War Cry Books in Order

War Cry is a compact, stand alone story that lets McClellan try his style of military fantasy in a brand new world. Instead of flintlock empires and royal cabals, you get a bleak high plains war where radios crackle, aircraft drone overhead, and magic turns the battlefield strange.

The novella follows Teado, a "Changer" in the army of the Dells. He is a shape shifting soldier who can slip between human form and something far more dangerous, trained to punch holes in enemy lines and survive missions that would kill ordinary troops. When the story begins, Teado's platoon has been stranded for years on the Bavares high plains, cut off from reliable supply and news, holding a lonely front against an enemy that may be winning the wider war.

Life in the platoon feels worn down and hungry. The soldiers squint at static filled broadcasts, argue over scraps, and keep watch against reconnaissance spells and illusionists in the hills. McClellan leans into the grind of a long conflict: broken trucks, patched uniforms, officers trying to sound confident when they are not, and enlisted people who only half remember why the war started but still fight for the friends beside them.

Everything changes when a potential resupply run appears, a mission promising food, fuel, and the faint hope of real reinforcements. Teado and a small team volunteer, knowing that any sortie across the plains could be a one way trip. The operation forces them to slip through enemy illusions, confront inhuman creatures, and test the edges of Teado's own abilities in ways the army never intended.

While the plot moves quickly, the story takes time for quiet moments between firefights, letting you see who these people are when they are not pointing rifles. Loyalty, fear, and the urge to simply walk away all pull at Teado, and the choices he makes on this one mission say a lot about the kind of soldier and person he wants to be.

The tone of War Cry is gritty without being hopeless. There are monsters and sorcery, but also spotter planes and static towers, giving the world a second world war flavor filtered through fantasy. Readers who enjoy squad level stories, impossible odds, and twists that come from characters rather than prophecies will find a lot packed into its relatively short length.

Because it is not tied to the Powder Mage universe or any larger saga, you can pick up War Cry whenever you want a sharp, self contained introduction to McClellan's love of soldiers on the edge of impossible wars.