Review: In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan

Synopsis

Demir Grappo is an outcast—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out.

Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it.

What I thought

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy of this book for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.

This is the first book in a new series by Brian McClellan.  I have read his Powder Mage books and I absolutely loved them.  This is a multiple POV series that uses a magic system that focuses on glass.  I was so excited to get my hands on this one since I saw it was announced.

I will be honest with you that this is a hard review to write.  This was one of, if not, my most anticipated book of the year, and I feel so let down.  Maybe I just expected too much from this one, or maybe the blurbs of praise we saw for the book got me overhyped.  I’m not sure, all I know is that I found the book lacking.

Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad, and I still enjoyed it; however, I do not feel that this was his best work.  When it came to the magic system, I feel like I am really missing something.  I won’t go deeper because I am worried that I will accidentally spoil something.

I am a very character-driven reader, so I need to like the characters at least somewhat, so I was really disappointed when the only character that I really looked forward to reading about was Baby Montego.  I believe this issue here is our main character Demir Grappo felt conflicting.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s like the internal monologue and what the character does did not jive.  Sometimes it felt like he was 2 different people.  Maybe that is on purpose… I guess we will see what happens.

Will I continue this series?  Yes, because I really hope it gets better and things are ironed out in the next installment.

My Rating: /5

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think? Tell me in the comments below.