Brian McClellan (1) (1986–)

A disgraced general must return from his self-imposed exile when his mother is brutally murdered. In The Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan tells the story of Demir Grappo, a brilliant young general and Governor who led a very successful military campaign that nevertheless ended in unspeakable disaster. Now he must return home and take his mother's place as head of the family guild, discover who killed her and what secrets were they trying to protect.
Demir hires Kizzie Vorcien, a member show more of a rival guild family and childhood friend to investigate the murder. Another childhood friend, Baby Montego, returns home to help Demir as well. Demir must navigate the politics both of the Empire and of the other guild families. He discovers that godglass, the source of magic that powers the Empire, is running out and threatens to throw the world into chaos. Soon a war begins and it is ultimately up to Demir to fight a war to save not only the present but the future.

In The Shadow of Lightning combines thrilling military encounters, a well-designed magic system, complicated government and business politics, mystery, and excellent characters. Some people in this world, like Demir, wield strong magical powers. Godglass, which is forged by gifted craftspeople called "siliceers" also confers powerful magical powers upon individuals. The story revolves around a few viewpoint characters as the story moves forward. McClellan skillfully weaves the storylines together as Demir navigates military leadership, leading his guild, finding his mother's killers and the reason behind it, and just maybe, a way to preserve the future of the empire.

All of the characters are strongly portrayed. The world-building is fascinating and the politics are intriguing and treacherous. This book tells a complete story while laying the seeds for future volumes with threats that are unearthed as the book unfolds. This is a great beginning to a new series with characters and a world I can't wait to revisit. New and old fans of McClellan will be pleased.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. show less

This right here is how sequels are done. McClellan has improved his craft between the original Powder Mage trilogy and Gods of Blood and Powder, leaving out the unanswered plot threads and relying the "rule of cool" to get characters out of jam (ex: The time Tamas killed a charging Warden by focusing an explosion on its head.) It's a shame Taniel only appeared briefly, but considering he could steamroll most opposition, this was for the best. The ending tied everything up, though it felt a show more little short. This was likely due to focusing on the characters' objectives rather than the battles taking place around them. I'll definitely take this type of ending over a drawn out one.

The protagonists all come out changed by their experiences for the better. Styke's ending was the most satisfying for me. A man who became a monster for his country, and was thrown aside when the fighting was over and a monster was a liability. His bravery and loyalty still shone through during his attack on the Dynize capitol, even with those who should have been his enemy. Styke learns to control his anger, showing that he can put it aside for the sake of his men and Celine. His reward: a giant plot of land where he can retire.

Vlora got to show her mettle and abilities without her powers to bail her out. Though she made dumb choices, it gave her some perspective on the nature of war. Most notably charging into the melee during a night battle. Without her powers she was panicking like fresh recruit and got her body guards killed. Vlora's ending was the most ambiguous, but it suited the direction her character went.

Michel is caught in a situation where his considerable skill as a spy just isn't enough to win the day. Though he finds everything he needs to turn the tide against the Dynize, the resources at his disposal aren't enough. Michel finds the proof he needs to get the Palo to rise up against the Dynize, but only gets them slaughtered. The result is Michel is finally able to cast aside the fake personalities and disguises to develop actual friendships and be his true self.

McClellan has stated that he is done with the Powder Mage universe, and this concludes the adventures here with a bang. I'm looking forward to Glass Immortals. show less

A Very Imaginative and Compelling Story

One of the reasons I tried this book was because it ended up on so many Top of 2013 Shortlists. To say that I am pleased by doing this, is an understatement. Mr. McClellan has a very distinctive voice, which he uses to build a world where magic and gunpowder are king and queen in a full-blown, no holds barred, fight to the death type war, where you aren't even sure who is on whose side. Political thriller? Yes! Action Adventure? Yes! Gritty Fantasy? show more Yes! War Story? Yes! It is all these things, and the reason that I gave it 5 stars is it does all these things well.

The story was well crafted, using intricate plotting, that had so many surprising developments that I just knew to expect surprises and that I could stop solving things on my own and just hold on for the wild ride.

The characterization in the book is quite wonderful. We don't get a lot of physical description of characters in the book - in fact most characters get barely described by their hair and their skin tone, their age and their body size. The author may even say what the character is wearing. After that, all you get is the name, unless there are injuries, or major functional clothes changes.

Emotionally and functionally we get to know the characters to some depth - both primary and secondary characters. This book has a very large cast of characters, so to do that, we are talking on the order of slightly under GRRM or Erikson cast of characters. This is a huge feat. The characters are all morally complex. There were times in the story I found myself wanting to yell at some of them, to give them some advice. or a backbone. You won't find anyone in the book who is obviously good or obviously evil. Even the criminals are just human beings who made different choices. In Brian's world, there all the people are interesting.

After I finished reading, I realized that I just completely got sucked into a story with swords and GUNS? Now, don't get me wrong, if I could shoot as well as a Powder Mage, I would do it in a heartbeat, but the two technologies were centuries apart in metallurgy. I guess it could be the time when the two overlapped, and this is fantasy after all, so I will cease and desist.

All in all, the story grabs you by the hand and throws you down the rabbit hole to Brian's World, where Powder Mages, God's, and Privileged Sorcerers fight it out with soldiers, criminals, assassins, prize fighters, chefs, church officials, university staff and mercenaries. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a thumping good read. This one has it all: plot, pacing, characterization, imagery, worldbuilding, ending, the distinctive style and voice. There is nothing derivative here, just pure Brian's World. Read it at your pleasure. My advice is to buy it now!

Thank You Brian for the sheer pleasure of reading your story. I enjoyed immensely! show less

I have very few bad things to say about the conclusion to this epic Flintlock Fantasy. There's tons of action, tons of characters to develop and enjoy, and plenty of interesting reveals.

Specifically, however, is how much I've been enjoying Bo and Nila. Don't get me wrong, I'm head over heels for Taniel's storyline and enjoyed it from start to finish, but Bo's understatements and Nila's growing power from a washerwoman into a firestorm was easily my favorite bit.

The Adamant storyline felt show more like a bit of a letdown, honestly, after all the mystery in the first two books, but that's okay when I consider that all the main players finally converge and either work together or are at least working toward the same somethings in this book. The reveals about the gods were a plain delight for me, as good as in the first book as in the third.

The fact that all these poor mortals have to deal with them or kick their butts or, now, need to deal without their cooking, is probably the best thing to happen to these folks. I'm sure some would disagree with me, but having these immortals around is definitely a bad thing, not that they're inherently evil... they're simply too much like us. :)

As for the ending, I may have enjoyed it a bit too much, wanting to see the wrap up very dearly. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the books, but there were some parts that did go on too long and it's a very specific complaint of my own. A lot of people like the drawn-out war stuff. I generally don't. Fortunately, McClellan's a good writer and makes everything pretty exciting and obviously very clear. Flintlock Fantasy is a very fun genre. :) show less