Promise of Blood
- 574
- Pages
- about 11 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Promise of Blood” opens its trilogy at full tilt, in a fantasy world that recalls the French Revolution more than any medieval kingdom. Action comes thick and fast, and the intrigue keeps many players’ motives hidden. The magic system impresses some readers, though others find it under-explained in this first volume and notice a few rough edges in the text; neither slows a long book that reads quickly.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Promise of Blood is a fantasy novel by American author Brian McClellan, the first book in The Powder Mage trilogy. It was first published by Orbit Books in 2013. A sequel titled The Crimson Campaign was released on May 6, 2014. It won the 2014 Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer. The audiobook was narrated by Christian Rodska.
Reading order · The Powder Mage trilogy
Full order & progress →- Promise of BloodThis book
8.18.1 / 10 - The Crimson Campaign
8.48.4 / 10 - The Autumn Republic
8.48.4 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.2 across 486 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 77% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.5 | 13 | 3% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 473 | 97% |
Frequently asked
How long is Promise of Blood?
It has 574 pages — longer than 56% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 8.1, the closest to this book.
