The Fussy Reader

Ahhhhh, it's over!!
I've been putting off writing a review because there's something very final about posting a review, and I really, REALLY don't want this to end. I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters.

Characters
The characters were my favourite part so I'll probably spend the longest talking about them.

I adore how paternal Tamas becomes even though Taniel is a grown-arse man, in Tamas's eyes, he's still his little boy, and a fierce protective instinct was woken in Tamas that I was just living for. I loved this side of Tamas.

Bo is still my bae, and despite some of the awful things that happened to him in this book that broke my heart, he easily remained one of the coolest and chillest characters in the book.
Second only to Olem. Nothing seemed to faze the man, even life-threatening situations. I adore Olem almost as much as I do Bo.

Bo ♡

Vlora, who'd been relatively non-descript for me throughout, really shone in this book. It's not that I never liked her, I just felt she was a strong character underutilised. And though I don't think she reached her full potential as a character, I still really liked her. I actually think a Vlora spin-off book would be so sick!

Taniel is still probably my general favourite. Certainly my favourite POV character. He's your typical rebellious hero type. He's kinda gonna just do whatever the hell he wants, and tbf, he's got the ability to back it up. He's all mam... but what a man.

The two characters that I've struggled to connect with since book one were Adamat and Nila, and y'know what? I enjoyed them so much in this book, Nila especially. She really came into her own after feeling rather bland in book one. Her journey of growth has been amazing.

Plot
Epic. I won't go into great detail, this being the final book in the series, but I will say this.
DAMN, Brian McClellan can write a battle scene. There are images of fight sequences in my brain that I'll never forget.

So much conflict. So many battles. And the stakes were always high. There wasn't a single moment during a battle that I wasn't scared for a character I cared about...

Especially Bo ♡♡

This book is just a damn good time, though occasionally stressful, I can't fault a single thing about this book. It was just really fucking awesome.

Setting
I know there's another trilogy set within this Powder Mage universe, and I absolutely can't wait to read more about this world. It's so fascinating and I want to see more of it, learn more about the magic system and how it works, see how the events of this trilogy affect the world going forward.
As a matter of fact, the reason why I started the Powder Mage trilogy was because I was interested in Sins of Empire, so I initially began this from a feeling of obligation, in case any information didn't make sense to me because it was relevant to Powder Mage. And here we are, three books later and I fucking love this trilogy so much, I'm already anticipating a reread.

I think more authors should write spin-off books set in an existing world they created. Us readers eat that shit up. Cause even though the characters may the different, the world itself is a character, and the most important character at that.
And this is one character I'm dying to see again.

Writing Style
One thing (among others) McClellan has mastered is pacing. There's never a dull moment in this series. Even the slower, quieter chapters feel incredibly significant. This is such a tight novel (and series in general). There's no room for filler because too much important stuff is happening.
Incredibly solid writing that just seems to get better and better with each book.

Final Impression
This has very easily become one of my favourite fantasy trilogies and I know for a fact I'll be rereading it one day, and knowing that slightly eases my sense of loss. I'm not totally saying goodby to these characters. It's just goodbye for now.


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