The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
Feb. 28th, 2012 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
My name – my True Name – is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.
I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.
And I am dead to her.
My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl …
At the end of THE IRON QUEEN, Meghan became the Iron Queen. Realising that Ash could never survive in the Iron Realm, she released him from his oath and used his True Name to make him leave. But Ash loves Meghan and is determined to find a way to be with her, which means finding a way to gain a mortal soul.
Fortunately Puck and Grimalkin are equally determined to help him. They’re joined by the Big Bad Wolf who sees this as a chance to ensure his own legend lives on and by a person from Ash’s past who he thought he’d never see again. In a quest that takes them from the Bone Witch to the very ends of the Faerie realm, Ash will be forced to confront his own past and his deepest emotions as he learns what it means to be mortal …
The last book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey quartet is a must-have for Ash fans, seeing him take on a quest that will enable him to learn about humanity and his own faults.
Unlike the other books in the quartet, this is almost completely told from Ash’s point of view and whether it succeeds depends on whether you already liked him as a character. Personally, I found his brooding to be a little bland and although I liked the way Kagawa depicts with his amoral attitude and lack of empathy, it correspondingly made it harder for me to believe in his love for either Meghan or Ariella. The final quarter of the book is the strongest where Ash is forced to confront what mortality and having a soul means and while there’s a degree of sermonising here, it’s crisply written and gives insight into Ash’s character and why he’s the way he is.
Ash’s relationship with Ariella never came alive for me – partly because I never understood her supposed resemblance to Meghan, partly because Ariella’s an anaemic, passive character who only exists for Ash and who’s supposed fierce temper comes too infrequently to be convincing. I preferred Ash’s relationship with Puck and was disappointed that they never ended up as a couple as they had more spark.
The ending is a foregone conclusion, which will please romance fans but left me meh. I am however a fan of Kagawa’s writing and will definitely read her next book.
The Verdict:
The concluding book in Julie Kagawa’s IRON FEY quartet differs from the earlier books in that it’s told from Ash’s point of view and whether that works for you depends on whether you already liked Ash as a character. Because I was never that taken with him, I never really engaged with the book as much as I should have done and because this builds on the central romance between Ash and Meghan, the ending is a foregone conclusion. That said, the final quarter of the book gives a strong insight into Ash’s character. All in all, although I’m not a romance fan I do enjoy Kagawa’s world building and will definitely be checking out her next book.
THE IRON KNIGHT was released in the UK on 6th January 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
My name – my True Name – is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.
I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.
And I am dead to her.
My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl …
At the end of THE IRON QUEEN, Meghan became the Iron Queen. Realising that Ash could never survive in the Iron Realm, she released him from his oath and used his True Name to make him leave. But Ash loves Meghan and is determined to find a way to be with her, which means finding a way to gain a mortal soul.
Fortunately Puck and Grimalkin are equally determined to help him. They’re joined by the Big Bad Wolf who sees this as a chance to ensure his own legend lives on and by a person from Ash’s past who he thought he’d never see again. In a quest that takes them from the Bone Witch to the very ends of the Faerie realm, Ash will be forced to confront his own past and his deepest emotions as he learns what it means to be mortal …
The last book in Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey quartet is a must-have for Ash fans, seeing him take on a quest that will enable him to learn about humanity and his own faults.
Unlike the other books in the quartet, this is almost completely told from Ash’s point of view and whether it succeeds depends on whether you already liked him as a character. Personally, I found his brooding to be a little bland and although I liked the way Kagawa depicts with his amoral attitude and lack of empathy, it correspondingly made it harder for me to believe in his love for either Meghan or Ariella. The final quarter of the book is the strongest where Ash is forced to confront what mortality and having a soul means and while there’s a degree of sermonising here, it’s crisply written and gives insight into Ash’s character and why he’s the way he is.
Ash’s relationship with Ariella never came alive for me – partly because I never understood her supposed resemblance to Meghan, partly because Ariella’s an anaemic, passive character who only exists for Ash and who’s supposed fierce temper comes too infrequently to be convincing. I preferred Ash’s relationship with Puck and was disappointed that they never ended up as a couple as they had more spark.
The ending is a foregone conclusion, which will please romance fans but left me meh. I am however a fan of Kagawa’s writing and will definitely read her next book.
The Verdict:
The concluding book in Julie Kagawa’s IRON FEY quartet differs from the earlier books in that it’s told from Ash’s point of view and whether that works for you depends on whether you already liked Ash as a character. Because I was never that taken with him, I never really engaged with the book as much as I should have done and because this builds on the central romance between Ash and Meghan, the ending is a foregone conclusion. That said, the final quarter of the book gives a strong insight into Ash’s character. All in all, although I’m not a romance fan I do enjoy Kagawa’s world building and will definitely be checking out her next book.
THE IRON KNIGHT was released in the UK on 6th January 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
