of Malazan Book of the Fallen I'm really enjoying. Unlike that series however there are no medics who use magic to heal or mages who attack with spells here. There are simply soldiers with muskets, bayonets and swords.I think anyone who finds well described military action boring may be turned away by this one. It really is sort of slice of life with military men for a good portion as Mr. Wexler builds the world and his characters out for the reader.I enjoyed the first half of the story at a solid 3-3.5 rating, but when the fantasy element of this book did finally come along it really raised things to another level for me.We are provided with two primary point of views that of Captain Marcus d'Ivoire and a soldier named Winter Ihernglass. I liked this contrast between things at the command of the unit and things down at the grunt level.I think Mr. Wexler also does a good job of swapping between the two while keeping the story flowing, especially in the later chapters where we get both POVs instead of just one of them.We do get some POVs from the opposing forces in this book, but they are mostly relegated to the prologue, interludes and epilogue. I would have liked to see more from the opposing characters as for now their motivations are vague at best.I'm still not sure who I'm rooting for in this series. I'm not sure if the goals of the Vordanai and their new commander Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich Mieran are for the best. I think that's part of the charm of this book. Most fantasy these days operate in shades of grey, but since we're not given much in the way of opposing viewpoints the reader is left to draw their own conclusions about who (if anyone) is in the right here.Things really pick up at the end and this book comes to a satisfying conclusion while setting things up nicely for the next book, which I'm now looking forward to.

3.5 out of 5 stars

After striking out with The Powder Mage series and not completely loving this series-starter, I'm not convinced that “flintlock fantasy” is the subgenre for me. Even so, there is a lot to like about this book – interesting cultures, well-written characters, and unexpected twists to name a few. I learned more about military ranks, formations, and factions than I thought possible even when the overall story gets bogged down by long battle sequences that I struggled to follow.

It sounds like the second book improves upon many of the stumbling blocks I encountered within this first book (fewer battles, more focus on characters, better pacing/plotting, etc.), but I'm not going to rush out to devour it. Book 2 will likely fall to the bottom of my TBR pile, but I'm not ready to give up on the series just yet.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.