A Book Review: The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan (The Powder Mage trilogy #2)

For decades, fantasy fictions has stuck to a formula, where the stories are often set in medieval, pseudo-European worlds. In the recent era, some authors in the genre are beginning to create new ideas. They are moving away from the “medieval Europe” formula, giving birth to sub-genres such as urban fantasy, and a newly born genre called flintlock fantasy.

I am an avid reader of fantasy fictions. While I do enjoy reading fantasy novels crafted by the “medieval Europe” formula, but I also love new ideas. This is why, the idea of flintlock fantasy intrigued me upon my discovery of its existence.

Brian McClellan's The Powder Mage trilogy received many positive reviews from critics and readers alike. This trilogy currently stands, as one of the reputed works in the genre of flintlock fantasy. The Powder Mage trilogy began with a first book called Promise of Blood. I read this book during the holiday season and decided it was a very enjoyable novel. In great anticipations, I turned to the first page in The Crimson Campaign, the second installment in The Powder Mage trilogy. This book counts to 600 pages and I read it in the space of 4 days. Before I delve further into my book review, I will say up front, The Crimson Campaign is both a worthy sequel and an improvement over Promise of Blood.

Synopsis:

Adro and Kez are in open war.

Despite Kez army outnumbering Adran army five to one, Field Marshall Tamas is still determined to send Kez army packing and running for their lives. Tamas wished to score a decisive victory against his Kez nemesis by using a strategic move: A surprise invasion, striking at the heart of Kez. Unfortunately, Kez foiled Tamas' strategy by a counter offensive maneuver.

This time, Tamas has landed his loyal followers in a dire predicament. He only led a fraction of his army, and they are cut off from the main Adran forces. Deep in Kez territory, Tamas and his men are devoid of supplies, leagues after leagues fill the distance between Kez and Adro, vaporizing every hope of reinforcement. Tamas hatched a desperate plan, where he and his men would attempt a headlong march across Northern Kez back to Adro, so they can rejoin the main Adran army and continue warding off Kez invasions on Adran soil.

Meanwhile, Taniel Two Shots, the son of Tamas, rushed to the frontline to help the war effort at thwarting Kez invasions. With Tamas' absence, Taniel found his only ally in the army is a mad chef, who claimed to be a god reborn.

Finally, back in the capital city of Adro, Inspector Adamat's heart and soul burn, white-hot, with the urgency to rescue his family from the claws of Lord Vetas, a deeply cunning and ruthless spy serving an ambitious master.

These three men, each facing great obstacles and dangers on his path. Can they prevail? Thus begins the fabled story of the crimson campaign.

My thoughts about this book:

Many trilogies suffer from the so-called “the middle book syndrome”. Being the second book in The Powder Mage trilogy, I was half expecting The Crimson Campaign to exhibit some characteristics and traits of the middle book syndrome. To my surprise, I discovered The Crimson Campaign is one of those rarities, where the author pitched his story, as well as the writings, up a notch to create a sequel that is, in every aspect, better than its predecessor.

The Crimson Campaign continued, as well as expanded, the story that began in Promise of Blood. Tamas, Adamat, and Taniel, are still playing the role of protagonists and POV characters in this book. Meanwhile, the supporting characters from the first book returned in this novel, some of them playing pivotal roles in this expansive story. Mr. McClellan introduced very few new characters in The Crimson Campaign, and I think this is a good thing. This is because the story of The Powder Mage trilogy is already intricate and complex. Restraints from adding new characters in the story prevented it from becoming overly complicated. This also means, while The Crimson Campaign tells a very eventful story, but readers can still track the plot developments with great ease.

This book follows the storylines of 3 POV characters; Tamas' perilous march across Kez and returning to Adran, Adamat's struggle to free his family from Lord Vetas, and Taniel's isolating experience in the Adran army. Surprisingly, these 3 storylines didn't converge in this book and they remain separated throughout the novel. To Mr. McClellan's credit, he crafted this book with the skills of a master storyteller, providing seamless transitions from one POV character's storyline to the next. At no point did this book ever become confusing or boring. Instead, the story in this book moved at a lightning fast, and smooth pace, a pace that is much faster and smoother than in Promise of Blood.

Story-wise, like its predecessor, The Crimson Campaign arrives packed with loads of twists and turns. The story in this book remains unpredictable from the very first page until its last. Mr. McClellan also strung up a dynamic web of suspense and tension in the story. Tensions accumulate as the chapters rolled on, and the story hit readers with mind-bending surprises. This book is a page-turner, but I took my time reading it, because I needed to let my brain absorb the intricate sub-plots in this book. Had I devoured this book in a gusto as I would in other page-turner books, I would have missed out the numerous build-ups layered in the story. Therefore, if you read this book, I would recommend taking your time to read it, take pauses and breaks, give your brain the time to absorb the information.

In my opinion, The Crimson Campaign improved over its predecessor. Mr. McClellan smoothed out the chapter/POV character transitions in this book, eliminating the slight issue of uneven pacing in Promise of Blood. As a result, The Crimson Campaign tells its story smoothly, at a neck-breaking pace. The characters are vividly portrayed, while the writings are descriptive but never over-burdened by too much details. I believe this book is a worthy sequel to Promise of Blood. When I closed The Crimson Campaign, I wanted to know what fate awaits the characters in this book, and I cannot wait to begin reading The Autumn Republic, the third and the concluding chapter to The Powder Mage trilogy.