Book Review: The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #3)

Ethan Chase is in the worst of places. Betrayed in Ireland when his supposed best friend Keirran drove a sword into his belly, Ethan awakes in Mag Turiedh to discover that he has been in a coma for some time. He learns that when he was attacked, he actually died and the Veil between the Faery and human worlds was stripped away, resulting in a moment of chaos and mayhem. Thankfully the amulet he was wearing brought him back from the dead but he is left with quite the mess to clean up.

The Iron Prince betrayed us all.

He killed me. Then, I woke up.

What is clear is that the Forgotten Queen has declared war on the Summer, Winter and Iron Courts of Faery and together the courts must rise up to defeat her. The trouble is that the Forgotten Queen’s army of Forgotten fey are lead by none other than Keirran, traitor son of the Iron Queen Meghan and Ethan Chase’s nephew.

It becomes ever more evident that the steps Keirran took to protect Annwyl are in fact destroying his soul. Following an encounter with the Dryads, Ethan realises that he alone can stop Keirran and so he and Kenzie follow Annwyl to the ends of the Nevernever and past the River of Dreams to try discover a way to save Keirran.

Along the way they pick up some surprising allies in those who were once foes of Meghan and Ash. We learn of the devastation that followed Ash’s quest for a soul and the impact that it had on Faery itself but surpringly those who would once destroy the Iron Queen and her lover are now at their side. Danger and jeopardy follows their every move in this gripping adventure which features a bizarre and surreal interlude in a horror carnival in the Between.

With no end to the bargains and sacrifices to be made, can Ethan reach Keirran before the Courts do and save him from a tragic and inevitable fall?

The Iron Warrior concludes Julie Kagawa’s Call of the Forgotten trilogy and is the seventh and final book in the epic Iron Fey series. It is a bitter sweet experience to read this book as we bid farewell to characters that we have travelled to the end of the world with.

While there were slow parts in the series (The Iron Knight was never one of my favourite books after all), the Call of the Forgotten trilogy was consistently entertaining and fascinating.

I have always liked Ethan – I understood why he was so jaded and respected that he equipped himself with martial arts and weapons training in order to protect himself from the Fey. Despite his years as a loner, he always put Kenzie first and allowed her the space to deal with her illness in her own way.

Even though he is the subject of the book, we actually don’t see much of Keirran in this book at all which is quite a relief given his utter obsession and self-possession in the previous book.

We do get to see more the cait sith Grimalkin which is fabulous, as well as many other characters from the entire series.

For a fascinating ending to an epic series, I give The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa five out of five stars and would highly recommend the series to all fans of young adult and paranormal fiction. If you enjoyed Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream you might be pleasantly surprised to reunite with his characters again.

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Book Review: Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2)

The situation in the faery realm is dire. Keirran, prince of the Iron Realm, is missing and his fey girlfriend Annwyl is dying, exiled from the Summer Court and doomed to fade from existence. Meanwhile, Ethan Chase has problems of his own. Dragged into the Nevernever and fey affairs against his will, it seems that people noticed when he and his girlfriend Kenzie disappeared for a couple of weeks. Against his better judgement and under considerable pressure from Kenzie, Ethan agrees to help Annwyl search for Keirran.

Little does he know that the Iron Prince will stop at nothing to save Annwyl from the Fade.

Sequel to The Lost Prince, The Iron Traitor is the second book in The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten series and sixth book in Julie Kagawa’s New York Times bestselling series The Iron Fey. The Iron Traitor begins with the fallout from The Lost Prince, with Kenzie’s parents furious at her disappearance and subsequent hospitalisation and Ethan in a fair amount of trouble in school as the rumour mill begins to turn.

Then Annwyl turns up on Ethan’s doorstep (well, in his bedroom to be precise) and Ethan agrees to travel with her to New Orleans to track down Keirran at the goblin market. Will they find him before he bargains away far more than he can afford?

In this gripping novel, Julie Kagawa really comes into her own as she delves into the mind of an obsessed faery who will stop at nothing to save the girl he loves. It is a fascinating study in obsession and the detrimental effect it can have on an individual and those around him. Nothing Keirran says or does is logical or reasonable, he is simply driven to extend the life of Annwyl no matter the cost.

It is interesting to contrast this with Kenzie’s acceptance of her own condition and the respectful distance Ethan gives to her to work through her feelings about dying. Dying from childhood leukaemia is as unnatural and horrific as fading away due to exile from the Nevernever by a faery queen but Annwyl and Kenzie have completely difference reactions to their plight. It is interesting to see how much agency Kenzie assumes in confronting her condition compared to how much of a victim Annwyl has become. Whether this is because of Keirran’s excessive reaction or due to her own personality is not clear.

Whatever the case, author Julie Kagawa’s insight into the human (faery?) psyche is impressive and makes for some of the most impressive character development I’ve seen in a novel for some time.

As Kagawa dives deeper into the murky depths of Keirran’s determination, the book hurtles towards its inevitable conclusion. It is clear from the title of the book that there is going to be a significant betrayal and even though the Iron Traitor isn’t named, it is pretty obvious throughout the book who it will be. Despite knowing exactly what was coming, nothing can prepare the reader for that final, dastardly betrayal in the last few pages of the book.

In the back of my mind, I’d hoped that there would be a reasonable explanation for the visions and prophecies but in the end, it was just horrible.

Which is not to say that I’m complaining. I’ve always said that I had an uneasy relationship with The Iron Fey series but in The Iron Traitor Julie Kagawa has managed to create a set of characters that the reader cares deeply about and therefore it was always going to be painful when truly awful things happened to them.

For superb character development and an ending I cared about, I give The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa five out of five stars and would highly recommend to all fans of young adult and paranormal fiction.

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Book Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)

When Ethan Chase was kidnapped by the fey and taken to the Nevernever, it set in motion a series of events that would change the power dynamic in the Land of the Fey forever. In faery terms, that happened many decades ago but in Ethan’s life, it has only been 13 years. In that time, his sister Meghan has become the Iron Queen and as far as Ethan is concerned, he’d like to stay as far away from the manipulative, duplicitous fey as possible.

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

Ethan is a loner, protecting himself and those he loves by warding off the fey that follow him. Despite his best intentions to never get involved, and despite years of kali martial arts training, he is nevertheless sucked in when a young fey at his school goes missing. When Ethan and local school reporter Mackenzie St James are attacked, Ethan is forced to take Mackenzie into the Nevernever to save her life.

The Lost Prince is the fifth book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series and the first in The Call of the Forgotten series. I had a difficult relationship with The Iron Fey series and rated the books between 3 and 4.5 stars. I never could figure out whether I liked the series and was especially disappointed with The Iron Knight. 

I only mention this because I absolutely loved The Lost Prince. I adored Ethan and totally understood why he would be so angry at Meghan. Yes, she is the Iron Queen, yes she is amazing but I’m pretty certain that people like that aren’t all that much fun to live with.

It was wonderful to meet Grimalkin the uncanny cat again and also good to see just how much Meghan and Ash had achieved. The Wyldwood was as treacherous and exciting as always and I simply loved being back in the Nevernever.

If there was anything I didn’t like about the book, it was Meghan and Ash’s son Kierran. That is not to say that I didn’t like him as a character and don’t like his place in the story but I don’t trust him and I suspect he is going to cause a big upset in the next book.

Ultimately, The Lost Price is exciting, action-packed and fascinating. It was not slow-paced like the previous books in The Iron Fey series could be and there was less of the endless going around in circles in terms of love triangles.

Being that the third book in The Call of the Forgotten series is out in November 2015, I’m going to pick The Iron Traitor up immediately before moving on to The Iron Warrior. Considering that there have been three years between the first and third books, I am very happy with my decision to delay starting the series. Instant gratification, anyone?

One final word on the book cover. Every single book in The Iron Fey series had a gorgeous cover and The Lost Prince is no exception.

I give The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa a superb five out of five stars and would highly recommend to fans of Julie Kagawa and paranormal or fantasy young adult fiction. If you loved Twilight, Mortal Instruments or Divergent, you'll love this.

Buy The Lost Prince at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

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Interview with Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron Knight

Julie Kagawa recently wrapped up the Iron Fey series with the fourth and final novel The Iron Knight which we reviewed earlier this week.  We caught up with Julie to discuss the series and what she has in store for us in the future.

What was your favourite chapter to write and why?  What was your least favourite chapter?

My favourite chapter in The Iron Knight is probably the third and final trial of the Testing Grounds.  I can't say anything more because of spoilers, but I got to write Ash in a completely new and unique way, as something that he's never been before.  I think my least favourite chapter was a certain scene with the characters’ evil dopplegangers, because it was hard keeping track of who was where and what they were doing.

Were there any story lines that you wanted to explore in the series but that somehow didn't fit?  Would you ever consider releasing your "outtakes"?

Nothing in Iron Knight stands out; I had a pretty clear cut idea of how the story was going to go.  There were just a few deleted scenes that never made it into the book.  But the Iron Fey website actually has a few of these outtakes if you want to take a look.

Who is your least favourite character in the Iron Fey series?  Were there any characters you were disappointed in?

My favourite character would have to be Ash, because I love my dark, brooding bad boys with swords.  Though Grimalkin runs a very close second.  And I don't dislike any of the characters, not even the bad guys.  I try to make every character unique, even the ones that don't get much page time, so it's hard to be apathetic towards any of them.

What is your worst habit as a writer?  Do you have a really bad habit that somehow works and gives you brilliant results?

Um, no.  Lol, my worst habit is being very distracted by Twitter and email and the internet in general.  Whenever I'm stuck, or even bored, I open up Tweetdeck to see what's going on.  This does not give me brilliant results, this just makes me frantic when deadlines roll around.  ;-)

What are you working on now?  I really liked that you brought out novellas to supplement the Iron Fey series.  Is this something that you will continue to do in future?

Right now I'm working on my new series Blood of Eden, which will feature post-apocalyptic vampires.  The novellas were actually the idea of my publisher, and will probably continue to come out between books. To follow Winter’s Passage and Summer’s Crossing, there just might be another in the works. But I can say no more right now!

It is good to hear that we have more to look forward from Julie Kagawa and I look forward to the Blood of Eden series.  Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Julie.

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Book Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

I always reach the end of a series with a mix of sadness and excitement.  On the one hand I’ve finally finished the story and hopefully all of the various questions and threads have been resolved; on the other hand, I’m often saying goodbye to characters that I’ve grown to love over time.  This was exactly how I felt at the end of Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Queen as we reached the end of Meghan Chase’s story after the Iron Fey trilogy.  I was really thrilled then when Meghan’s love interest and knight, the Winter Prince Ash, pursues one final quest so that he can return to Meghan in the Iron Realm.

The Iron Fey series is set in the fantastical world of the Nevernever.  This is not the friendly and safe realm of children’s fairy tales but the dark and twisted world of trickery, favours and the eternal war between the Winter and Summer Courts.  The only thing that the summer and winter fey have in common is that iron is toxic to them and so it is that when Meghan rises to the throne of the Iron Realm, the Winter Prince Ash cannot stay by her side for fear that he will be poisoned.

The Iron Knight follows the story of Ash and the Summer prankster Puck as they scour the Nevernever for a way for Ash to become mortal and withstand life in the Iron Realm.  The story begins at the home of the Bone Witch in the most dangerous part of the Wyldwood where they are joined in their quest by the cait sith Grimalkin, the bad Wolf of lore and Ash’s dead former love, Ariella.

They travel down the River of Dreams to the very ends of the Nevernever, stopping briefly in the land of Phaed where faeries go when they lose their name and no one remembers them anymore. This desperate place can only be found by those Fey who are dying, so what omens does that predict for this fearless band of Fey?

The descriptions of the River of Dreams, with its monsters, nightmares, hopes, dreams and treasures is quite incredible and Julie Kagawa really does have an remarkable imagination.  The group must run a series of gauntlets involving Fu dogs and golden orbs, keys, traps and fire breathing dragons, a sphinx riddle and a hall of mirrors before finally reaching the End of the World and entering the Testing Grounds where Ash must perform his final quests.

"Hey, I've run a few gauntlets in my time," Puck shot back. "They're basically all the same - you have your physical challenges, a pointless riddle or two, and there's always a few nasty traps”.

There seem to be no bounds to Julie Kagawa’s inventiveness as she creates a universe that stretches beyond the limits of time and space.  Her descriptions of the end of the Nevernever, the Briars, creatures, gauntlets and guardians of the Testing Grounds are fascinating.

The problem is that The Iron Knight moved really slowly in parts.  The journey to the End of the World takes over two-thirds of the book and for much of that we have nothing else but the witty banter of Ash and Puck to keep us going.  And just as you imagine might occur if you were stuck on a real journey with two men engaged in a constant battle of egos, the constant taunts and jostling tend to get really tiresome after a while. 

Perhaps this slow pace was partially due to the first person narrative of Ash.  It might have seemed like a good idea to give the dark, brooding protagonist a voice but in the end, men of little words tend to give away very little and it doesn’t make for gripping reading.

In fact, if I wasn’t so invested in the story after reading The Iron Queen, there is every chance I would have given up half way through this book.

Then there is the notion of mortality and what it means to be human.  Ultimately, Kagawa reduced the human condition to three things: weakness of the flesh; conscience, guilt and morality; and finally, mortality.  Basically, it appears that it was a bit ambitious to tackle the meaning of life in a young adult novel and what of creativity, hopes, desires and the unconquerable nature of the human mind and spirit?

Despite my reservations and the way the story dragged, I am glad that I read it and The Iron Knight is a fitting end to the Iron Fey series.  I will definitely read Julie Kagawa’s next series when it comes out.

And so, for the first time, I feel I must qualify my rating.  Out of 5, I give The Iron Knight 5 stars for inventiveness, ingenuity and the overall story, 2 stars for pace and interest and 3 stars for the shaky summation of the human condition.  All told, I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

You can buy The Iron Knight at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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A copy of this book was provided to me for the purposes of this review and all opinions contain herein are my own. This review contains affiliate links.

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Book Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase should be turning seventeen in twenty-four hours time but things are a little complicated. One year ago, on her birthday, her brother Ethan disappeared and an evil, violent changeling was left in his place.  Meghan learned that he had been snatched by faeries and she ventured into Nevernever, the land of the Fey, in order to save him.

What she discovered was the stuff of nightmares, a dark and sinister place full of malevolent and calculating Fey.  She also discovered that she was the daughter of Oberon, king of the Summer Court.

In the space of twelve months, Meghan has fought and defeated the Iron King Machina; rescued her brother; become indebted to the Winter prince Ash and then fallen in love with him; discovered and then forgotten her long-last human father; reclaimed the stolen Spectre of Seasons, thus preventing war between the Summer and Winter Courts; and angered the Summer King sufficiently for him to ban her from Nevernever.

Of course, it doesn't take much to anger Fey royalty, and Ash too has been banned from Nevernever by his queen and mother, Mab of the Winter Court.

So technically, Meghan won't be turning seventeen because time moves differently in the Nevernever and Fey don't age. The Iron Queen begins with the promise of peace and normality for Meghan and Ash as, banished from Nevernever, they have no option but to return to Meghan's home and pursue life in the normal realm.

I have to admit, I was quite looking forward to seeing how faery prince Ash adjusted to high school and teenagers but it was not to be because no sooner had they arrived at Meghan's home, were they attacked by spider hags sent by the false king of the Iron Realm.  Realising that she will never see peace until the Iron King is defeated, Meghan decides to fight him once and for all. 

The Iron Queen sees Meghan return to Nevernever to engage in the ultimate battle for Faery.  The creeping iron and resulting death of Faery, the impending battle, and the sense of doom were beautifully captured as was the fear, bravery and grim determination of the faery soldiers.  As Meghan, Ash and Puck enter the Iron Realm, we meet The Clockmaker and the introduction of time into the timeless realm.  One of the most interesting aspects of the Iron Fey series has always been the steam punk appeal and The Iron Queen certainly didn’t disappoint. 

The Iron Queen consumed me and the total battle at the end of the book was on par with the battles of Hogwarts and Narnia.  I simply could not put the book down and am happy to say that I was completely taken surprise by the ending.  Thank goodness next and final book in the series, The Iron Knight, is already available as I would not want to wait to continue the story!

I would recommend The Iron Queen and the whole Iron Fey series to all fans of young adult fantasy fiction, especially fans of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy or Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series.  The Iron Queen is published in the UK by Mira Ink. 

I give The Iron Queen four-and-a-half stars out of five.

The Iron Queen is the third book in Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series. 

Buy The Iron King (book 1) from Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

Buy The Iron Daughter (book 2) from Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

Buy The Iron Queen (book 3) from Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

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Article first published as Book Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa on Blogcritics.

A copy of this book was provided to me for the purposes of this review and all opinions contain herein are my own. This review contains affiliate links.

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Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa took the young adult world by storm in 2010 with her debut novel, The Iron King.   It was a tale of theft, mischief and chaos set in the land of the Fey, Faeryland or the Nevernever.  Featuring Oberon, the King of the Summer Court and a host of Seelie and Unseelie Fey, The Iron King is not your average fairy tale but hinted at the malevolent, tricky and mischievous beings at the very edges of our reality.

At the end of The Iron King, our heroine Meghan, the half-human daughter of Oberon, entered the Iron Realm and defeated the Iron King Machina.  She did that with the help of the Winter Prince Ash but it was only by putting herself in his debt that she was able to enlist his help.  No sooner had she returned to her own world, depositing her younger brother Ethan safely in the arms of her mother, when Ash appeared to call in his debt and demand that Meghan uphold her promise to return with him to the Winter Court.

The Iron Daughter opens with Meghan trapped in the Winter Court, awaiting an audience with Winter Queen Mab, who must decide her fate.  The ice prince Ash has become even icier, throwing Meghan into emotional turmoil over the future of their relationship.  After a somewhat desolate and frozen start to the book, mayhem ensues as the Winter Court is attacked and the Spectre of Seasons is stolen.  The subsequent turmoil and non-stop adventure includes racing through Faeryland and the reappearance of Puck; being chased by an angry dragon in the Briars; fleeing into The Between, the realm of the Dark Muse Leanansidhe and her army of outcasts and banished Fey; and a search and battle in Silicon Valley with its human and Fey drones, technology and countless threats.  In the midst of all of this action is a classic love triangle between Meghan, Puck and Ash.

While I struggled to suspend my disbelief in The Iron King and felt that the depiction of the creatures of Faeryland bordered on the ridiculous, I had no such problems with The Iron Daughter.  Julie Kagawa has really stepped up with this second novel and it far surpasses her debut.  The love triangle between Puck, Ash and Meghan kept me swapping sides and loyalties like never before and I found all of the characters far more sympathetic in this book.  One of the aspects of the book that I most appreciated was Meghan’s tendency to monitor and regulate her own self-pity and self-absorption.  Far from fall to pieces as Ash repeatedly withdraws his attentions, Meghan catches herself in her lugubriousness and just gets on with her quest.  Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series has been hailed as the new Twilight but I feel that it might surpass that comparison as Meghan Chase is far more secure and self-assured than Bella Swan ever was. 

I also appreciated that a lot more of this book played out in the real world compared to the first novel.  That is, of course, if you can call the mindless ambition, ruthlessness and the pursuit of technology in Silicon Valley ‘the real world’.  As enchanting and maddening as Faeryland is with its wyldwood and lands of eternal twilight and winter, I look forward to the next book, The Iron Queen, which promises to start off in the mortal realm.

The only fault I found with the book was that I felt lost at times.  Granted, I had not enjoyed the previous book as much as this one and had struggled to relate to the characters.  This could account for me undervaluing certain events in the first book, especially Meghan and Ash’s closeness.  Nevertheless, I’d recommend reading Winter’s Passage first, after reading The Iron King and before starting The Iron Daughter.  Winter’s Passage is a short novella written by Julie Kagawa and set between the events of the two books and it certainly helps to flesh out the story and fill in some of the blanks.  Winter’s Passage is available in eBook form from The Iron Fey website or free of charge from Amazon Kindle. 

In terms of the plot, I found that I guessed large portions of the story, especially the identity of Charles but I imagine that this was somewhat intentional on the author’s part, as she left breadcrumbs and clues for her readers.  In any event, I was pleased to see that the story turned out to my liking and I really liked the ending.  In terms of battles, the great battle at the end of the book was quite thrilling, full of the most unimaginable, wicked creatures and a full compliment of Seelie and Unseelie Fey.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Iron Daughter and cannot wait to read The Iron Queen next.  I am also pleased to see that a fourth book in the series, The Iron Knight, will be released later in the year and it will apparently be told from Ash’s point of view.  The comparisons with the Twilight saga continue and I really look forward to this Midnight Sun-esque twist.

I would give The Iron Daughter four out of five stars.

Buy The Iron Daughter at Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

Download Winter’s Passage free from Amazon.co.uk

Article first published as Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa on Blogcritics.

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Five Questions With Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron King

Julie Kagawa is the author of the inventive and popular young-adult series The Iron Fey.  The first novel in the series, The Iron King, was recently released in the United Kingdom and was reviewed on Addicted to Media back in January.  Julie is currently conducting a blog tour to promote the Iron Fey series and she took the time to answer five of my questions.

I believe that as writers, you come to love your characters, some more than others.  Who is your favourite character in the Iron Fey series and do you have a least favourite?

My favourite character would have to be Ash, because I love my brooding bad boys. But a certain snarky talking cat runs a very close second. As for least favourite, I don’t think I have one. I like all my characters in one way or another, or at least I understand them.

It is refreshing to read about the dark side of fairies and the land of the fey.  It reminded me of the very old English tales of fairies stealing children and tricking people into deals.  Were those the tales that you grew up on and if not, where did you get your inspiration from?

Those were certainly the tales I drew inspiration from. I love the stories of changelings and the thought that the Fey were these ancient, capricious creatures who were tricky and dangerous. I’ve always preferred the Brothers Grimm faery tales to the Disney fairy tales.

There is a lot of competition between Team Ash and Team Puck across the Blogosphere.  I know that you are not a fan of the Iron Court so which team are you on?

That might be a tad bit spoilery, lol. Let’s say I love both boys for different reasons and leave it at that.

I have to confess that I am probably Team Ash (and hope to explore that further in the next two books!) but I was amazed by the ingenuity and originality of the Iron Court.  It read like a Steampunk dream and I loved the acid rain.  Would you describe the Iron Court as Steampunk and where did you get the idea for the Iron Horse from?

It didn’t start out as Steampunk, but as the series progressed, The Iron Realm sort of became this entity that had definite steampunk elements, so I went with it. For Ironhorse, I wanted an “older” type of fey, one that might be past his prime. The steam engine seemed a perfect fit, so Ironhorse was born.

I think that you've achieved what many people have dreamed of and gone from Livejournal to NaNoWriMo to being a published author.  If you had one single piece of advice to give to other aspiring writers, what would it be? 

Persist. Just keep writing, and try to finish that novel. Remember, all authors started exactly where you are right now; the only difference between a published author and a non-published one is that the published author never stopped writing.

The Iron King focuses on the adventures of Meghan Chase as she ventures into the land of the Nevernever to rescue her younger brother Ethan who has been stolen by Fey.  She is assisted by her friend Robbie, the mysterious Winter Prince Ash and the cantankerous cat Grimalkin.  This is not your average fairy tale and will appeal to fans of supernatural and romance novels.  The Iron King is available on Harlequin UK’s Mira Ink imprint and the second book in the trilogy, The Iron Daughter is due to be released on 15 April 2011 in the UK.

Buy The Iron King at Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

Article first published as Interview: Julie Kagawa, Author of The Iron King on Blogcritics.

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Sunday Express offering 1,000 free copies of The Iron King

The Iron King is an imaginative and exciting young adult novel by Julie Kagawa.  It is a page-turner that follows the adventures of Meghan Chase as her brother is abducted by fey and she must travel to the land of Nevernever to rescue him.  With suspense, enchanted forests and magical creatures, The Iron King is also a romance novel that should attract fans of the Twilight, Vampire Academy and House of Night series.  I reviewed The Iron King in January 2011.

Sunday Express and publishers MIRA Ink are teaming up to offer 1,000 free eBook copies of The Iron King.  Visit the Sunday Express website to find the download link as well as the code required to claim your free eBook.  The giveaway is not exclusive to just Sunday Express readers so go ahead and get your free copy of this exciting novel today.

The Iron King is the first novel in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series.  Below is a trailer for the series.

 

Buy The Iron King at Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

Article first published as Sunday Express Offers 1,000 Free Copies of The Iron King on Blogcritics.

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Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase might as well be invisible.  Ever since her father disappeared before her eyes at the age of six, Meghan has never fitted in at school or at home.  Her mother is always too busy for her, her step-father barely seems to remember who she is and her classmates switch between ignoring and persecuting her.  She has but one friend, Robbie but it is her younger brother Ethan that means the world to her.  On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, strange things start to happen and Meghan is sure that she is seeing monsters out of the corners of her eyes.  She is sure that she is being watched and things finally come to a head on her birthday when Ethan disappears and in his place is a vicious and violent changeling, a faery substitute.

Fighting waves of disbelief, Meghan soon learns that her brother has been taken to the land of the Fey and that she must venture into Faeryland or Nevernever to rescue him.  As she finally comes to comprehend why she knew so little about her friend Robbie and why she had never visited his home, she learns that he is is also Fey and that he had been sent to watch over her by King Oberon of the Seelie Court.

The adventure takes Meghan into Nevernever where she is hunted by the Winter Prince Ash, separated from Robbie and kidnapped by goblins (and this all takes place within the fist one hundred pages of the book!)  Travelling through enchanted forests and lands of perpetual winter, Meghan never tires in her quest to find and rescue her brother Ethan.  Along the way, she picks up some allies but more enemies than she can count and the journey is full of danger and peril.

The iron King is a difficult book to review.  There is no doubt that I found it hard to put the book down and found myself sneaking more reading time than usual as I raced towards the end.  Part of the problem is that I found it quite hard to suspend disbelief which is unusual as I’ve never seemed to have that problem with teenaged wizards, witches, vampires and werewolves before.  Growing up in England, we are quite familiar with the notion of elves, trolls, goblins and enchanted forests but I somehow had trouble connecting with Meghan and with the story.

In fact, the story seemed to be a little too hackneyed or cartoon-like and thus, I was not surprised when the characters landed up in the Storyland theme park at New Orleans City Park.  It finally made sense to me why I had been running through the entire book in animation in my mind. 

As I mentioned, I had difficulty connecting with Meghan, even though the book was written in the first person.  I felt irritated by the fact that Robbie was reduced in most parts to comic relief and I found Ash’s character boring.  I must qualify that last statement: my favourite type of love interest has always been the skinny, black-haired knight who is aloof yet vulnerable.  If this is sounding familiar then you will understand my boredom as it has just been done too many times in young adult romance novels lately.

Despite these difficulties, I reached the end of the novel and realised that I certainly want to read the sequel, The Iron Daughter.  Part of the reason is that many questions are left unanswered at the end of The iron King.  I did appreciate the need for a sequel though as it fitted in well with the storyline regarding Meghan’s missing memories.  My hopes for the sequel are that having established the land of Nevernever and the various characters, Julie Kagawa could focus on some serious character development. 

It is entirely possible that The Iron King is just not my cup of tea and I would recommend the book to lovers of fantasy or young adult romance, especially if they are seeking a break from vampires!  I would say that this is a book to borrow from the library rather than purchase although the beautiful covers do make them appealing to own.

The Iron King is the first book in a trilogy called The Iron Fey and is published by Harlequin Teen in the US and Mira INK in the UK.

I rate The Iron King three out of five stars.

Buy The Iron King at Amazon.co.uk¦ Amazon.com

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