Brekke K. (sfvamp) - , reviewed on 10/23/2010 + 108 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 4

Meljean Brook has truly created a masterpiece of world-building in her new steam punk romance novel. The Iron Duke has one of the most creative settings and cast of characters I've yet seen in a romance. And yet I felt as if there was something ultimately dissatisfying about the plot, as if there was an almost indiscernible bit of unrealized potential that just kept nagging at me more and more as I read. At first I thought it was because I LOVED Here There Be Monsters--the short story that kicked off this new series--but I think the problem is a little more than that. Yes, I had high expectations after reading the latter, but I also think that the Iron Duke suffers from the all too common problem of the author resorting to telling and not showing to make the plot move along. All too often the main characters agonize for several pages about an important event, only to have that conflict resolved either off stage (so to speak) or so swiftly it hardly seemed to warrant the kind of danger one was expecting from the characters' reactions. Mass genocide is the imminent danger in the plot and not once did I feel my adrenaline spike or wonder what rabbit Brook was going to pull out of her hat of literary tricks to get the heroes out of trouble. Mostly things were resolved so serendipitously and easily that I hardly had time to fathom any danger. So, to me, the novel had no real climax but rather proved a steady and sometimes plodding read. Part of this problem in tempo I ascribe to the almost noir-ish style murder mystery/political intrigue that Brook utilizes to drive the plot with a smattering of short fight sequences with zombies, mechanical men, and sea monsters.

I've always found Brook to be a somewhat convoluted read, even when I love her stories, but this was the first time it was so glaringly annoying to me and really affected my enjoyment of the story. It took me way too long to read this novel and it is because nothing hooked me so much that I had to keep reading no matter that I was tired, or had an early morning, or distracted, or any other myriad amount of reasons one finds to stop reading a book. When a story is captivating enough nothing can tear you away from continuing to read and I was distracted constantly from reading.

It is surprising to me that Brook created a story that had such unsatisfying action sequences and climaxes when some of her Guardian series novels have had me salivating to know more and keep reading. But despite all this, the series genuinely has promise. The romance of the Iron Duke with Mina was not so believable to me, but there were several secondary characters that have grabbed my curiosity. The complex history, technology, and culture of this alternative world is so unbelievably interesting that one forgives a lot of other glaring problems with the story. I hope that I enjoy the sequels as much as I enjoyed Here There Be Monsters. And, for all my crabbiness about the slower plot, I still gave this novel four and a half stars for sheer ingenuity of premise and rich world-building. And I still recommend others read it, though I wouldn't call it the author's most successful novel.

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