While searching for the titles of Brian McClellan’s Powder Mage trilogy, I discovered that the author had written a number of prequel novellas, and since I’m already backtracking my steps after reading Sins of Empire, the first book in the new series set in the same background, I decided to start from a… more remote past, so to speak.
Forsworn is the first of these novellas and deals with the story of Erika ja Leora, a young noblewoman from Kez, a place where powder mages are hunted down like dangerous animals. Erika is a powder mage herself, but her noble birth saved her from that fate: she has however taken an oath not to use her powers – the Forsworn from the title are indeed people who can wield powder magic but renounce them publicly.
The chance encounter in the woods with a runaway child, Norrine, will change Erika’s life forever: Norrine (a character I encountered as an adult Riflejack mercenary in Sins of Empire) escaped from the prison where she was being held as a powder mage, after being denounced by her own parents in exchange for money, and on meeting her Erika sees what her own fate would have been if her station had not prevented it. Choosing to help young Norrine is an act of dangerous defiance, especially since a Privileged sorcerer is on the runaway’s trail and pursues the prey and anyone ready to help her with dogged determination.
The world being depicted here is a cruel one: of course that’s a given in this genre, but there is something more brutal at play here, especially since it highlights the strife between the more “conventional” magic of the Privileged, and that of the powder mages, with the former clearly fearing the latter’s encroachment of their position of power, especially with the ruling class. And just how ruthless the Privileged can be becomes evident during the long chase through the mountains toward the safety of neighboring Adro, where powder mages can live without fear: Erika will need all her strength and courage to survive and escape with Norrine from the pursuit of Duke Nikslaus and the King’s Longdogs, the aptly named power mage hunters.
As a first introduction in this world, this was a very promising one, and the surprise appearance, at the very end, of a well-known character from the original trilogy was very welcome, almost like a sign I’m going to enjoy losing myself in this series.
My Rating:
Glad you enjoyed this one. I desperately wish McClellan would give us some more novellas about Erika, but, at least, we have this one to enjoy. 🙂
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As soon as his world grows and expands, he might decide to fill some more corners: I’ve always found this kind of novellas to be delightfully informative. Crossing fingers… 🙂
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I haven’t read this author – yet – this could be a good starting place, yes?
Lynn 😀
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It might, indeed: the short stories I’ve read so far are all prequels of his first book, “The Promise of Blood”, so you will get there with some advance knowledge. Quite useful, to say the truth 🙂
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Oh yes, there are a bunch of these Powder Mage novellas! I’ve only read a couple though, and not this one yet, I’m afraid. I believe he has published an omnibus collecting all the shorts set in this world, I’ve been thinking of picking that up to tackle them all together.
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Ah, the omnibus idea is quite good, even though it makes me think that the author might not add more stories to this world… Unless he’s planning for a second volume of course! 😀
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Ooh, there are more? And sounds like this one is worth check out! How exciting! Nice find 😀
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Happy to share! And… stay tuned: more will come! 😉
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I never got around to reviewing this one (read it several months ago), but did really enjoy it.
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I’ve come to this world backwards, reading Sins of Empire first, and now I’m retracing my steps: the beauty of it is that it never gets confusing… 🙂
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