Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
At last, we are treated to Ashs story. Ash has been kicked out of the winter court, and he is also unable to be by Meghans side. Meghan Chase is now the Queen of the Iron Fey, and like all other Fey, Ash cannot exist around iron. So, Ash makes a vow to Meghan and himself - he will find a way back to her if its the last thing he does. After all, he has vowed to be her knight.
This is a novel of constant action. There is almost never a moment where the reader can just sit back and go whew." In THE IRON KNIGHT, Ash, with no doing of his own, assembles a band of the most unlikely companions. His bitter enemy, Puck, wont leave his side, no matter how fiercely Ash taunts him. The fickle cait sith, Grimalkin, ever complaining, joins in on the quest. Ashs mother sends surprise help, and a girl, long thought dead, assists as well.
Ash realizes that the only way he can survive in the iron realm is to be mortal. With this group in tow, Ash seeks a rumored place where he will face perilous trials in an attempt to become mortal. He must give up everything he knows in order to honor his vow to Meghan.
The trials that Ash faces are far too interesting to give away in a review. The tests he face make him seriously ponder his decision and decide once and for all whether being Fey or being with Meghan is more important.
Ive always been a fan of Ash, so I was extremely excited to see a novel devoted entirely to him. Of course, the bickering with Puck is here in full force, but there is much more to Ash than the cold, brooding nature that has been seen in the rest of the series. Ash is a strong, noble Fey bound and determined to keep a promise he made. I devoured the novel while at the beach and hope that this isnt the last of THE IRON FEY series. After all, theres still Puck to discover!
At last, we are treated to Ashs story. Ash has been kicked out of the winter court, and he is also unable to be by Meghans side. Meghan Chase is now the Queen of the Iron Fey, and like all other Fey, Ash cannot exist around iron. So, Ash makes a vow to Meghan and himself - he will find a way back to her if its the last thing he does. After all, he has vowed to be her knight.
This is a novel of constant action. There is almost never a moment where the reader can just sit back and go whew." In THE IRON KNIGHT, Ash, with no doing of his own, assembles a band of the most unlikely companions. His bitter enemy, Puck, wont leave his side, no matter how fiercely Ash taunts him. The fickle cait sith, Grimalkin, ever complaining, joins in on the quest. Ashs mother sends surprise help, and a girl, long thought dead, assists as well.
Ash realizes that the only way he can survive in the iron realm is to be mortal. With this group in tow, Ash seeks a rumored place where he will face perilous trials in an attempt to become mortal. He must give up everything he knows in order to honor his vow to Meghan.
The trials that Ash faces are far too interesting to give away in a review. The tests he face make him seriously ponder his decision and decide once and for all whether being Fey or being with Meghan is more important.
Ive always been a fan of Ash, so I was extremely excited to see a novel devoted entirely to him. Of course, the bickering with Puck is here in full force, but there is much more to Ash than the cold, brooding nature that has been seen in the rest of the series. Ash is a strong, noble Fey bound and determined to keep a promise he made. I devoured the novel while at the beach and hope that this isnt the last of THE IRON FEY series. After all, theres still Puck to discover!
Helpful Score: 1
I didn't like this book as well as the others in the series but maybe that's because Meghan Chase wasn't in it. This is Ashallayn'darkmyr "Ash" Tallyn's quest to return to Meghan and the Iron Kingdom. Ash, being the last prince of the winter court, cannot abide iron and Meghan has exiled him from her court for his own good. But love is a many splendid things and Ash will not be without his woman for long. He has vowed to find a way to be with her forever and he embarks on a perilous journey, with Puck of all people. Once his best friend Robin "Puck" Goodfellow now frenemy, loves Meghan so much that he has sacrificed his own happiness to help Ash find a way to stay with her. Puck had something to do with Ash's first girlfriend, Ariella's death. This book finally tells the story of what happened that separated Ash and Puck.
There are some interesting twists and surprises along their some times boring journey to the end of the world and beyond. Though I enjoyed reading about the weird animals that kept attacking them, I did find myself thinking "get on with it already". All in all a satisfying conclusion to the Iron Fey series though I would have liked a little Meghan in this conclusion to HER series!
There are some interesting twists and surprises along their some times boring journey to the end of the world and beyond. Though I enjoyed reading about the weird animals that kept attacking them, I did find myself thinking "get on with it already". All in all a satisfying conclusion to the Iron Fey series though I would have liked a little Meghan in this conclusion to HER series!
This is the fourth book in The Iron Fey series by Kagawa. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. It was a great book, not as good as the previous series, but it wraps up things nicely. As far as I can find this book wraps up the Iron Fey series. Who knows what the future will hold though?
Ash will do anything to be able to stand by Meghan's side, but she has banished him from the Iron Realm so that he doesn't kill himself trying to stay there. Now Ash has a new quest, to find a way to become mortal. Helping him on his quest his is nemesis/best friend Puck, the ever-sarcastic Grimalkin, and even the Big Bad Wolf. Ash will have to travel to the end of the world and back again if he is to complete his quest.
While this was an excellent story it wasn't nearly as excellent as the first three books. The plot is very linear and having the story from Ash's point of view was okay, but not nearly as awesome as when it was from Meghan's point of view. Ash is a bit too moody and too whiny, there is a lot of humor lost with him as the narrator.
The true point of this book was to give us a more in depth look at the relationship between Puck and Ash and the history behind it. The other goal was to wrap up all of the crazy loose ends that were left from the from The Iron Queen.
Unlike the previous books that had multiple things going on, this story is very linear and quest based. Ash and Puck journey to the seer, then they fight, then they journey to point B, then they fight, then point C, then they fight, ect. etc. It was engaging enough and interesting enough, but not nearly as epic as the previous books. It kind of reminded me of a basic Dungeons and Dragons quest. The majority of the obstacles that Ash and company fight through on their quest are fairly familiar types of things from previous literature (glowing eyed Sphinxs, dooplegangers, etc). We meet a lot of interesting new Fey, but they are met in passing.
We do get to learn a ton about the history between Puck and Ash and about what happened with their former love, Arielle. It was nice to get the back story behind this and it really helped to lend understanding to Puck and Ash's characters. I loved that Grimalkin was in the story so much; the banter between him and the Big Bad Wolf kept things from getting too serious.
I did enjoy how Kagawa explores the theme of what it means to be human and what it means to have a soul as Ash searched for a way to become mortal. This was a large theme throughout the book and it is always an interesting one to read about.
This book does do an excellent job of wrapping things up. Although I have to admit I kind of enjoyed the open ending that Kagawa gave The Iron Queen, it was a unique way of ending the story that stayed true to the not-everything-ends-like-a-fairy-tale feeling that the story had. This wrap-up book seems more like something that was written to make her fans happy than anything else, as such it comes off as almost too good to be true.
Overall this was a good read. If you are a fan of the series you have to read it. I found the story generally engaging and loved some of the new fairies that we run in to. I didn't like Ash as a narrator all that much, he was too broody for me. The story was also much more linear than the previous books and had a bit of quest crawl feel to it. It also ended a little to happy, happy for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it...it just didn't blow me away like her other books did. This book felt like something Kagawa wrote to placate her fans. Anyway, I am eager to see what she comes up with next. Immortal Rules, the first book in her new Blood of Eden series, is due out sometime in 2012.
Ash will do anything to be able to stand by Meghan's side, but she has banished him from the Iron Realm so that he doesn't kill himself trying to stay there. Now Ash has a new quest, to find a way to become mortal. Helping him on his quest his is nemesis/best friend Puck, the ever-sarcastic Grimalkin, and even the Big Bad Wolf. Ash will have to travel to the end of the world and back again if he is to complete his quest.
While this was an excellent story it wasn't nearly as excellent as the first three books. The plot is very linear and having the story from Ash's point of view was okay, but not nearly as awesome as when it was from Meghan's point of view. Ash is a bit too moody and too whiny, there is a lot of humor lost with him as the narrator.
The true point of this book was to give us a more in depth look at the relationship between Puck and Ash and the history behind it. The other goal was to wrap up all of the crazy loose ends that were left from the from The Iron Queen.
Unlike the previous books that had multiple things going on, this story is very linear and quest based. Ash and Puck journey to the seer, then they fight, then they journey to point B, then they fight, then point C, then they fight, ect. etc. It was engaging enough and interesting enough, but not nearly as epic as the previous books. It kind of reminded me of a basic Dungeons and Dragons quest. The majority of the obstacles that Ash and company fight through on their quest are fairly familiar types of things from previous literature (glowing eyed Sphinxs, dooplegangers, etc). We meet a lot of interesting new Fey, but they are met in passing.
We do get to learn a ton about the history between Puck and Ash and about what happened with their former love, Arielle. It was nice to get the back story behind this and it really helped to lend understanding to Puck and Ash's characters. I loved that Grimalkin was in the story so much; the banter between him and the Big Bad Wolf kept things from getting too serious.
I did enjoy how Kagawa explores the theme of what it means to be human and what it means to have a soul as Ash searched for a way to become mortal. This was a large theme throughout the book and it is always an interesting one to read about.
This book does do an excellent job of wrapping things up. Although I have to admit I kind of enjoyed the open ending that Kagawa gave The Iron Queen, it was a unique way of ending the story that stayed true to the not-everything-ends-like-a-fairy-tale feeling that the story had. This wrap-up book seems more like something that was written to make her fans happy than anything else, as such it comes off as almost too good to be true.
Overall this was a good read. If you are a fan of the series you have to read it. I found the story generally engaging and loved some of the new fairies that we run in to. I didn't like Ash as a narrator all that much, he was too broody for me. The story was also much more linear than the previous books and had a bit of quest crawl feel to it. It also ended a little to happy, happy for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it...it just didn't blow me away like her other books did. This book felt like something Kagawa wrote to placate her fans. Anyway, I am eager to see what she comes up with next. Immortal Rules, the first book in her new Blood of Eden series, is due out sometime in 2012.
I really looked forward to this book, wondering how Julie Kagawa would do with changing the narrator and essentially taking the story in a completely new direction. The Iron Knight was definitely very different from the first three books in the series. While Meghan is very direct, no-nonsense, doesn't agonize much every step she takes and her story is all about action Ash is her opposite and his story is as well. Oh, don't get me wrong, he may be torn up about all kinds of things but he's not going to just sit there, he is a warrior after all. There is a lot of introspection here and the decisions Ash has to make aren't just whether to go and fight, they involve matters of the heart and soul and that complicates things tremendously. There were times when I was terribly disappointed in him, felt that he was continuing on his quest out of the sense of duty, not out of love, but gradually he was able to understand himself and I was glad to see how things turned out.
The Iron Knight thrilled me from the very first pages with the lore that is introduced here. There is an old witch who lives in a house on bird legs and there's the gigantic Wolf. I don't know whether these characters are common in Western lore but they are a constant presence in the Slavic fairy tales and when I realized what was going on I was absolutely thrilled. These are the characters I grew up with after all and Ms. Kagawa did them justice. The entire time they were in the story I didn't have any problem with what they did or said and this made me appreciate the novel that much more.
With Ash, Puck and Grimalkin in the core of the cast here the dynamic between the characters is essentially familiar but the new additions give it a bit of a new flavor and I saw sides of them I didn't really expect. With Ash and Puck almost competing with Grimalkin and Wolf in who can bicker better there's plenty of verbal dueling that could turn dangerous any minute and the new surprise companion in the quest brings the tension that makes it impossible to be confident in the outcome. And don't worry, we do get to see Meghan again before the story wraps up and she's still her old self, despite being the Iron Queen and ruling a whole realm.
The main thing about this novel is how introspective and thoughtful it is, and it's not just about making difficult decisions and coming to terms with one's past, it's about what it means to be human from beginning till the end. I'll admit, I didn't enjoy all the parts of the story, some felt just too surreal and some didn't seem relevant, but as a whole it made me think about who we are as humans and what we have. (See, told you this book isn't like the first three.)
I can't believe I'm saying this and you may strongly disagree with me on this but I didn't feel that this book was as inspired as the others. It felt like more "I have to do this" than "I want to tell this story" and although it was done well it just wasn't the same. If you prefer a happy ending to a story though I highly recommend that you read this book: with The Iron Queen ending as it did I can imagine that the lovers of Happily Ever After weren't exactly satisfied and with The Iron Knight Kagawa tied up the most important loose end of all and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
The Iron Knight thrilled me from the very first pages with the lore that is introduced here. There is an old witch who lives in a house on bird legs and there's the gigantic Wolf. I don't know whether these characters are common in Western lore but they are a constant presence in the Slavic fairy tales and when I realized what was going on I was absolutely thrilled. These are the characters I grew up with after all and Ms. Kagawa did them justice. The entire time they were in the story I didn't have any problem with what they did or said and this made me appreciate the novel that much more.
With Ash, Puck and Grimalkin in the core of the cast here the dynamic between the characters is essentially familiar but the new additions give it a bit of a new flavor and I saw sides of them I didn't really expect. With Ash and Puck almost competing with Grimalkin and Wolf in who can bicker better there's plenty of verbal dueling that could turn dangerous any minute and the new surprise companion in the quest brings the tension that makes it impossible to be confident in the outcome. And don't worry, we do get to see Meghan again before the story wraps up and she's still her old self, despite being the Iron Queen and ruling a whole realm.
The main thing about this novel is how introspective and thoughtful it is, and it's not just about making difficult decisions and coming to terms with one's past, it's about what it means to be human from beginning till the end. I'll admit, I didn't enjoy all the parts of the story, some felt just too surreal and some didn't seem relevant, but as a whole it made me think about who we are as humans and what we have. (See, told you this book isn't like the first three.)
I can't believe I'm saying this and you may strongly disagree with me on this but I didn't feel that this book was as inspired as the others. It felt like more "I have to do this" than "I want to tell this story" and although it was done well it just wasn't the same. If you prefer a happy ending to a story though I highly recommend that you read this book: with The Iron Queen ending as it did I can imagine that the lovers of Happily Ever After weren't exactly satisfied and with The Iron Knight Kagawa tied up the most important loose end of all and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
