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The Powder Mage *trilogy*
	Promise of Blood (2013); The Crimson Campaign (2014); The Autumn Republic (2015);
Author	Brian McClellan
Cover artist	Gene Mollica
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Orbit Books (USA)
Published	2013–2015
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
No. of books	3
Followed by	Gods of Blood and Powder

The Powder Mage trilogy is a series of epic fantasy novels written by American author Brian McClellan. It consists of the novels Promise of Blood (2013), The Crimson Campaign (2014) and The Autumn Republic (2015).^[1] In 2014, Promise of Blood received the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.^[2] Several short stories and novellas set in the world of The Powder Mage trilogy have been published, as well as an additional trilogy called Gods of Blood and Powder.^[3]

In January 2021, Joseph Mallozzi announced that he would be writing and producing a television series based on the books with No Equal Entertainment and Frantic Films.^[4]

Plot and setting

The trilogy primarily takes place in the fictional kingdom of Adro, one of the Nine Kingdoms founded by Kresimir, a semi-mythical figure now worshiped as a deity. At the beginning of Promise of Blood, Field Marshal Tamas has just committed a coup d'etat against Adro's corrupt and ineffective monarchy. The novel then focuses on the efforts of three men and one woman – Tamas, his son Taniel, a soldier, and former police inspector Adamat, as well as the laundress Nila – in the aftermath of the coup, dealing with conspiracies by royalist supporters, war with Adro's neighbors, and an emerging scheme to "summon" Kresimir.

The technology level of the Nine Kingdoms is roughly on par with that of Europe during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods; flintlock firearms are the prevalent weaponry. However, magic is present and its users are usually divided into three classes:

Knacked are the least powerful, with few or no active magical powers; instead, they have a variety of uncanny abilities; Adamat, for instance, has an eidetic memory, and Tamas's bodyguard, Olem, never needs to sleep.
Powder Mages are wizards with the ability to metabolize gunpowder and use it as fuel for various magical powers, including telekinesis; they can also manipulate gunpowder, such as causing it to explode spontaneously. Tamas and Taniel are both powder mages.
Privileged are powerful sorcerers; being exceedingly rare, they are almost exclusively gathered into "Royal Cabals" in direct service to the Nine Kingdoms' various monarchs; at the outset of Promise of Blood, Tamas has assassinated almost the entirety of Adro's Royal Cabal.

Reception

Promise of Blood

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review^[5] stating: "A thoroughly satisfying yarn that should keep readers waiting impatiently for further installments."^[6] Publishers Weekly, in reviewing the book, stated "McClellan neatly mixes intrigue and action..." and gave the book a generally positive review.^[7]

In 2014, Promise of Blood won the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.^[2] The book's cover, by Gene Mollica and Michael Frost, was also nominated for the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Book Jacket/Artist.^[8]

The Crimson Campaign

Publishers Weekly referred to the book as a "swirling sequel"^[9] and Staffer’s Book Review stated it was "just great fun."^[10] Kirkus Reviews gave a more reserved appraisal stating the "book is less relentlessly inventive than the inaugural volume but still impressively distinctive and pungent…".^[11]

Richard Bray of Fantasy-Faction wrote in his review, "In all, The Crimson Campaign is the rare middle book of a trilogy that actually kicks its pace up a notch. It’s an amazing work, and has the series well-situated for an outstanding finale in The Autumn Republic due out next year.^[12]