Return to Honor

Powder Mage #1.5

by Brian McClellan

Captain Vlora is a powder mage in the Adran army. Once the favored, adopted daughter of the field marshal, she is now a pariah amongst those she called her family. Her superior officers would like nothing more than to send her to a far off posting and forget about her, but no one is exempt when there is a war - and powder mages are desperately needed. When a traitorous guard captain goes on the run with information that could harm the war effort, Vlora is sent on his trail. She has three days to find him; she will have to make new friends and test the limits of her skills. Fail, and good soldiers will die. Succeed and maybe, just maybe, she can begin to work her way back into the field marshal's good graces. A new story set in the world of the Powder Mage trilogy, the most acclaimed and action-packed new epic fantasy series in recent years. RETURN TO HONOR takes place directly following the events of book one, "Promise of Blood.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Novella, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Audiobook

46 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 6, 2015

About the author

Brian McClellan is an American epic fantasy author from Cleveland, Ohio. He is known for his acclaimed Powder Mage Universe and essays on the life and business of being a writer.

Brian now lives on the side of a mountain in Utah with his wife, Michele, where he writes books and nurses a crippling video game addiction.

Brian's novels include the Powder Mage Trilogy (Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, and The Autumn Republic), Gods of Blood and Powder (Sins of Empire, Wrath of Empire, and Blood of Empire), and Valkyrie Collections (Uncanny Collateral)

Reviews

[Choko · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3 ***

Short and sweet. We get to learn more about Vlora from her POV. It actually made me feel a bit sorry for her...

[Conor · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Another novella set in the Powder Mage universe. I normally like these novellas and feel that they do a lot to develop the characters and setting but this was by far my least favourite. That might be due to the fact that I read it in the middle of "The Autumn Republic" for some reason and I found the plot to be much slower and less engaging in comparison (this might be due to knowing pretty much what was going to happen based on the events of book 2). It might also be due to the fact that the main character is Vlora, one of the 'good guy' characters I most hate in any work of fiction (see my review of 'The Crimson Campaign' for an explanation as to why I'm a committed member of the Vlora sucks club). In this book she didn't do anything major to further annoy me and a couple of the scenes even made me feel slight twinges of sympathy but overall this novella failed to change my opinion of her. This was a really good chance to show events from her POV and explain her actions as well as show how her relationship with Olem started and perhaps cast it in a more sympathetic light given how scummy both of them came across in The Crimson Campaign , unfortunately this was never explored properly. The plot itself was really slow and uneventful at the start but it picked up somewhat towards the end however I found the denouement to be jerky and anti-climactic.

By far the weakest installment in the series but the awesomeness of The Autumn Republic (which I'm reading atm) keeps my faith in Big Brian McC strong.

[Javir11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7,5/10

Haciendo un símil futbolístico, cortito y al pie. Así es esta historia, de lectura fácil y con mucho ritmo, algo que se agradece cuando no lees en tu lenguaje nativo. Lo cierto es que me ha enganchado bastante, igual no tanto como el primero de la saga, pero no tengo duda de que he leído más rápido de lo que en mi es habitual en inglés.

La historia nos trae a Vlora, uno de los personajes más enigmáticos de la primera entrega, de la que sabemos más bien poco, salvo que es una de las magas de pólvora más poderosas y su traición amorosa. Aquí nos muestran sus andanzas tras los acontecimientos finales del primer libro y como Vlora debe solventar una misión para recuperar la confianza y parte del prestigio que ha perdido a ojos de Tamas.

Tengo un par más de estos relatos y voy a seguir leyéndolos a la espera de que salga el segundo, pero como tarde demasiado, me da que no creo que pueda aguantarme 😁

[Petros Triantafyllou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another short story of Vlora, as The Girl of Hrusch Avenue, taking place between Promise of Blood & The Crimson Campaign. Nothing really special about this story, but it offers some hints about the rest of the story (Olem's rifle jackets, etc), so it's worth reading.


Ps. I do not rate short stories.

[Mr. Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short little volume set in the world of the Powder Mage series. This story follows Vlora, the young Powder Mage who has fallen out of favor with Tamas and the army. Thanks to her ill-conceived affair with a nobleman shortly before the events in Promise of Blood no one will have anything to do with her. Tamas is hurt because Vlora jilted his son, and the army's sympathies are with their beloved general.

Vlora is given a mission to capture the commander of the traitorous church leader's guard. He has vital information about Tamas' plans and is believed to be waiting nothing more than to turn that over to the enemy. With no help from anyone, is to use her wits and ingenuity to track the traitor down. Her success will restore her to honor.

Three stars over five. A solid little story that continues to flesh out the world of the Powder Mage. Good, but not great. Nice if you really enjoy this series. As a stand-alone book it is not as good.

[Jarek "the Mistborn" Dąbrowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really nice story from the powder mage series. I really like these because we get a little more insight on the character we ve come to love or hate through the course of the main trilogy. 5 stars from me:)

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

A short novella about two of my favourite characters and how they come together.

I need more of Olem, I miss his well humoured behaviour and sharp tongue. McClellan really shone with this one.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid little tale that focuses on character but it still kinda rubbed me the wrong me, but that's just me.

World: The world is just a stage for this little tale, it takes place right after Promise of Blood so if you've read the book you will feel comfortable in the world. If not you need to read it first I feel.

Story: Very character driven. One of the issues I had with 'Promise of Blood' is that it promised these character moments and deeper development and then it got tossed aside by the huge story, all the moving parts, and the war. Here we get to finally get some development and real tangible grounding of these characters. The story is paced well and it's very straight forward, a mission but in it we get the good character stuff.

Character: Vlora is essentially slut shammed in the first book and it is an issue I had with the first book with the lack of female characters and depth in that regard, but it was a larger problem not just with female characters but also with character depth in general. This little tale is great for Vlora as a character, still there is the slut shamming that happens in the book, you can say it is the sign of the times and the way soldier react to their superior officer's son getting screwed and the loyalty involved, but this still kinda rubbed me the wrong way that the defining characteristic of Vlora was this betrayal. There is good development here that makes it deeper though and I really enjoyed it. I don't think in the end that Vlora needed to earn the trust back from the soldiers but that's just me.

A good little tale within the world and some much needed character development.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really glad I got this. It's been a while since I read the first book & I was worried that I'd forgotten too much to really enjoy the second as an audio, but I found this & it all came back. It's a novelette with just a couple of characters. Well done & read.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

Immediately following the event from the first book in the Powder Mage series, Promise of Blood, one of the surprisingly good series I've started this year, this was a very nice, albeit short return to the Powder Mage universe.

If you enjoyed Promise of Blood you will most likely like this story, since it had the same vibe to it. I was really glad that I read it and it made me want to continue the series even more. I was already planning on reading the second book some time soon, but now I want to read it even sooner.

Vlora is an interesting character and I hope we get to see more of her later in the series.

Return to Honor is a short story in the Powder Mage trilogy, consisting of Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign and The Autumn Republic.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesantna pričica ali u suštini skoro ničemu ne doprinosu sve ukupnoj priči. Plus glavni lik je neko koga baš i ne mirišem u glavnom srijalu.

Ako ste ljubitelj powder mage sveta onda vredi baciti pogled ali za svako drugog nema šta da traži.

[Aram Brazilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished a thoroughly enjoyable re-read. I really love Vlora and Olem - they are great together. And they both deserve each other (in a good way)... In a sense, this is their origin story!

I think I love the short stories as much as the proper novels. Not to be missed.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even as much of a sucker as I am for these, this one failed to keep my attention too long, and felt a bit anemic.

[Mercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved to know more about Vlora. I'm liking that girl more now. 🙌

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

My very first thought on Return to Honor is that I definitely enjoyed it.

Return to Honor is a straight forward story that takes place in between Promise of Blood and The Crimson Campaign. Field Marshal Tamas gives Vlora a solo mission to track down a prielight guard who worked for Charelmund and has information that exposes Adran plans and numbers. Shortly into the story we see Colonel Verundish and Olem. Verundish appears only briefly, but Olem is an integral part of the story. It's always great to see Olem. He is solid, dependable, and a likable character.

The short story has the familiar feel of the Powder Mage world while reinforcing certain points from the series such as an extremely skilled swordsman being capable of holding off or defeating a powder mage.

It was good to get Vlora's internal monologue since she's the most hated person on Tamas's side over cheating on Taniel. She's clearly torn up over the repercussions of cheating on Taniel, particularly the loss of her adoptive father's love.

On a side rant How weird was Taniel and Vlora's relationship? They grew up together and were practically siblings. I guess it would at least make holidays easy having the same father.

Overall 4 out of 5 stars. This is for anyone who likes the Powder Mage trilogy, short stories, and novellas.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading ‘Return to Honor’ I expected it to improve my opinion on Vlora, and it certainly helped me to understand Vlora better and feel her pain at the mistake she made. I think what shocked me the most was that almost every single soldier in the army turned on Vlora after learning about her cheating on Taniel. As Vlora herself said, Taniel’s family and closest friends had a right for it, but the fact she had not a single friend left hurt me deeply.

Vlora’s relationship with Olem also interested me, especially since we didn’t have an in-depth look at it in The Crimson Campaign. While this story doesn’t exactly explore it, we still can see what had brought these two together. The simple fact that Olem appears in it makes it even better. I’ve got to say that Olem is among my top favourites in ‘The Powder Mage’ series, and he is totally awesome. In every single scene. What else can I say? I would totally marry Olem if I could, even if he smokes like a steam engine.

Beside the main plot I enjoyed a lot of subtle references to both Promise of Blood and ‘The Crimson Campaign’: the reappearance of Colonel Verundish and her ‘special assignment’, and the number of seventy-five thousand krana.

[Antonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 / 5

This is a short story related to McClellan's Powder Mage series and it takes places somewhere between the 1st and 2nd book. The main characters are Vlora and Olem and we get to know a little bit more about them.
Plot-wise the story felt a bit weak. The setup feels a bit uninteresting and the resolution cheap and not completely justified. At the same time though, McClellan's writing is sharp and interesting as always. It's smooth and easy to read and turn pages and I felt that this was the driving force behind this short story.
All in all, it's not a bad one but it's not the best short story of this series either. I think it's not indicative of the greatness of the main books of the Powder Mage series and I would not recommend reading it unless you're a fan of the series already.

2.5 / 5

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nestled right in between the first two books of the trilogy, this quick story shows off a couple of fun things. There's Verundish, a reoccurring character in a couple of stories, and she has a line about her price that ties into the main storyline with a wink and a nod. There's Vlora and Olem, getting to know each other and starting their relationship. There's Vlora as a POV character, which will be fun to see more of. And there's the regular stuff too: guns, sword fights, searching the city for bad guys, and seeing a soldier's life.

It's a short one, but it holds up pretty well on the re-read. I'll probably re-read some more of the short fiction while I wait for the new trilogy.

[thebedisburning · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish all powder mage books were about vlora, i do not care about the men

[Richard Eyres · Rating 5 out of 5]

At long last, a short story about Vlora - who was the first character I read about in Brian McClellan's Powder Mage series. I read a short story of Vlora when she was a child - and was a little disappointed at her lack of involvement within the story to date.

This story sees Vlora on a mission to restore her honor to the army and Tamas. This needs to be read between book 2 and 3, as it follows on from events at the end of book 2 and may have some impact on book 3. Will she restore her honor? Or is she to leave the army?

We didn't see any more of the world, but we do get more character development on some of the lesser characters in the series.

This was an enjoyable read from start to finish and was released at the right time to kick up the anticipation for book 3.

[Khari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yay! A good short story writer.

I am always happy when an author recognizes that a) not all side plots should be shoved into the main story and b) we still like to know all the little side stories. The perfect way to balance a and b? Short stories!

Again, I still think this author is in the beginning of his career and developing and refining his voice, but he's got good stories. This was just plain entertaining, nothing flashy, his females need some work, but I have a feeling that practice will make perfect.

He's kind of like Butcher. The first Dresden book wasn't so good, but it just keeps getting better.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio read by: Christian Rodska

[Rechu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would ship Olem and Vlora only if Olem-Tamas did not exist

[Selina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool novella with Vlora and Olem!
Now I feel perfectly prepared for "Crimson Campaign".

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't my favourite, but it was okay.

[Jordan Rock · Rating 2 out of 5]

(4/10)

It's such a shame that this is what immediately follows Promise of Blood, which I loved. This is very short, uninspired, and I can't imagine it adds much at all to the series (although, I guess I'll find out). This story is incredibly straight forward and has very little of what makes Promise of Blood so great. The best thing about this story is that you can cruise through it in no time. I give the story itself a 4/10.

Even worse though, is that this costs more than $1 and isn't even available on paper (in a collection or otherwise), so I had to read it off of a screen. I can't imagine you need to read this book to get the most out of this series, so I suggest skipping it.

[Reme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novela corta situada entre el primer y segundo libro de Los Magos de la Pólvora y protagonizada por Vlora y mi queridísimo, amado y admirado Olem. Me ha gustado muchísimo y la he disfrutado de principio a fin. Ha estado genial conocer más y mejor a Vlora, que para ser la mejor maga de la pólvora, se sabía poco, y también ver que el autor puede escribir bien a una mujer si se empeña.

La historia es, como ya acostumbra McClellan a ofrecer, entretenida e intensa hasta el final. Lo mejor, por supuesto, los protas, cómo se conocieron y sus interacciones. Aunque me ha faltado más info de cómo comenzaron su relación porque les shippeo muchísimo. Aun así, espero que McClellan me de más material en los siguientes libros y no me rompa el corazón.

Y, aunque he disfrutado mucho de Vlora, es que no puedo más que destacar a Olem también porque la novela ofrece muchos detalles sobre él y muestra porqué es, científicamente, el mejor personaje de esta saga. Olem es too much for this world, too pure. Y le quiero mucho.

[Robert H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set immediately after the events of Brian McClellan first novel, Promise of Blood, Return to Honor focuses on the beginning of the redemption of Captain Vlora, a non-POV character from the first two books of the trilogy. The story is around the length of a couple of chapters in one of the larger novels, and is entirely focused on Vlora's efforts to complete a mission before she will be allowed to head back to the front and hopefully rejoin the rest of Field Marshal Tamas' powder cabal. While not as long or twisting as McClellan's last short in the Powder Mage universe, Murder at the Kinnen Hotel which is highly recommended, Return to Honor does give us much more insight into what Vlora is going through, as well as exploring how she comes to know Captain Olem, something which hadn't been explored in The Crimson Campaign but had obviously happened in between the first two books of the trilogy.

Like all of McClellan's other shorts, I enjoyed this extra peek into the lives of his characters. Return to Honor did feel a bit more like a chapter which could have been in the books, unlike the other novellas which gave us more background into characters years before the events of the novels. That doesn't mean it wasn't good though, and it completely whet my appetite for the third book in the trilogy, The Autumn Republic, which is due in about a month - something I'm very much looking forward to. Bottom line is that if you like McClellan's work you'll like this, just like I did.

[Slick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Return to Honor Is another short story about Vlora, much like The Girl of Hrusch Avenue, which takes place between Promise of Blood and Crimson Campaign. There is nothing really special about this story except a mildy disinteresting plot of cat and mouse and a glimpse of how Vlora and Olem get together and show the early stages of their working/personal relationship.

Brian McClellan doesn't really do a great job at making Vlora likable in the early stages of his work, I am not sure if this is by design or to challenge himself as an author turning a character I despised into one I came to really appreciate later on. But rereading this I remember how much I disliked Vlora as a character which is rather funny.

I really wish the Vlora/Taniel relationship was explored or fleshed out more in the series as the more I come to think about it the more shady she seems in the early stages. During Taniels absence abroad for 2 years Vlora hears how much of a hero he is being and how many women are flocking around him, she begins an affair with a nobleman and is caught/disgraced when Taniel returns. She immediately tries to apolagise and get the relationship back all the while sleeping with Olem? Ugh.

But in this book, given the time frame of events relatively immeditely in the aftermath of events (post break up with Taniel and pre Olem), Vlora doesn't seem to spare Taniel a second thought or seem to feel any guilt or remorse for what she did but only seems to regret her loss of favour and standing in the military?

I genuinely can't decide if this is poor characterization in the early stages of Brian's work or his attempt at having a stab at a character redemption arc trope or if it's just forgetfulness. Either way despite coming to love Vlora it is midly irritating

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short, but nice story featuring Vlora and Olem that takes place between the first two Powder Mage novels. Vlora as a character doesn't feel very fleshed out in the novels, so I liked being able to read a story from her perspective. I still don't really like her as a character, though. The only regret she seems to feel for cheating on Taniel seems to be for how she has lost the respect of her colleagues, not for how she hurt someone she claimed to care for. It still feels like she has a lot of growing up to do as a person - Taniel comes across as far more experienced and much more mature. Anyway, can't wait for book three to come out this year, so this was a fun teaser.