Promise of Blood

IT'S A BLOODY BUSINESS, OVERTHROWING A KING Field Marshal Tamas's coup against his king brings bread to the starving, but it also provokes war in the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics and a greedy scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies. Stretched to his limit, Tamas relies on his few remaining powder mages to keep the peace. But amid the chaos, a whispered rumour is spreading. A rumour of a broken promise, omens of death and the gods returning to walk the earth. Surely nobody really believes those old legends. Perhaps they should. 'Tense action, memorable characters, rising stakes . . . Brian McClellan is the real thing' BRENT WEEKS