The Autumn Republic

What a feat Brian McClellan has managed to pull off with the Powder Mage trilogy.I first ordered Promise of Blood back in 2013, but it ended up sitting on my shelf until a few weeks ago when the final installment of the trilogy was almost due out. At the time, I was tired of getting burned by some authors getting distracted and leaving their series up in the air for years and I decided that I only wanted to read series that were already completed for the time being. These fears ended up being foolish in this case as McClellan not only finished the trilogy in a very quick manner, but he also completed a lot of work on the side through novellas and short stories.After a long sit I finally gave the series a read and I never looked back. It had everything you could hope for in a debut fantasy novel with a fresh world, a unique magic system, and a interesting cast of characters. I was hooked immediately at the start and ended up flying through both Promise and Crimson Campaign. I was very pleased with what the story had already told and was extremely hyped for where it was going. Needless to say my expectations going into the final installment were very high and McClellan manages to deliver in a big way - The Autumn Republic is everything I was hoping for and more.The writing here is all you'll have grown to expect out of McClellan after reading the previous entries, a fast-paced plot with a lot of action and suspense that make for a highly entertaining reading experience. I thought the first two books were hard to put down, but this one really cranks it up to even another level. The tension somehow builds on every page and the whole time you're sitting there both devouring what's happening and at the same time wondering what's gonna happen next (I ended up reading the last few hundred pages all in one 12 hour long marathon session without break to give an idea of how enthralled I was by it). The story is really the third and final part of the one long story told over all three books and it does a great job of taking all the plotlines introduced in the first two books and building them into one great, satisfying ending.The characters seemed to get more enjoyable with each installment, and here I can truly say I enjoyed all viewpoints immensely. Tamas shines as always and was a joy to root for. I really enjoyed Taniel's growth over the series and he finally deals with a lot of the demons he'd been struggling with here and I thought he was handled very well overall. Adamat was my least favorite viewpoint from the earlier installments because his passages had a tendency to dip into the unrealistic a bit too often and he felt a bit flat to me at times. In this book I found him a lot more real and enjoyed seeing his perspective in various situations. Nila was the biggest surprise of the bunch, she had an incredibly minor role in the first two books and it was uncertain what her real purpose was until the end of book two. In this final book she blossoms into one of the main viewpoints as she struggles to cope with her new found magic and I was pleasantly surprised by her passages which usually include the always funny Bo. Even the minor characters felt improved as they got more and more fleshed out, Vlora most notably.One aspect I especially enjoyed was the larger focus on the large scale military battles. The first book focuses a lot on government and intrigue and the fighting in the second mostly revolves around Taniel's action on the front lines and Tamas retreating over a long distance. Here we get to see the much built-up war with the Kez finally go into it's main conflict and I found it interesting to see more of Tamas as the military commander while still spotlighting his inner conflicts as a father and countryman that make the character who he is. In addition to that we see some insight into Privileged fighting also how they learn to control their magic through Bo and Nila's passages.Overall I thought McClellan did a wonderful job of tying everything together and giving the story the ending that it deserved. Not everything is neat and tidy and perfectly accounted for (no, we don't get a explanation of Ka-poel and Nila's sorcery) but I found it fitting to have a few questions left. The story always kept to what felt natural and it's very clear that the setting still has a lot of room for further exploration in the upcoming series set in the same world. I will definitely be looking forward to this next installment, and if McClellan can capture even part of what he's done here with the Powder Mage trilogy then it'll be a treat.

Ok I am a big fan of this trilogy and I loved the story but I must say that this conclusion left something to be desired. It wasn't exactly the way the story ends so much as it was the things that happened throughout the book.If you've read the other two then this is certainly worth the time to read. It's quick, I read this in a day. There's plenty of action and sometimes it's just too much. Too much of being outnumbered and having to race here to beat this superior force so that we can race there to do the same thing all over again. I mean wtf! I loved the first book and the second one also but I just felt like I expected more of this one. I really give it 3.5 stars but it won't let me and if rather him have 4 than 3.The scenes with Adamat are some of my favorite. It's like a little detective story inside a story. Adamats character just really seems to grab my attention and I really enjoyed when his scenes would take over the story. Besides from that everybody else is pretty much just racing around trying to get somewhere to prevent certain doom!I just really feel like he could have done a better job with this book. And maybe it was timeline problems and he had to have the book fished at a certain time but I would have rather waited longer for a less rushed book than receive this. It's almost like throughout the book you feel stressed from all the damn rushing they're doing and just end up saying enough all ready.The book is still worth reading though and your favorite characters show up in a big way. The ending is done pretty good too I think. I've heard that his next book will be in the same world like 10-20 years in the future so I'll be looking for that to hit shelves.

Promise of Blood was an unexpected delight when I read it two years ago; the trends and ideology of most modern fantasy turns me off from many of the newer authors. Brian McClellan presented an interesting setting, interesting ideas, and enjoyable characters - and most importantly, a good story that was hard and crunchy without feeling gratuitous, and never felt like it was preaching at me or pushing some tedious agenda.The Crimson Campaign was even better, improving on almost everything from McClellan's solid debut. It was easily a highlight of the books I read in 2014 and made me excited for the conclusion. I'm glad to say that The Autumn Republic delivers and is probably the best book in the series; for whatever it's worth, I tore through this book in less than two days of almost nonstop reading.McClellan's biggest growth is in characterization. Previously minor characters like Vlora and Nila get a lot more action in The Autumn Republic, and Tamas - arguably the center of the whole story - is pushed to his limits, as his characterization is more expansive than before. Taniel's character grows too: up until now we've seen him rarely getting chances to interact with main characters besides Ka-poel, but here he has plenty of scenes with his former fiance Vlora and best friend Bo. Taniel's chapters have been my favorite storyline throughout the series and it's excruciating having to wait so long for him to show up - and later disappearing for the third quarter of the book. As a dramatic tool, it works pretty effectively, though. The only thing I found particularly disappointing about the book was that Ka-poel has a lot less pagetime in The Autumn Republic. She's my favorite character in the series and her relationship with Taniel isn't developed as well as in its predecessor. But given her particular role in the plot, it was probably unavoidable.The Autumn Republic probably has the densest plot of the Powder Mage Trilogy but comes to a big, satisfying conclusion. On occasion McClellan feels like his plot is about to come off the rails with one deception, feint, and twist after another, but the occasional confusion ultimately wraps up nicely, and it's impressive to see such a young author bring everything together this well. That being said, the final antagonist(s) of the book seems to come out of nowhere; a little more foreshadowing in the prior two books would have been nice, but it's easy to forgive since the conclusion works.The world of McClellan's novels is genuinely intriguing, but it still feels like we haven't really gone deep into it yet. Hopefully future books in this setting will show us more of this world - a 18th-century European-esque setting that's a refreshing change from the tired medievalism of most fantasy. The Powder Mage Trilogy isn't quite perfect but it's very much worth reading for anyone tired of the conventions of most modern fantasy - or, for that matter, anyone who just wants a good story to enjoy.

Si hubiera leído esta trilogía sin haber leído las historias de los 0 nacidos de las brumas diría que es una serie perfecta pero en mi caso no puedo evitar ver semejanzas hacer comparaciónes con ese universo y la comparación no es positiva para este universo.

Un gran libro y muy buen cierre a la saga. Desde el primero hasta este, un gran viaje. Recomendado a todo el mundo.

I just finished reading this and my emotions are a blur, my mind reeling. A perfect ending to a fabulous and majestic story. I loved this series far more than I expected to. In fact, it's moving up my top ten reads! Read the series. It'll stay with you for a long time.

Oh man, where do I start? Like the rest in the series, the conclusion is a very nicely dressed up typical hero journey story, brilliantly combining political intrigue, solid understanding of battlefield tactics, suspense, and exquisitely descriptive combat. The final novel in the series, it does an excellent job of wrapping up loose ends, while still leaving the stage set for a continuation of the world's story, and there is more depth of emotion in this novel than the previous two, making it a bit more dear to the heart. And the completely never-before-seen magic system is downright exciting for anyone who primarily reads sci-fi/fantasy! Looking forward to more from Brian McClellan!

3rd book in series needed to complete trilogy