The Autumn Republic

Officially in my top 10 favorite series!

While it was still and enjoyable book it felt very much like suddenly the author realised near the end that they were writing a trilogy and rushed to wrap up as many loose ends as possible. I feel many of the plotlines of this book could have taken another book to expand and explore more thoroughly and be written with more suspense.

DNF. This trilogy continues to disappoint me. I am in the minority, I guess, of people who think In The Shadow of Lightning is vastly superior.

DNF. This trilogy continues to disappoint me. I am in the minority, I guess, of people who think In The Shadow of Lightning is vastly superior.

I really liked this trilogy for its world building and plot. The author doesn't do a great job with the female characters, but I think each book got better on this point (for example, Nila in this book). I would have liked more about Ka-poel's backstory.

The best book of the trilogy imo !

I loved how all the characters interacted with each other, the links are very interesting and well exploited: soldiers and general, a bro-mance, old lovers, new lovers, father and son, father and daughter, gods and men.

The end with Taniel convinced me a lot. I was surprised the author used the perspective of Two-shot, and not our self-expectations as readers, that's the best ending we could have.

Now let's get to the novellas !

I was disappointed. The first two books of the series were more interesting. This was supposed to be the conclusion of the trilogy but I find a lot of things aren't explained or do not make any sense.

My biggest turn-off is that the better part of the series was about fighting Kez, and all of a sudden we do a 180 and have to worry about a god who wants to be prime minister. ???
The whole Brude thing feels out of place and I can't work any sense around it. Why would such a powerful god care about human elections or bother with military tactics ?

In book 1 and 2 I was under the impression that the disappearance of tons of black powder was the only visible part of a really big problem but it was solved very easily. It feels like the Adran army barely felt the shortage.

Most of the characters are all-powerful and are plot-protected against death. This is never good.

What exactly are gods ? Brude says they are only powerful mages but then how can they “disappear in cosmos” or get summoned like Kresimir was ?
What happened to Kresimir at the end of the story ?
Are there no other Predeii beside Julene ?
How are wardens made and how is it “disgusting” ?

It feels like half of the series was about warring with Kez but in the end we barely know anything about them. A Kez-person point of view would have brought more insight and depth to the story. Instead we have Nila, who has no other role than being a convenient over-powered mage. I feel her point of view could have been removed from the series without hurting the story in any way, since Jakob has no role to play.

Taniel and Ka-poel were the favorite characters of the second book. Their relationship had a nice evolution and it is a shame we do not see more of them in the 3rd book.
Instead the 3rd book focuses on the relationship between Tamas and Taniel which goes from “My father hates me” to “Dad I love you”, even though father and son barely see each other throughout the series. This felt forced and unnatural.

I really enjoyed book 1 and 2. The intricate relations between gods, Predeii, Privileged, powder mages and other sorceries seemed very complex and I wanted to know more about them. Taniel and Ka-poel were good characters and I looked forward to what would happen to them. I was wondering what big scheme was hiding behind the Kez war and if maybe it had something to do with a royalist uprise.
Book 3 did not fulfill my expectations.

A very satisfying ending, though it did make me cry.

What can I say about this book? I loved it! It seemed like the only ending that could have happened with this trilogy. It's difficult for me to explain how much I loved it without sounding like a fanboy. But honestly, the series as a whole has been pretty amazing. It feels like a universe has been created that I'll love to jump in to every time. And I'm glad he has another trilogy and novellas out to help that addiction. This book had it all. It really rounded off some things I was curious about. But it left enough mythos so that the world has A LOT to show us. I can not recommend this series enough!

Thirty years ago, this was how fast, I read novels, but during those times, I was still unemployed, therefore I had to slow down, books then was so expensive, I had to wait for booksales to get my favorite ones, and if a book is popular.......well your trilogy ends up as a duology......

Fast forward, current time, books are still expensive, but there is another way to get books.........DOWNLOADS, so before I sum up this one, please let us give a big hearty applause and THANK YOU to those who tirelessly upload, so US less fortunate ones can read and discover all the other universes!!!

Mr. McClellan meet the late Mr. Eddings, Kressimir, Adom, Brude meet Belgarath, Polgara, Belgarion and etc. Etc, etc.....as I finish the third one in this trilogy, that came across my mind, wherein beings of unimaginable will and strength surpass their mortal shell and become something else, in Mr. Eddings world, magic or the Will and the Word, while in the Powder mage universe, well gunpowder derive magic and elemental magic, but both introduces their Gods and Goddesses to mere humans, but this is where they go their seperate ways, while The Mallorean and Belgariad series (by Mr. Eddings), showcases gods versus demigods and more powerful adversary, the Powder mage universe deals with humans versus gods....and what a wonderful read...believe you me, that is why it took me just two weeks to finish it, because you can not put it down, there is no pause, the story strings you along faster and faster, then slows down.....and just when you thought everything is mellowing down, just like Tamas using his ability to push bullets, Mr. McClellan, pushes you to keep on guessing and guessing!!!!

Truly a wonderful wonderful story, again fellow book lovers, feel free to dive into the powder mage universe, but once you read.......you might not want to STOP!!!!!!

P.S. I love it and hate it.........Mr. McClellan.........Sabon, Vetas(YES), and others......

Hmmm. I was kind of hoping for a fantastic finish but I guess you can't have everything. Somehow, I think McClellan was not very clear on how he wanted to end this and I am sure he had at least 4 endings in mind and this shows through during the course of the whole book. Adamat steals the show in this one and so do the Priveleged. Tamas almost becomes a side story and so does his son. In the end its a decent end to what has been a damn good concept. Highly recommended trilogy so completely different from most fantasy out there. Burn some powder!

Executive Summary: A highly satisfactory conclusion to a highly enjoyable series. Easily the best one yet.

Full Review
12 likes and I hadn't even written a word of my review yet, talk about pressure!

I was hovering back and forth between 4 and 5 on this one. I think if I could give it a 4.5 star rating I might. However, the end had me so wrapped up in it, and I enjoyed this book/series so much that I rounded up for a change, something I almost never do.

The reality is I don't have any complaints about this book. The worst I could say is that the pace slows down from fast to normal in a few points. I love the characters, I love the world, I love the magic. The writing continues to improve with each book, as does the character development and world building.

I found the ending very satisfactory, and it's the first book I've read this year I kept being eager to pick back up and hated to set down. For that it deserves one of my coveted 5 stars.

Mr. McClellan still doesn't do a great job with his female characters, but he does a far better job in this book than the previous two. I was pretty indifferent towards Nila in the past books. I know many people I discussed it with didn't like her at all until this book. Her story here is a lot more interesting and I never minded all the POV shifting as I couldn't wait to read what happens next in each of the stories.

If you enjoyed the first two books, I think you'll easily love this one, and should check this one out as soon as you can.

Now I'll have to read some of the short stories to hold me over until to the first book of his next Powder Mage trilogy comes out. Well Done Mr. McClellan!