A review by thefussyreader
The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan

5.0

The Fussy Reader

4.5*
So fucking good! I mean, I liked the first one, but this one helluva is a step up.

Characters
I love Taniel Two-shot so much!

My feelings for all the characters more or less stayed the same. Taniel and Ka-poel were my favourites, and I loved seeing them get a little closer in this book. I'm glad Taniel is starting to see her as more than just his savage bodyguard and is actually seeing her as a woman and a friend. I ship them.

I still enjoy Tamas. In fact, I probably like him more in this book than in the first one. He seems a lot more human. He's grown. The brutal war on the Kez border has given him a bit of perspective and he actually seems to give a shit about his son now. The way Tamas regularly thought about Taniel or voiced his concerns for his well-being had me dying for a reunion between the two.

Once again, the other two POV characters, Adamat and Nila, were my least favourite, though I did give much more of a shit about Adamat and his search for his family, especially when he got Bo involved. Nila, I still don't care much about.

Side characters I adore include: Olem, Bo, and SouSmith. Top-quality side characters.

Bo ♡

The antagonists were great too in their own way. I don't mean the Kez, but the people who should be on the same side as the heroes but weren't. I mean all the army generals working against Taniel's war effort because war is profitable, so no sense in actually trying to stop it, right? They all frustrated me so much, which I suppose was the intention. Well, it worked, so good job.

Plot
This book takes everything I loved in book one and timesed it by ten. It is indisputably better than the first book. Epic is probably a good word to describe it. I enjoyed book 1 but didn't feel 100% invested in everything happening, but, bloody hell, book 2 seriously delivers. So much happened that my mind reels trying to recall it all. Even though the characters are still fighting the same war against the Kez, the stakes felt so much higher.

The battles, the battles, the battles! So many battles, and all so brilliant. I think this book will make it onto my list of favourite literary battles.

I also felt a lot more invested in Adamat's storyline when he roped Bo into helping him. The contrast in their personalities gives the story these nice little pockets of tongue in cheek. I'd love to see more of these two as a double-act, continuing to work together.

Bo ♡♡

However, I have to make a small dig, and it's not a dig targeted at this author specifically, but at many authors who do this. As a female reader, it would be nice if, just once, a female character wasn't subjected to rape, or attempted rape, or threatened with rape. It almost makes it worse when it's a badass female character. Like what's the message here? Even a really strong and powerful woman can be overpowered and assaulted by enough men. Like, just why?
Yeah, I get it, rape is just one of those things that happen during a time of war, but my issue is that it's almost exclusively used as a plot device to make a book's main man angry, to make him take action and fight back. Basically, a woman is raped in order to give a man agency and develop a man's character, and so rarely is the horrific experience ever explored from the perspective of the one who actually got raped. And, like, you pretty much never see men getting raped, it's always women, and it's so tiresome to read. I just wish sometimes that male authors would see it from a female reader's point of view and maybe appreciate how often we have to read this crap.

Setting
Much more of the world is explored this time around, and the world feels so much more fleshed out. We got to visit other cities and countries and witness the conflicts and effects of war there first-hand. The politics are more involved, and I was just generally better able to visualise everything happening.

The world-building has developed very nicely and I'm excited to see how this world grows further in, not just the final book in this trilogy, but also in the author's latest trilogy set in this world.

Writing Style
The pacing is incredible. Breakneck speed with no room to breathe. I got through this so quickly, and I'm a slow reader! Something interesting and exciting and stressful happens every chapter. There really wasn't a slow moment. And despite all the intense action going on, there was still plenty of humour, especially where Bo is concerned.

Bo ♡♡♡

The general writing quality feels much the same style but certainly improved. It wasn't bad at all in the last book, but I can't help but think the reason I was so much more engaged this time around wasn't just due to what was happening, but also due to how it was written. Masterfully done. Honestly, if not for that pointless rape attempt that served little purpose to the plot (considering all her physical wounds were magically healed up, and emotional wounds apparently aren't applicable), then I would most certainly give this a full five stars in my personal estimation. But as Goodreads doesn't allow half ratings, I'm rounding it up anyway.

Final Impression
I never expected to enjoy this book as much as I did but, god damn, this was one hell of a read.
So good, so good, so good. I already have book 3 ready and waiting to go and I can't wait to continue, but at the same, I'm not ready to let these characters go.

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