Then there are the Knacked, regular people possessing relatively minor abilities such as never needing to sleep, or being able to discern truth from lies. Generally speaking there are three main classes of magic in McClellan’s world, the most powerful being the Privileged sorcerers, who are able to access and wield destructive elemental forces, and whose Cabals have reinforced the monarchy for hundreds of years. There are no all-powerful perfect heroes here, but neither are there any unsympathetic, grimdark anti-heroes the author maintains a fine balance between his characters’ strengths and flaws, and for me it’s this that makes the novel so much fun to read.Īnother of the novel’s strengths is how the magic system is so integral to the story. Rather than swords and sorcery, McClellan gives us intrigue and gunpowder instead of kings and holy warriors, he gives us military leaders and corrupt priests and, in refreshing turnaround of fantasy stereotypes both old and new, the characters he has created are human, likeable and believable. Instead of medieval Europe or thinly-disguised Asia, we have something more reminiscent of the turbulent social and political situation of France in the late 18 th century. I’m glad to say it stood up very well to a re-read, and if anything I enjoyed it even more the second time round.Īs I said, it’s different to a lot of fantasy on the shelves these days, particularly with regards to the setting.
Promise of Blood captured my attention the first time I read it largely due to how different it is: this was the first time I’d read any so-called ‘flintlock fantasy’ and I thought it was great.
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