Promise of Blood

By Brian McClellan (Hardcover Book, 2013)

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...

Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

It's up to a few...

Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

But when gods are involved...
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should...

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- Format: Hardcover Book
- Price: $23.99 US/$26.99 CAN
- ISBN-13: 9780316219037
- On Sale Date: 04/16/2013
- Publisher: Orbit
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Formats Available: Hardcover Book, Trade Paperback, Electronic Book, Audiobook
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The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...

It's up to a few...

Brian McClellan is an avid reader of fantasy and graduate of Orson Scott Card's Literary Bookcamp. When he is not writing, he loves baking, making jam from fruit grown in northeast OH, and playing video games. He currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife. Find out more about Brian McClellan at www.brianmcclellan.com.

"Promise of Blood is a hugely promising debut. Guns, swords, and magic together? What more could you want? How about tense action, memorable characters, rising stakes, and cool, cool magic? Not only the finest flintlock fantasy I've read, but also the most fun. Brian McClellan is the real thing." (New York Times bestseller Brent Weeks).
"The world of the privileged sorcerers and the strange abilities of the powder mages who can manipulate gunpowder are just as well drawn in this captivating universe." (RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)).
"McClellan's debut packs some serious heat.... A thoroughly satisfying yarn that should keep readers waiting impatiently for further installments." (Kirkus (Starred Review)).
"McClellan's debut is a lot of fun --- a historically influenced fantastical romp filled with machismo, intrigue and magic." (SciFi Now (UK)).
"McClellan neatly mixes intrigue and action... in a society where new forces like labor unions, gunpowder-armed soldiers, and explosion-causing 'powder mages' clash with traditional magics, more, and beliefs." (Publishers Weekly).
"War, magic, shape shifters, a few haunting pasts, swords, muskets and a cook... err.... chef... who thinks he's a reincarnated god. Not just another epic fantasy but the McClellan debut fantasy and the first of a trilogy. Ripping!" (thebookbag.co.uk).