Reading – War for the Rose Throne

• Priest of Bones
• Priest of Lies
• Priest of Gallows
• Priest of Crowns

Author Peter McLean has written a grimdark fantasy noir series, following a crime boss turned soldier returned crime boss and eventually embroiled in the political machinations of kingdoms at war and revolutions. Overall, I liked it, the first book in particular. As the series goes by, we watch the rise of Tomas Piety and his crew against ever escalating stakes. He’s a broken man who finds that the vicious play between gangs has similarities to the high society he’s running with by the end.

From the viewpoint of our POV main character Tomas, it’s a mud stained corrupt world out there and there’s only a handful of folks you can trust, but even then only so far. A recent war took it’s toll on the cities and on his folk, trauma still leaving it’s scars on each of them. There’s gunpowder and crude magics so most of the fights are settled with muscle and blades and there are plenty of them when diplomacy fails (in some cases, violence is the diplomacy). The low magic of the cunning folk is an unpredictable resource that carries a cost and the true sorcery that is out there is in the hands of few and it too is not without risk. Even in the later books where Tomas encounters the upper classes up close, he discovers that its underbelly is as rotten as the rest if not worse.

As a whole, I enjoyed it, but there were some low points to slog through. Tomas’s crew gets hammered repeatedly, suffering betrayals and casualties throughout the series. The writing flowed pretty easily and there was always some tension present, be it with a rival gang or a family divided.

The world is wonderfully detailed, the exposition usually couched in references to the past, personal experience of Tomas, and the education he goes through. It reminded me a bit of the Gentleman Bastards but less fantastical and far less dense in descriptions. When initially dropped in media res, it does feel like it’s part of a larger series and we’re entering at Book 3 but there’s enough context to support the characters discussing their current situation.

The Gamer Eye

Book 1 of this series filled me with a desire to play Blades in the Dark again. It’s a crew on the rise, they’ve got turf to defend, and a rival to take out. This is the recipe for a campaign. It’s more mud stained than haunted and lacks the steampunk elements but that’s minor compared to the feel it evokes. Book 2 even works for it. I could even see Court of Blades for the later political plots and Band of Blades even as a prequel. I could not help but think of the action scenes in terms of the risk and consequences mechanic.

That being said, framing the series in terms of character advancement wouldn’t work, but that’s a thing common to many a main character of novels, going from a simple farm boy to a hero of a realm in the passing of one to three books.