Monday, 18 August 2014

The Crimson Campaign - Brian McClellan

"The hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions". Tamas's invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements. Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy's best, he must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god. In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might come too quickly. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself alongside the god-chef Mihali as the last line of defence against Kresimir's advancing army. Tamas's generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught, and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye.

My thoughts:
I was I could be all eloquent, but alas, I am the kind of reviewer that goes OMG and amazeballs! I feel like I should go all proper with this one, say those fine words and analyse. But like I said, that is not me. So imagine a long thoughtful review while I go on with my business ;)

This book is so amazing! Flintlock fantasy is just so cool, it's different when it mixes magic and guns. And it's another era.

Our 3 main guys are Tamas, who gets stuck in Kez and is hunted by the enemy army. Sure he brought down a king and nobility, but he cares for his soldiers and his country. But most of all, his revenge. I like him.

Adamat is still trying to find his wife and kids. He is kind of the normal guy that is not so normal. He is a good ex-cop, and he never gives up.

Then we have Tanil who brought down a God. But he has new battles to fight and I got to know him and Pole better in this book. They are quite the pair. 

Then we have others, baddies, army folk, Nila who is still trying to save that kid and others. All in all making is a great cast of characters who I care for, and who I hate.

War, guns, magic and a country that does not know which foot to stand on. This book has it all and more. Rich characters, a good world, interesting magic and characters who feel real. They are not heroes all the time, they are just people.

Conclusion:
Totally a fantasy series that I recommend. I read it in a day :) A good day it was too.

Cover
cool

Hardcover, UK edition, 596 pages
Published May 6th 2014 by Orbit (first published January 1st 2014)
The Powder Mage #2
Fantasy
Library

42 comments:

  1. I usually try to be somewhat eloquent in my reviews too, but more often than not end up failing miserably, so don't feel too bad. Hehe I think The Crimson Campaign might be just the thing to help cure my Monday blues. :)

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    1. Hehe, I wanna try so hard but oh forget it. This is my style :)

      It's so good, when I read book I was all omg, good! From page 1

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  2. I try to be eloquent too, but I always fail when I especially love the book or hate the book. :) But this sounds really interesting.

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    1. SO hard when you really like a book, SO hard

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  3. Happy to hear you loved it! I haven't picked it up yet, but I can't wait to read it. Promise of Blood blew me away!

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  4. Just finished the first and enjoyed it quite a bit. Look foward to more of this, especially if Pole is still involved.

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  5. This was so great, I loved Taniel in this one and Ka poel. I want book three now.

    ~Mogsy

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  6. Yay :)
    Aye you do not hear me wow all the time

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  7. But it's so long til the 3rd comes out. :(

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  8. You read 596 pages in one day!? Wow! If I get in 120 pages or so in one day, it's a little miracle. OMG and amazeballs is always good!

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    1. I started it in the morning, I finished at night :)

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  9. Looking at the cover I would have thought historical fiction. I like that it is fantasy. Oh I think I'll have to check this one out.

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    1. That's the point, it's flintlock, fantasy has moved forward a LOT

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  10. Always good when you can root for the whole team!

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  11. Flintlock fantasy is a new one for me.

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  12. When I first saw the cover, I though US Civil War. I'm going to have to check this series out. I'm on the hunt for a good fantasy series.

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    1. It's so very different, check it out and see if it works for you

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  13. ''So imagine a long thoughtful review while I go on with my business ;)''

    You're such a funny person!!
    Glad you enjoyed :)

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  14. it's nice to see you're still having a great time with this series!

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  15. Gosh I need to try this.flintlock fantasy you keep on gushing about!

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  16. Wow! Impressive, I don't read fast enough to finish this in a day. But I agree, it was really quite good :) Got to love a book with gun-powder snorting addict ;)

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    1. I was on holiday, I did nothing all day, lovely

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  17. I need to read the first book soon! I have that somewhere... This sounds so good.

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  18. hahaha...it was lovely and your love for the book made me add book one to my list!

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  19. It seriously does sound like it has it all! I'm glad I picked it up on ebook then!

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  20. haha your review was amazeballs ... made me want to grab this one :)

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  21. I've got this on my TBR too, and if you read it in a day, it might be more feasible than the Wexler.

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    1. Thanks goodness for a day of doing nothing else than reading :) Bf made dinner, I did nothing

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  22. I know you love this series, but I couldn't finish Promise of Blood. I don't know if it was me or the book or... Maybe I should give it another try... maybe in audiobook this time around.

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