‘Siege of Tilpur: A Powder Mage Story’ – Brian McClellan

In what is becoming a familiar refrain, today was a bit of a nightmare… Work was well… the least said the better and then this afternoon was a mixture of more of that and looking after my poorly youngest daughter. I am literally counting down the hours until my Christmas leave kicks in; the sooner this year is done the better. I still managed to make time for a little reading though because… you’ve got to, don’t you? For me, it’s the mental equivalent of taking a deep breath when things get a bit much. Take a step back from whatever is bugging you, get your head straight and go back to it in a better state. That and the fact that I just love reading 😉

A few years ago now, a number of things made me loose track of several fantasy series, that I was following, and I figured that now would be a good time to start revisiting these series again. One of these was the ‘Powder Mage’ trilogy and a look back at an older blog of mine shows that I was keen to see how it ended… I just can’t remember if I did or not. Look, it was a weird time… It’s no big chore to revisit, quite the opposite in fact, I’m really looking forward to it. While I’m waiting for Amazon to do it’s thing, I thought I’d take a little nibble at one of the short stories set in that world and that led me to ‘Siege of Tilpur’…

It is the height of the Gurlish Wars. Sergeant Tamas, a young infantryman in the Adran Army, struggles to keep his squad alive despite the blundering incompetence of their superior officers. Not only does Tamas have the curse of being an ambitious commoner in an army where rank is purchased rather than earned, he is also a powder mage. His magical ability to manipulate gunpowder is frowned upon by officers and feared by Privileged sorcerers.

When the Adran Army is about to give up on the siege of an enemy fortress, Tamas seizes upon the opportunity to prove his worth as a strategist and mage. But breaking the enemy on his own won’t be easy, no matter how strong he is.

The last time I saw Tamas, he’d staged a military coup and killed the royal family. Now, I can’t remember the ‘whys’ of all that (part of the reason I’ll be re-reading the series) but I read ‘Siege of Tilpur’ and couldn’t help but wonder if a few seeds were sown in Tamas’ treatment by his superiors in the army. McClellan really makes it clear that only social standing will get a person to the equivalent military rank, no matter their actual competence as a soldier, and shows us how this drives Tamas, a man who believes that his aspirations are backed up by his ability. There are some things you can’t fight against but as Tamas finds out, respect isn’t just earned through rank and maybe, just maybe, that is the start of the path that we see Tamas treading in ‘Promise of Blood’. I don’t know but I’d like to think so.

The actual Siege almost feels like it’s overshadowed by Tamas, as a character, but McClellan pulls some sweet pyrotechnics, and frantic action, out of the bag and we have that happiest of tales (for me anyway), one that makes you think a little and gives you a decent spectacle at the same time. McClellan is clearly very adept at raising the stakes and keeping the tempo going off the back of this. Add a cast of engaging characters and ‘Siege of Tilpur’ ends up being a quick yet very rewarding read on a number of levels. Now, bring on ‘Promise of Blood’…