I really enjoyed this foray into flintlock fantasy and, despite my early worries, I liked the fact that this was basically epic fantasy as told through the description of a military campaign. Part of the appeal is certainly character-based; Wexler chooses two main characters and sticks with them, telling the story from their perspective with pretty tight third person narrative and it works. The combination of commanding officer and (extra)ordinary soldier means that its difficult to forget the stakes and that no one really knows what is going on. And Wexler also has a knack for complicated an ambiguous characters and keeps the reader guessing who is trustworthy and who is not. You have to be able to stomach a long military narrative and occasional mentions of gore, but I really enjoyed the intricacies of the battle and the way that Wexler managed to tell such big story by focusing so narrowly.