The Crimson Campaign cover art

The Crimson Campaign

The Powder Mage, Book 2

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The Crimson Campaign

By: Brian McClellan
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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About this listen

The hounds at our heels will soon know we are lions. Tamas's invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies and no hope of reinforcements. Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy's best, he must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god.

In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might come too quickly. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself alongside the god Mihali as the last line of defence against Kresimir's advancing army.

Tamas's generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye.

©2014 Brian McClellan (P)2014 Hachette Audio UK Fantasy Fiction Scary

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All stars
Most relevant  
amazing story best middle book in a trilogy I have read greatly looking forward to the conclusive final novel

outstanding

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As the second book in a trilogy this is one of the best, it follows a few different paths as you see how they intertwine. It is set in both in the army as we see the war with the Kes and also stories in the city. There is so much extra though, infighting in the main army, others fighting running battles behind enemy lines, gods and evil shenanigans in the city.

As usual Christian Rodska is awesome and gives some great accents including a Glaswegian and Liverpudlian so watch out for them.

Thrilling from start to finish.

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The powdermage trilogy is quickly becoming my second favorite bookseries out there. Solid worldbuilding, storytelling, and characters. Great performance. And just an amazing concept overall. This one was another banger that you should definitely check out.

Awesome

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Taniel becomes the unlikely hero in this great second book in the trilogy. The development of him as a person, coming out of his father's shadow is rewarding. Also, Tamas' infallibility falters as a series of bad decisions leave him in a tight spot.

Good character development of many of the more peripheral characters and of some of the sideline stories. I found Adamat's quest somewhat boring but I realise that this is the long game and that what happens is critical to the plot

Well narrated with consistent character voices which I find very important.

One of the better middle books of a trilogy

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If you could sum up The Crimson Campaign in three words, what would they be?

Clever, captivating, Ka-Poel

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Crimson Campaign?

I'm not doing spoilers so I'll say
The book has lots of bits like this
“You missed the morning’s festivities,” Bo said to Adamat. “You call torturing a man ‘festivities’?” Adamat asked. “I’m not a good person,” Bo said.”

And I like bits that make me chuckle while driving to work

Which character – as performed by Christian Rodska – was your favourite?

I think his voice for Tamas is spot on.
But ka-poel is very intriguing and is my fave

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes the characters are interesting enough that their personality contains sarcasm and wit.

Any additional comments?

Better than the first book and I'm looking forward to the next.
If you haven't already downloaded the first...
Then go and download it
If you have downloaded the first....
Than you probably won't be reading this, and have already downloaded it anyway ;-)

Four and a half stars

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The second book of the trilogy follows the pace and style of book one only moreso. McClellan writes engaging fun plots with OTT violence reminiscent of war novels, with in your face characters and almost comic-book magic. I suspect it's a marmite style, and I loved it, chuckling at some of the excesses.
The setting is akin to Napoleonic wars with different flavours of magic, both tiers of traditional sorcery that accesses a magical dimension as a source, to the 'new' powder mage-ery and the mysteriously powerful bone magic. It's thrown about fairly effectively by the characters in a plot that's got plenty of solid set pieces, drama, and unexpected turns. There's a moderate amount of world-building that plays second fiddle to the plot. We follow four/five main POV characters through the book, and I enjoy each one for differing reasons.
Bought book 3 straight after.
The narrator is well chosen for the material and gives us some excellent voices, although I'm sure a couple have changed from book one!

Rollicking good fantasy: gunpowder and sorcery

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If you enjoyed the first book then you’re in for a treat.
The story alternates between several perspectives and at no point was I disappointed to be back with a character.

First book was good, second is better

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Yet another trilogy where I am left hanging in anticipation of book 3.

And another author whose name I will search on regularly for new books....

Action, clever magic / mystery, great characters..... well narrated. What's not to like. Ticked all my usual boxes.

If you're a fan of "epic fantasy", whilst not quite as "epic" as a Sanderson or an Abercrombie, it's still up there with the good ones!

Excellent

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love the series, my only criticism is that Christian changes accents and how the same character sounds between the books. makes following the characters between stories more difficult than it should be.

Christian Rodska needs to keep voices consistent!

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Book 1 and I really thought the voice artist was something special. Book 2 and he isn’t! Anyone who had a rank (Field Marshall, Colonel etc) was given an old, shaky, precise English accent. This was fine until I had great difficulty in imagining one of them who was a 22 year old man!!!

The story continues though there is a whiff of ‘middle book’ about it; maybe book 3 will improve.

I won’t be listening to the audio book, I’ve purchased the kindle version!

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