The Crimson Campaign

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Call Number: Fantasy / McClellan, Brian
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / McClellan, Brian	4-week checkout	On Shelf

After his attempted invasion of Kez fails, Tamas must retreat to defend his country from the angry god, Kresimir, while Inspector Adamat tries to rescue his wife from the evil Lord Vetas in this sequel to Promise of Blood.

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Very good, but some unrealized potential. submitted by eknapp on July 21, 2014, 9:26am There are three plotlines in v2: Kez invades Adro with monsters and an insane Kresimir on their side, and Tamas and his army are trapped in the enemy's land due to treachery (McClellan is big on traitors); Taniel, on the front lines of the conflict, battles not only the enemy but also corruption and treason (yep) in his own army's general staff; and Adamat uses his connections and investigative tricks to locate and rescue his family, held hostage by a wealthy, powerful sociopath.

One thing stood out to me, partly--and paradoxically--by not standing out. The setting is roughly Napoleonic in terms of technological and social/political development, not the best of times for women in the real world. In Adro, women hold plenty of power: they are generals, colonels, captains and sergeants in the army, they are heads of institutions and political factions, they are mages and "special forces" operatives. And within the context of the story this fact is utterly unremarkable. No one notices that women are in power because why wouldn't they be? It's just neat to see a merit-based power structure that isn't obnoxiously self-aware.

Same serviceable level of writing as in Volume 1. While there's certainly a lot to be said for a fast moving, well-crafted war adventure like this, I find myself yearning for the depth, richness, and insight of KJ Parker's Engineer trilogy. McClellan almost captures that but falls short.