4/5 stars

The Face in the Window: A Powder Mage Short Story by Brian McClellan

Prequel Power

So, I started reading Promise of Blood and found it as advertised: “Just Plain Awesome.”

It’s pretty grand in scope, however, and I felt a little unsettled with all the characters.  Who are the good guys?  Who should I be rooting for?  Who’s on whose side?  About 150 pages in I discovered that there were 6 short, novella-sized prequels to Promise of Blood.  I’ve had good experience with prequels adding value to the story in the past, so I went ahead and downloaded all 6 of them.

Pat my myself on the back.  I was a great decision.

These 6 prequels give backstory and understanding to each of the key players I’ve run into so far in Promise of Blood.  All six are well written, entertaining stories by themselves.  Of course, you’ll be able to follow the story in Promise of Blood—and enjoy it—just fine without reading the prequels.  But, man, they sure did add a lot of color to the picture I was trying to form.  The characters weren’t characters anymore—they became people.  Now that I’ve finished prequels and I’m back into Promise of Blood, I’m emotionally invested in this story that seems to be pushing past awesome to all the way to completely amazing.

They aren’t numbered, so you’ll need to know what order to read them to have the most effect.

1. Foresworn
2. Servant of the Crown
3. Murder at the Kinnen Hotel
4. Hope’s End
5. The Girl of Hrusch Avenue
6. The Face in the Window

My recommendation?  Don’t read Promise of Blood without reading the prequels first.