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lundos's review against another edition
4.0
Coldplay Iron is different. The writing shifts so fast that you really have to pay attention all the time. Is it annoying? Yes. Just add an extra paragraph every time the scene completely shifts.
The main character, Aranthur (or Arthur with an extra an) is sort of great, but it's not like he's perfect or even close to perfect. He has the extreme work discipline that way, WAY, too many fantasy stories do. I mean a teenager that delves so hard into it that he forgets his gf that is also his first for weeks? Nope. However, he is likeable, a great friend, and pretty smart without it being too much. Though, there seem to be just too many chance encounters and he is too lucky in his choice of friends. And he's not curious enough about anything.
The supporting cast is fleshed out enough, likeable enough, and their actions make sense from their perspective throughout the story so far.
The world is interesting. But there are just way too many countries, languages, different human races, and use of real language substitutes for English, which I always dislike. This has to be more slowly and seemlessly written into a story. Maybe there are refences from other series?
The political and spy levels makes the twists ... twists, but part of that is also because our MC doesn't ask questions or try to really understand what is going on. For sure nothing is what it seems.
The magic system is weird and under explained. The pacing is decent.
So why 4 stars? Well, it's interesting enough to keep going even if the reading pace is half of a normal book and I want to know what the author had in mind with the main character.
The main character, Aranthur (or Arthur with an extra an) is sort of great, but it's not like he's perfect or even close to perfect. He has the extreme work discipline that way, WAY, too many fantasy stories do. I mean a teenager that delves so hard into it that he forgets his gf that is also his first for weeks? Nope. However, he is likeable, a great friend, and pretty smart without it being too much. Though, there seem to be just too many chance encounters and he is too lucky in his choice of friends. And he's not curious enough about anything.
The supporting cast is fleshed out enough, likeable enough, and their actions make sense from their perspective throughout the story so far.
The world is interesting. But there are just way too many countries, languages, different human races, and use of real language substitutes for English, which I always dislike. This has to be more slowly and seemlessly written into a story. Maybe there are refences from other series?
The political and spy levels makes the twists ... twists, but part of that is also because our MC doesn't ask questions or try to really understand what is going on. For sure nothing is what it seems.
The magic system is weird and under explained. The pacing is decent.
So why 4 stars? Well, it's interesting enough to keep going even if the reading pace is half of a normal book and I want to know what the author had in mind with the main character.
bay_ann4's review against another edition
2.0
I can tell that the author put in a lot of hard work into this book but it just wasn’t for me.
siavahda's review against another edition
5.0
While I still dislike Gollancz for their continuously poor copy-editing - especially with regards to Cameron's works I never find less than dozens of typos/formatting errors, and far too many instances of dialogue where character names are mixed up (one that stands out in Cold Iron is a priest telling someone off and then glaring at 'the priest', ie addressing and then glaring at himself, apparently).
But as usual, Cameron's story and writing is amazing, and it looks like Masters & Mages is going to be an extremely worthy successor to the Traitor Son Cycle. I couldn't put Cold Iron down and resented anything that pulled me away from its pages; it's intricate, clever, sneakily feminist, and the magic in this world is elegantly tied to the socio-economics of the same - something that is the driving force behind the overarching plot. I really loved that aspect of the story, and having a main character who comes from a minority group viewed as thugs and thieves by the rest of the world; the dissection of racist micro-aggressions, social class, and privilege (especially regarding wealth) is all so deft and subtle that you absorb the commentary without ever being lectured on it.
I'm deeply in love with all of the characters, and although the M&M world is clearly inspired by ours, it's vastly different enough to have some truly amazing worldbuilding that I'm dying to see more of. There's also so much going on; not so much that the book feels crowded or that anything is left half-baked for lack of development, but enough to make reading this an intense experience. I needed a quick nap after finishing it; not because I was bored, but because I felt like I'd gone adventuring myself, so wholly does the story pull you in.
In short, I need book 2 immediately!
But as usual, Cameron's story and writing is amazing, and it looks like Masters & Mages is going to be an extremely worthy successor to the Traitor Son Cycle. I couldn't put Cold Iron down and resented anything that pulled me away from its pages; it's intricate, clever, sneakily feminist, and the magic in this world is elegantly tied to the socio-economics of the same - something that is the driving force behind the overarching plot. I really loved that aspect of the story, and having a main character who comes from a minority group viewed as thugs and thieves by the rest of the world; the dissection of racist micro-aggressions, social class, and privilege (especially regarding wealth) is all so deft and subtle that you absorb the commentary without ever being lectured on it.
I'm deeply in love with all of the characters, and although the M&M world is clearly inspired by ours, it's vastly different enough to have some truly amazing worldbuilding that I'm dying to see more of. There's also so much going on; not so much that the book feels crowded or that anything is left half-baked for lack of development, but enough to make reading this an intense experience. I needed a quick nap after finishing it; not because I was bored, but because I felt like I'd gone adventuring myself, so wholly does the story pull you in.
In short, I need book 2 immediately!
cakefrog's review against another edition
5.0
Это книга произвела на меня немалое впечатление. В первую очередь из-за живых, психологически верных персонажей и взаимоотношений между ними. К тому же сюжет также хорош: казалось бы, все эти истории о взрослении героев стары как мир. А автор все равно умудряется увлечь. Темп сперва достаточно спокойный, но потом повествование закручивается, скорость истории увеличивается и персонажи и читатель вместе с ними еле успевает за развитием событий.
Точно знаю, что буду читать продолжение! Потому что это очень качественный образец жанра с хорошо прописанными героями и миром.
Точно знаю, что буду читать продолжение! Потому что это очень качественный образец жанра с хорошо прописанными героями и миром.
chromatick's review against another edition
5.0
4.75 stars
Honestly, the only reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because his Traitor's Son Cycle is better by a smidgen. :)
Traitor's Son is set in a Medieval setting, whereas in this new trilogy we get a fantasy version of Venice during a time that the Three Musketeers would have fit right at home in. One thing Cameron always nails is the authenticity and accuracy of his arms and armor and the various fighting styles that go with them. In this he does not disappoint. There are plenty of action scenes, and they are all depicted quite well.
This novel follows more of the hero's journey trope with our main character studying both the art of swordsmanship and magic, while finding himself wrapped up in a much bigger plot than he could have ever imagined.
This was an excellent first novel and I look forward to seeing where it goes in the next two books.
Honestly, the only reason I'm not giving this 5 stars is because his Traitor's Son Cycle is better by a smidgen. :)
Traitor's Son is set in a Medieval setting, whereas in this new trilogy we get a fantasy version of Venice during a time that the Three Musketeers would have fit right at home in. One thing Cameron always nails is the authenticity and accuracy of his arms and armor and the various fighting styles that go with them. In this he does not disappoint. There are plenty of action scenes, and they are all depicted quite well.
This novel follows more of the hero's journey trope with our main character studying both the art of swordsmanship and magic, while finding himself wrapped up in a much bigger plot than he could have ever imagined.
This was an excellent first novel and I look forward to seeing where it goes in the next two books.
escan's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely a slow burn - it took me a few goes to properly get into it, hence the start and finish dates which are almost a year apart, but once I was into it, I was into it. I loved the Byzantine-esque setting, Aranthur’s awareness that he’s becoming someone else and he has to choose who that is, the huge amount of linguistic depth in the novel (I’m a nerd!), and the slightly on-the-nose but very socially relevant themes of violence, persecution, racism, and refugees.
The book jumped around a lot from, for example, a night out at the theatre to Aranthur’s work at the leather shop the next day, or a sword fight ending in bloodshed to a scene of daily life at the Academy. At first, this really frustrated me - characters got left behind, moments of tension were left without resolution, and there seemed to be loose threads dangling everywhere. In my third attempt at reading it, however, my patience was rewarded, as in the second half of the book all those threads begin to intertwine to create an exciting story that sits somewhere between a military campaign and an espionage thriller (all while Aranthur tries to balance his studies, his work, his relationships and Finding Himself).
The book jumped around a lot from, for example, a night out at the theatre to Aranthur’s work at the leather shop the next day, or a sword fight ending in bloodshed to a scene of daily life at the Academy. At first, this really frustrated me - characters got left behind, moments of tension were left without resolution, and there seemed to be loose threads dangling everywhere. In my third attempt at reading it, however, my patience was rewarded, as in the second half of the book all those threads begin to intertwine to create an exciting story that sits somewhere between a military campaign and an espionage thriller (all while Aranthur tries to balance his studies, his work, his relationships and Finding Himself).
iam_griff's review against another edition
4.0
Miles Cameron has done it again. This epic fantasy story is simply just as good as if not slightly better than “the Traitor’s Son Cycle”. The book has a good pace throughout the story with characters that are interesting & you want to know what’s going to happen to them. I’m looking forward to the following 2 books when released to read/listen.
mferrante83's review against another edition
5.0
More please! Straight up heroic fantasy with a fixed POV set in an interesting fantasy world vaguely similar our own.
nathaliesdv's review against another edition
3.0
If you like something that has minimal world building but where every turn of the page something new happens and the leading character is distracted by every boobycarrier that walks by.... then this is the book for you.
If you like some depth and explaining about the magic system and why things happen then you better skip this one.
If you like some depth and explaining about the magic system and why things happen then you better skip this one.