Title: The Thousand Names

Author: Django Wexler

Series: Shadow Campaigns #1

Genre: Flintlock Fantasy

The Overview: Enter an epic fantasy world that echoes with the thunder of muskets and the clang of steel—but where the real battle is against a subtle and sinister magic…. Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert. To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds. The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural—a realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path. -Goodreads

The Review:

Thousand Names was an unusual military fantasy, but I quite liked it.

First off, it’s clear that magic is going to be an integral part to the overall mechanisms of the series and the conflicts within, but it’s presence in this first book was next to nil. If you pick this up, go in expecting a bonafide flintlock military story set in a fantasy world, and NOT expecting battles with mages flinging spells left and right (as I’d been).

I especially enjoyed the beginning where this army’s leaders were trying to shape a ragtag group into something reputable. That was my favorite aspect of the story, and unfortunately it was dropped a bit soon in favor of focusing on the characters and their wide array of strange conflicts. I enjoyed the transition to the characters and the journey with them, but missed that initial selling point throughout the rest of the novel. This gradual transition of story (which happened at a couple of junctures throughout the book) is part of the reason why I called it “unusual.” Nothing quite panned out as expected, but it was written well, so in this case it still managed to create a satisfying story.

I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the military aspect of this book. My knee-jerk reaction was that the battle scenes were meh, just okay. They didn’t have a lot of human connection during, but rather seemed an endless barrage of logistics descriptions. This unit moved here, this person got shot, etc. and what was missing for me were honed-in perspectives to really make me feel something for what was happening. I think part of my disconnection was because I had just finished Abercrombie’s Age of Madness trilogy, which is riddled with some of the best battle scenes I’ve ever read. By comparison, these lacked the same spark. However, had I read them further apart, I may have enjoyed this more. The feedback I’ve gotten since first discussing my experience with this book is that most people generally liked the battles and thought them done well. I will say at least that they were quite easy to visualize, but the level of detail required for that could be both a good and a bad thing… my jury is still out.

It’s an oddly character-driven novel, and for the most part I enjoyed my experience with them. They weren’t quite as in-depth or introspective as I’d wanted, but are still the types of profiles I think I’m going to have fun rooting for while reading the rest of the series.

Overall, I’m glad I finally got around to reading this and look forward to continuing on in the series.

Recommendations: pick Thousand Names up aware that this first book is more “military” than “fantasy” and enjoy Wexler’s unconventional approach to the genre. I can see why it’s hailed as a staple flintlock fantasy.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes