WARNING: Late Arrival Spoilers abound for Promise of Blood.
Following the Battle of South Pike, Taniel is in a coma, Kez is marching on Adro, and Adamat's family is still held in thrall to Lord Vetas. Ka-poel awakens Taniel by trading a life for his, while Tamas gets trapped behind enemy lines due to a risky maneuver that fails when the bulk of his army breaks without him. Adamat continues trying to outfox Vetas, while Nila becomes the lord's favored slave, used to make him look better for high society. The Kez continue to advance, Adopest is in shambles, and there is talk of the first ever democratic election—which could be more destructive than every other problem put together.
And the god Kresimir still lives.
This novel provides examples of:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Tamas' generals refuse to believe that Mihali is Adom reborn, despite the fact that he is blatantly providing far more food than they are paying for.
- Mad God: Taniel's enchanted bullet is still rattling around in Kresimir's skull, which is driving him even crazier than usual. The only reason the Kez haven't completely curb-stomped the Adrans is because Kresimir is causing so much chaos in their camp, killing random people every night.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Kresimir breaks down and weeps after killing Adom.
- Nepotism: Ket's sister's husband gets promoted the second Tamas goes missing. The only reason the idiot was in the army in the first place was because of family connections.
- Pride: General Ket refuses to allow Taniel to stay on the front lines and repeatedly tries to find ways to punish him, all because he insulted her and her sister. She claims it's to show that no one is above the laws of the army, but it's clear she just hates him.
- Red Herring: General Ket is perfectly poised to be the traitor among the generals—she is always the one calling for retreat even when they could hold the line, she refuses to use Taniel effectively, and even tries to have him executed, killed by one of her black-ops teams, and then arrested for murdering that black-ops team. As it turns out, she's just an idiot (and a war profiteer). The real traitor is General Hilinska.
