History Literature / ThePowderMageTrilogy

The sequel trilogy, called "Gods of Blood of Powder" focuses on Tamas' adopted daughter Vlora on the continent of Fatrasta, a colonial nation that has recently claimed it's independence from the Kez. What seems like a relatively simple job for her mercenary company quickly becomes much more when ancient artifacts are uncovered, foreign powers become involved, and old friends and foes alike start to appear.

A trilogy of Flintlock Fantasy books written by Brian [=McClellan=].

* CrusadingWidower: While Tamas is genuinely outraged at the abuses the king and nobility commit, a major motivator is the death of his wife. She was beheaded by the kingdom of Kez and his king not only refused to do anything about it but was additionally preparing to sign a treaty making his nation a vassal to Kez.

** Bone-Eye Sorcery in ''Sins of Empire'' allows [[spoiler: the Dynize]] to take this UpToEleven, pounding through enemy defenses through sheer force of numbers without a single man breaking.

** Predeii are special Privileged who take their magic UpToEleven and throw in immortality. [[spoiler: in ''Gods of Blood and Powder'', Powder Mage and Bone-Eye predeii have begun emerging.]]
** If predeii are Privileged UpToEleven, then the gods of the Nine are at approximately fifteen. There is more powerful, more flexible, and ignores all the constraints and technical requirements of Privileged magic.

** The Predeii seem to be more than just Privileged {{Up to Eleven}}. They have {{Nigh Invulnerability}}, are potentially [[CompleteImmortality completely immortal]], and the only things that seem to have a chance of doing any damage are the Red Stripes created by Ka-Poel. Some of the Predeii view themselves as being above Privileged, though other groups seem to view them as simply "very powerful Privileged".

** "Mad" Ben Sykes has survived things that he really should have no ability to survive. He was once cut with a blade coated in a deadly poison that should have him paralyzed in minutes and dead in a couple hours. Ben merely ended up with a fever that cleared after a couple days. He led numerous cavalry charges into enemy armies outnumbering him ten-to-one and not only survived but came out victorious. He was once punched in the face by a Warden, which should have caved his skull in but instead just gave him a bruise and a black eye. He was put in front of a firing squad and when that failed to kill him, he was put in front of a second firing squad. That crippled him but still did not kill him. He then survived years of hard labor in a prison and still came out strong and tough enough to take out some of the best fighters the setting had. While he does have a small Knack, and had some magic armor for his early days as a lancer, there does not seem to be anything else magical or supernatural about him, at least [[spoiler:not before Ka-Poel magically anoints him.]]

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:

* BiggerBad: After Lord Vetus is defeated in ''The Crimson Campaign,'' his master, Lord Claremonte [[spoiler: invades Adapest]] at the end of the book.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Predeii.

* FantasticDrug: The way that powder mages use black powder is clearly reminiscent of drugs, especially powdered opiates like heroin like cocaine. It grants them the ability to endure pain, heightens their senses, and gives them extreme powers of concentration. It's swallowed or snorted, to the point that Taniel winds up with a bloody nose after imbibing too much under stressful conditions, and carries around a batch for personal use in a ''snuff box''. It's also strongly implied to be addictive, and there are implications that imbibing too much powder can blind a powder mage's third eye, making them unable to sense magic.
%%** There's also mala, a fantasy opiate.

* EthnicMagician: While the Nine have several forms of magic, Ka-Poel is a foreigner who wields magic unlike anything the various mages understand or know how to deal with. Somewhat unusual for this trope, she has pale skin, red hair and freckles (also green eyes, although it's unclear how unusual this is), all of which are unusal in the Nine Kingdoms.

* RealityEnsues: Even if your son is in harm's way, [[spoiler:running off on the eve of a decisive battle and leaving command to your staff is not going to go over well. It contributes to the Wings of Adom withdrawing from the Kez-Adran war, and ultimately proved unnecessary as Taniel was safe before Tamas even got there. Tamas later criticizes himself for it, though it does convince Taniel that his father isn't entirely heartless towards him.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Taniel, Tamas' son, calls the men of the Seventh and Ninth Brigades Tamas' children.

** Taniel, meanwhile, comes back form aforementioned campaign with a mute 19 year old "savage" girl he picked up in a foreign country. She is his constant companion and somewhere between servant and partner. Nobody seems to see anything wrong with this, even generally assuming he's sleeping with her because she's "his savage", although tehy do think it a little uncouth. She's never actually referred to as a slave and slavery is explicitly illegal, but almost everyone in the setting regard her in possessive terms ("Taniel's savage") rather than as an individual. She's also subjected to a fair amount of racism, and even Taniel himself thinks of her as "a savage" for a fair portion of the books.

* FantasticDrug: The way that powder mages use black powder is clearly reminiscent of drugs, especially powdered opiates like heroin like cocaine. It grants them the ability to endure pain, heightens their senses, and gives them extreme powers of concentration. It's swallowed or snorted, to the point that Taniel winds up with a bloody nose after imbibing too much under stressful conditions, and carries around a batch for personal use in a ''snuff box''.
** It's also strongly implied to be addictive, and there are implications that imbibing too much powder can blind a powder mage's third eye, making them unable to sense magic.
** There's also mala, a fantasy opiate.

* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The French Revolution and subsequent warfare.
** Similarly, the two [[GreatOffscreenWar Great Offscreen Wars]] of the setting use this trope. The Gurlish Wars are roughly analogous to the British conquest of India, and the Fatrastan War of Independence bears a likeness to the American Revolutionary War.

* MilitaryMage: The titular powder mages are a special division of the Adro military and serve as [[MageMarksman enhanced riflemen]]. They also serve as officers. For example, Tamas, one of the main characters and a powder mage, is Field marshal of the entire army. Knacked, another set of magic users, also serve in the military but are treated as normal soldiers.

* MundaneUtility: Magic is frequently used for the mundane as well as the fantastic. Privileged use magic fire so they don't have to carry around matches or firestarters. Powder mages can use any nearby amount of powder as a source for magic, allowing them to detonate enemy infantry's powder horns and also...allowing them to fire rifles loaded only with ball instead of powder, rendering their rate of fire slightly faster. Mihali can conjure huge amounts of food, which he uses to boost the citizen's and later the army's morale.

** Next are the Knacked, people with a single small power, often a supernatural extension of some mundane skill, ranging from highly useful to trivial. Knacked have only one active ability, their power to open a "Third Eye" to see other sorcery, something shard by all types of people with magical powers. A Knacked with a highly useful talent can be highly desired as an individual as Knacks can do a number of things that no other power can accomplish.

** The last book outright states that the gods [[spoiler: are "just" immensely powerful human - or once-human - mages, with the implication that they, the Predeii, and ordinary Privileged use the same sort or magic on three distinct tiers of power. Apparently Godstones were used to ascend to their godlike state, but the specifics of how are somewhat unclear. Taniel seem to be the powder mage equivalent to Predeii thanks to an interaction between Ka-Poel and Kresmir]].

* WeHaveReserves: Ipille says this almost word for word to Tamas when negotiating a truce. It seems to be a primary element of the Kez battle plan.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Nyla spends the first two books adrift on the plot. She's nearly raped by soldiers, briefly sheltered by royalists, kidnapped by Lord Vetus, and ultimately freed by Bo. Then she [[spoiler:discovers that she is not just a Privileged, but one of the most powerful ones around]] and uses them to [[spoiler: kill more than ''three thousand'' Kez soldiers]] in a single shot.

** Less common in ''Gods of Blood and Powder.'' New major characters Fidelis Jes, Ivana ja Fles, Michel Bravis, and Benjamin Style all have surnames, and Vlora has extended her name to "General Vlora Flint." The exception is Lady Chancellor Lindet, though this is justified in the text; Lindet keeps information compartmentalized as much as possible, and doesn't want anyone to know that [[spoiler: Ben Styke is her older brother]], which using her surname would give away.

* BadassGrandpa: Tamas certainly qualifies. As one of the most powerful Powder Mages in the setting, he is not only capable of [[OneManArmy slaughtering droves of enemies by himself]], but over the course of the story he has been [[MadeOfIron stabbed, shot, pummeled]], had the Powder Mage equivalent of [[KryptoniteFactor Kryptonite]] surgically inserted into his leg, then had surgery to have said Kryptonite removed from his leg, and [[TheDeterminator still kept going.]] He is also a brilliant strategist and tactician, AFatherToHisMen and commands respect even amongst his enemies. Most characters in the book think that Ardo has no chance at all in a war against Kez if he were to die. The Kez government seems to agree.
** ''Sins of Empire'' adds a couple Badass Grandmas to the cast, in the form of an elderly Powder Mage and an even more elderly Mad Lancer. The second is also more badass, considering that she charges into battle with no protection whatsoever.
* BadassNormal: Olem. His only Knack is not needing to sleep. It doesn't stop him from being the bodyguard to [[BadassGrandpa Tamas]], one of the most powerful Powder Mages, and being at his side in the thick of the fighting. He's not afraid of snarking off at the Field Marshal, either.

* JerkassFacade: Borbador affects the cavalier attitude of most Privileged, but is actually nothing like them and hated the Adran royal cabal.

A trilogy of books written by Brian [=McClellan=].

The story opens with blood. The corrupt king of Adro is overthrown by Field Marshal Tamas, and soon the whole of the nobility is being sent to the guillotine. As the age of kings dies its bloody death, Tamas must now deal with royalist insurgents, foreign invasions, riots, assassins, rogue sorcerers and betrayals. Though he has allies, even they may not be enough to keep the people of Adro free.

Novels in the series:

The trilogy was followed by "Gods of Blood of Powder":

* ActionGirl: Vlora.

** "Mad" Ben Sykes has survived things that he really should have no ability to survive. He was once cut with a blade coated in a deadly poison that should have him paralyzed in minutes and dead in a couple hours. Ben merely ended up with a fever that cleared after a couple days. He led numerous cavalry charges into enemy armies outnumbering him ten-to-one and not only survived but came out victorious. He was once punched in the face by a Warden, which should have caved his skull in but instead just gave him a bruise and a black eye. He was put in front of a firing squad and when that failed to kill him, he was put in front of a second firing squad. That crippled him but still did not kill him. He then survived years of hard labor in a prison and still came out strong and tough enough to take out some of the best fighters the setting had. While he does have a small Knack, there does not seem to be anything else magical or supernatural about him.
* MageMarksman: This is the signature ability of the mages referred to in the title. Powder mages can guide bullets as they fly, carrying them further than normal or bending their course. They're contrasted with (and resented by) the Privileged, whose sorcery is more traditional.
* MagicVersusTechnology: Zigzagged. By and large, magic and machine get along. Gunpowder is the exception. It's a relatively recently discovered substance, and has unique magical properties. Powder Mages uses it to fuel their magery. Privileged distrust gunpowder because it, alone among all known substances, has no aura in the Else. Privileged are also allergic to gunpowder, to the point that it can be fatal.

* NoodleIncident: The setting's backstory includes The Bleakening some 1400 years before the Adran coup. It was known as a time of conflict in which much knowledge was lost. Beyond this implication of a dark age roughly equivalent to the Fall of Rome, it is bearly described.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: By executing the corrupt king of Adro and ending his line, Tamas explicitly broke [[DivineRightOfKings Kresimir's Promise]]. Kresimir keeps his end of the Promise, returning as promised to burn Adro to the ground and start over as punishment for daring to cross His will. [[spoiler: His sibling, Brude, also becomes an antagonist after Kresimir is dealt with.]]
** This trope is played with in ''Gods of Blood and Powder''. After seeing what the Gods of old did to Adro, Vlora is dead set on preventing ''anyone'' from using the [[MacGuffin Godstones]] to become new Gods.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Tamas really does seem to put Adro ahead of his own glory. He put up with more than a decade of Manhouch XIII's incompetence before finally staging a coup a week before Manhouch would make Adro a vassal state of a rival nation. He repeatedly rejects the opportunity to rule as a despot. He is not afraid to risk his own son when Taniel's skill is necessary. He repatriots the royalists after they're beaten, rather than executing them. He's even willing to give up Mihali's cooking, despite the morale boost it's given his army, when he believes that doing so is in Adro's best interest.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Prime Lektor. Rosalina, too.
* SealedEvilInACan: Unable to destroy or transport[[spoiler: the Godstone]], Ka-Poel uses the copious blood from the recent battles to build a lock for its powers. The question is how long it will take Ka-Sedial to unlock it.
* SherlockScan: Inspector Adamat does these, aided by his perfect PhotographicMemory.
* SingleMindedTwins: [[spoiler: The god Brude is actually a set of male and female twins. Though they have slightly different personalities - the female twin seems to be rather more abrasive and aggressive - they are unified in action, purpose, and even name]].
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: A big part of the [[spoiler: Dynize]] threat in ''Sins of Empire''. The rank-and-file soldiers are only a threat because of their numbers and Sorcery that keeps them from panicking. The Dragonmen, on the other hand, are solitary elites that can be a match for as many as ''forty'' normal soldiers.
* ThatsAnOrder: Tamas' shorthand for "I'm done discussing this subject," most commonly towards Taniel, Vlora, and Olem. He tries it on Nila, but she points out she doesn't actually work for him.
* TheSquadette: Strangely enough, both the Adran and Kez militaries allow both men and women to serve equally in all apparent military roles. Both armies have women both as front-line soldiers and as officers. This is rather strange for the era - or even in the modern day.

* SupremeChef: Mihali embodies this trope to the fullest. Anybody who has ever tried his meals can attest that the man is nothing short of a god in the kitchen. Not only that, but he also seems to be capable of conjuring food seemingly out of thin air in large enough amounts to feed an entire city.

* TacticalWithdrawal: Used repeatedly, by numerous characters. Tamas is not too proud to retreat from a superior force and find a better position (either geographically, miltiarily, or diplomatically) from which to re-engage. Much of the plot of ''The Crimson Campaign'' is an attempt by the Seventh and Ninth Brigades to withdraw to friendly territory.

* TookALevelInBadass: In about six months, Nyla goes from being a humble washerwoman whose chief concern is an ornery governess and a master who wants to bed her to being arguably the most powerful [[spoiler: Privileged currently living, able to vaporize thousands of soldiers with a single gesture]].

** Powder mages, meanwhile, are sought after in the military for their gunpowder based powers, but hated by the the more traditional Privileged. This may be due to fear, as powder mages are one of the few things that can actually threaten a Privileged since they can attack at very long ranges; the fact that most Privileged are [[KryptoniteFactor deathly allergic to gunpowder]], something the average powder mage carries a fair bit of on his or her person at most times, doesn't help.
** Next are the Knacked, people with a single small power, often a supernatural extension of some mundane skill, ranging from useful to trivial. Knacked have no active magical powers, putting them on more or less the same tier as muggles, although a Knacked with a highly useful talent can be highly desired as an individual as some Knacks can do things even a Privileged cannot.
** The Predeii seem to be more than just Privileged {{Up to Eleven}}. They have {{Nigh Invulnerability}}, are potentially [[CompleteImmortality completely immortal]], and the only things that seem to have a chance of doing any damage are the Red Stripes created by Bone-eyes, the only magic users gods appear to fear. Some of the Predeii view themselves as being above Privileged, though other groups seem to view them as simply "very powerful Privileged".
** The last book outright states that the gods [[spoiler: are "just" immensely powerful human - or perhaps once-human - mages, with the implication that they, the Predeii, and ordinary Privileged use the same sort or magic on three distinct tiers of power. Taniel and Ka-Poel seem to be the powder mage and bone-eye equivalents to Predeii, respectively]].
** Bone-eyes are the first mage type that doesn't come native to the nation of Adro, and seem to be not very well known outside of the Dynize culture they come from. Their magic contains elements of {{Blood Magic}} and {{Hollywood Voodoo}}. The Bone-eyes are dismissed as savages by all of the others excepting the Predeii.

* WalkingArmory: A more realistic example, but Tamas may carry two pistols, a carbine or rifle, a bayonet, a cavalry saber, and a cavalry lance, and use all of them. And that's on top of carrying several powder horns, which are vastly more capable weapons in the hands of a powder mage anyway.
* WarIsHell: The book does not shy away from portraying the grim aftermath of a great battle, from the tens of thousands dead to the maimed, infection, fate of prisoners, lack of supplies, confusion and FogOfWar...
* WasOnceAMan: The Kez EliteMooks called Wardens are humans who have been transformed into near-mindless {{Super Soldier}}s by Privileged. The process is apparently not reversible.

* WeHaveReserves: Ipille says this almost word for word to Tamas when negotiating a truce.
* [[WeUsedToBeFriends We Used To Be Engaged]]: Taniel and Vlora.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Taniel, Tamas's son. While Tamas does love him, he is an emotionally reserved man which leads to feelings of resentment from his son.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The first third of ''Promise of Blood'' revolves around the Privileged Rosalia. She leaves Adro and never comes up again.

* WizardsLiveLonger: Predeii are hundreds of years old. [[spoiler: The gods were in fact just humans who became incredibly powerful Privileged, too.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Nyla spends the first two books adrift on the plot. She's nearly raped by soldiers, briefly sheltered by royalists, kidnapped by Lord Vetus, and ultimately freed by Bo. Then she [[spoiler: discovers her Privileged powers]] and uses them to [[spoiler: kill more than ''three thousand'' Kez soldiers]] in a single shot.
* ZergRush: A Kez specialty.
** The [[spoiler: Dynize]] put the Kez to shame in ''Sins of Empire.'' Sorcery is used to keep the army from breaking. Soldiers in longboats literally climb over piles of friendly dead and refuse to stop coming long after any normal army would have made a panicked retreat.

* ''Blood of Empire'' (forthcoming December 2019)

* AerithAndBob: Names like "Erika" and "Faye" are mixed with names like "Adamat" and "Manhouch".

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Taniel, to Ka-Poel. It isn't always necessary. Arguably [[spoiler: inverted, as Ka-Poel does as much, if not more of the saving.]]
* AncientEvil: [[spoiler: Kresimir, and Brude too.]]
* AntiHero: Most of the main characters count to some degree. The world is pretty brutal, and even those who are genuinely trying to do good things and help people get their hands pretty filthy in the process.
** Tamas: while he has the best interests of his men and Adro at heart, he starts the story off killing Privileged in their sleep and putting every single nobleman of worth in Adro to the guillotine.

** Privileged Borbador: He's generally amiable and competent, doing his best to help his country [[spoiler: and the rest of the world]]. He also tortures and kills people without pause, casually enough in one case that it makes Adamat nervous to be around him. In his defense, Bo is quick and emphatic to tell anyone who mentions him in a heroic light that he's a Cabal Privileged, and they don't let good people into a Royal Cabal.

** Magebreakers have the ability to nullify the Else, giving them the power to prevent Privileged from being able to use their magic. [[spoiler: Their power is not absolute, however, as the Predeii are able to overcome it]]

* BadassArmy: While the Adran army is pretty badass, the Wings of Adom mercenary army are even moreso.
* {{Bargain with Heaven}}: Kresimir's Promise. The bargain without which the church would not have its power nor the Privileged their magic. [[spoiler:The basic premise is that magic would be given to the Priveleged, but they would not be allowed to rule mankind using it. The chosen bloodline must keep the throne... otherwise Kresimir comes back and reboots the world.]]