The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Feb. 28th, 2012 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
In less than twenty-four hours I’ll be seventeen.
Although, technically, I won’t actually be turning seventeen. I’ve been in the Nevernever too long. When you’re in Faery, you don’t age. So while a year has passed in the real world, age-wise I’m probably only a few days older than when I went in.
In real life, I’ve changed so much I don’t even recognise.
MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the ore of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
THIS TIME.
THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.
Following THE IRON DAUGHTER, Meghan and Ash are outcasts of the Summer and Winter courts. Not that Meghan cares. Now that she knows her mortal father is still alive and living with Leanansidhe in her Court of Exiles, she’s determined to recover her memories of him, which she sold to the oracle in THE IRON KING and help him to escape. Plus she has Ash to help her and they are in love.
But Faery isn’t finished with them. A false king controls the Iron Court and invades the Wyldwood intent on eradicating the realms of Summer and Winter forever. Oberon and Titania offer to lift Meghan and Ash’s banishment if she enters the Iron Court and kills the false king. Meghan agrees, despite the fact that using both her Summer and Iron magic leaves her sick and weak. Helped by Grimalkin and Puck, she and Ash once again venture into the world of the Iron faeries but Meghan must come to terms with who she is if she is to have any hope of success and doing so might cost her everything she’s ever wanted …
The third in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series is another vividly imaginative affair with more character growth but romance fans will get the most out of it.
I liked Meghan more here. She’s more determined to take control of her own life, accepting weapons training from Ash and trying to master her own magic. I still found her whiny though and the fact that she needs the boys to tell her how to do things rather than figure them out for herself is irritating. I really enjoyed the bittersweet twist at the end because it showed that she had matured. As always Kagawa’s depictions of the Iron Faeries are stunning.
The boys remain cyphers, with the exception of Grimalkin who again voiced every frustration that I had with the characters and their situations. There are a number of revelations in the book – none of which came as a surprise and some of which were telegraphed far too early. The pay-off on the Rowan storyline is an anti-climax and the final confrontation with the false Iron King lacked tension.
Ultimately, romance fans get the most out of this book and because I’m not invested in Ash and Meghan’s relationship, I didn’t get as much out of this as others probably will.
The Verdict:
The third in Julie Kagawa’s IRON FEY series is another brilliantly descriptive, vividly imagined affair and I continue to love her Iron Faeries. However, as with THE IRON KING and THE IRON DAUGHTER, the romance storyline does nothing for me and although Meghan develops more in this book and becomes a stronger character, I remain perplexed as to what Puck and Ash see in her and she still relies on the boys to tell her what to do and how to think. I’ll read the final book in the quartet to see how Kagawa brings the overall story to a close, but you really will get more out of this if you’re already a fan of Ash and Meghan.
Although, technically, I won’t actually be turning seventeen. I’ve been in the Nevernever too long. When you’re in Faery, you don’t age. So while a year has passed in the real world, age-wise I’m probably only a few days older than when I went in.
In real life, I’ve changed so much I don’t even recognise.
MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the ore of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
THIS TIME.
THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.
Following THE IRON DAUGHTER, Meghan and Ash are outcasts of the Summer and Winter courts. Not that Meghan cares. Now that she knows her mortal father is still alive and living with Leanansidhe in her Court of Exiles, she’s determined to recover her memories of him, which she sold to the oracle in THE IRON KING and help him to escape. Plus she has Ash to help her and they are in love.
But Faery isn’t finished with them. A false king controls the Iron Court and invades the Wyldwood intent on eradicating the realms of Summer and Winter forever. Oberon and Titania offer to lift Meghan and Ash’s banishment if she enters the Iron Court and kills the false king. Meghan agrees, despite the fact that using both her Summer and Iron magic leaves her sick and weak. Helped by Grimalkin and Puck, she and Ash once again venture into the world of the Iron faeries but Meghan must come to terms with who she is if she is to have any hope of success and doing so might cost her everything she’s ever wanted …
The third in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series is another vividly imaginative affair with more character growth but romance fans will get the most out of it.
I liked Meghan more here. She’s more determined to take control of her own life, accepting weapons training from Ash and trying to master her own magic. I still found her whiny though and the fact that she needs the boys to tell her how to do things rather than figure them out for herself is irritating. I really enjoyed the bittersweet twist at the end because it showed that she had matured. As always Kagawa’s depictions of the Iron Faeries are stunning.
The boys remain cyphers, with the exception of Grimalkin who again voiced every frustration that I had with the characters and their situations. There are a number of revelations in the book – none of which came as a surprise and some of which were telegraphed far too early. The pay-off on the Rowan storyline is an anti-climax and the final confrontation with the false Iron King lacked tension.
Ultimately, romance fans get the most out of this book and because I’m not invested in Ash and Meghan’s relationship, I didn’t get as much out of this as others probably will.
The Verdict:
The third in Julie Kagawa’s IRON FEY series is another brilliantly descriptive, vividly imagined affair and I continue to love her Iron Faeries. However, as with THE IRON KING and THE IRON DAUGHTER, the romance storyline does nothing for me and although Meghan develops more in this book and becomes a stronger character, I remain perplexed as to what Puck and Ash see in her and she still relies on the boys to tell her what to do and how to think. I’ll read the final book in the quartet to see how Kagawa brings the overall story to a close, but you really will get more out of this if you’re already a fan of Ash and Meghan.
