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mamamelreads 's review for:
The Iron Knight
by Julie Kagawa
I absolutely love the Iron Fey series. I love the characters. I love the imagery in the writing. I love the story -- both the romance and the story of the battle between winter and summer, and technology and logic versus imagination and creativity. I absolutely LOVED the third book in this series, The Iron Queen. In my opinion it was the absolute best of the series and perfect in almost every way. Kagawa was able to pull emotions out of me at every turn in the story, and the ending was heartbreaking. It definitely wasn't the ending that I was rooting for, and it left an emptiness in my heart that needed to be filled. That is why this book needed to be written. We couldn't leave Ash and Meghan separated for eternity because of Meghan's turn as the Iron Queen and Ash's inability to stay in the Iron Realm for any amount of time before it would kill him. They needed their happy ending and this was the book that would bring it to them.
In this book Ash takes center stage as the narrator, and he has come a long way from the cold, brooding (and mostly silent) hero of the first book in this series. He is a man on a mission -- to find a way to live with his love forever, or at least as long as they both shall live. Amazingly, despite harboring his own intense feelings for Meghan, Puck -- dear, sweet, funny Puck who I love so much -- decides to tag along and help Ash on this quest. With a great deal of help from the enigmatic Grimalkin and a new companion, The Big Bad Wolf, Ash and Puck head to the edges of their world to find out how Ash could become human and have his life with Meghan.
I won't go into the details of the quest in particular, but the elements of Ash's test are meant to really help Ash to ponder exactly what it means to become human and how that will change him and all that he has come to know as a faery knight. These questions were interesting to ponder as I read Ash's thoughts and concerns. Mortality brings with it a host of infirmities and weaknesses that can bring sadness and pain in our lives, but is it worth it to have our mortality if in exchange we have the deep and lasting relationships that we form in this mortality. Is it worth the happiness of these relationships if eventually we will all die and lose those we love in mortality? Those were the things that Ash had to question. Would he be happy aging and being weak and eventually dying while his love Meghan remains eternally youthful and vigorous? These tasks that Ash met were not necessarily tasks of strength and agility that he was used to meeting. These often involved tests of his emotions, and that is an area that Ash has little experience in dealing with because of his lifetime of suppressing his emotions as a member of the Winter Court.
Along the journey Ash and Puck meet up with another companion. I will not say who this is so that the surprise is not ruined, but it is a doozy of a surprise. I have to admit that I would have expected a lot more struggle from Ash when he meets of up with this character. He comes to terms with things a bit too quickly in my mind. Our memories are powerful tools, and sometimes our memories of others can be so powerful that we create an almost supernatural and perfected image of those in our past who we love so much. I would think that it would take a bit of time to work through our emotions over the ones we have loved and lost until we can come to terms with those in our present. I know that that makes no sense in the context of this review, but I can't be more specific without spoiling the plot. I just felt like there needed to be a bit more struggle from Ash on this one.
Puck was wonderful, as always. Somehow Kagawa is able to write his fun-loving prankster of a character without having him become a giant cliche. He has a depth of personality that is not just that of a prankster, but of one who knows what it means to love deeply and watch that love return her love to another. He isn't just the comedic relief in this book. He is a constant and true companion who risks his life to help Ash complete this task. He finally gets the opportunity to really put into words his feelings of regret and anger about Meghan's relationship with Ash. I loved that scene in this book. He is able to pull Ash out of himself to see that Ash is not the only person who suffers pain and loss.
I did enjoy this book a lot. So why four stars instead of five? Well, despite the terribly depressing ending, I really did feel as if Book Three was just an amazing ending to this story. I wanted Ash and Meghan to be together, though, so I was very happy to see this book coming out. However, it seems like a super long epilogue to book three rather than a true book four. That isn't a criticism of the story or the writing at all. I still loved all of it. It just seemed as if this was a book where all the loose ends of the previous book were tied up. Would Ash and Puck ever move past the ancient anger that is between them and the oath that Ash swore to kill Puck? Would Ash be able to forgive Puck for the accident that killed his love? Was there a way for Ash to become human so that he could be with Meghan forever? Would Iron be able to co-exist with Winter and Summer? This book sought to answer those questions. I wanted the answer to these questions, and in this book I got them. It was the epilogue I wanted to the last book, just longer than the normal length of an epilogue.
I think that this book suffered a bit from the absence of Meghan from the story. Although the relationship between Ash and Meghan has always been an important part of the books in this series, it was never over the top. There was a subtleness to their relationship that never seemed trite or overly sappy. Meghan was able to bring out the emotions in Ash, and Ash was able to help Meghan find her own inner strength so that she would have the power to fight the powers that fought against her. Their relationship as well as Meghan's relationship with Puck was a driving force of the previous three books. With Meghan absent, all we had in this book was Ash's wishes to be with her and a few lucky encounters with Meghan through dreams. The nature of the dilemma that Ash faced in his quest made it so that Meghan could not be in the book for most of the time. I think that I wish that when Ash finally gets to the end of his journey there had been a bit more of the story that involved the Meghan and Ash together. I wanted to see more of their happy ending after traveling on this journey with Ash and Puck for the entire book.
I also kind of missed Meghan's point of view in this book. I think that I just related more to her thoughts than I ever did to Ash's. After three books of basically guessing at Ash's feelings because of his annoying habit of hiding everything he feels, even from Meghan half the time, it was hard to all of the sudden get direct access into his head. His character was almost more powerful to me as he was surrounded in mystery in the first three books of the series. But, despite this, I still have to say, I just love Ash. Although this may have not been my favorite book in the series, I still love Ash. And Puck. Oh Puck! How I want for you to find your own happy ending someday!
So, despite my slight criticism of this last book that keeps me from giving it a full five stars, I still am super glad that this book is part of the Iron Fey series. It gives closure to a wonderful, beautiful story that I have loved all along the way. I highly recommend this series for those who are fans of fantasy and romance with a bit of adventure thrown in along the way. I am sad to see this series come to a close, but it is one that I will read again and again, so it will never be far from my memory. If these fey characters are simply kept alive through the memories and imaginations of those in our world, then I predict a long, happy existence for Meghan, Ash, and Puck!
In this book Ash takes center stage as the narrator, and he has come a long way from the cold, brooding (and mostly silent) hero of the first book in this series. He is a man on a mission -- to find a way to live with his love forever, or at least as long as they both shall live. Amazingly, despite harboring his own intense feelings for Meghan, Puck -- dear, sweet, funny Puck who I love so much -- decides to tag along and help Ash on this quest. With a great deal of help from the enigmatic Grimalkin and a new companion, The Big Bad Wolf, Ash and Puck head to the edges of their world to find out how Ash could become human and have his life with Meghan.
I won't go into the details of the quest in particular, but the elements of Ash's test are meant to really help Ash to ponder exactly what it means to become human and how that will change him and all that he has come to know as a faery knight. These questions were interesting to ponder as I read Ash's thoughts and concerns. Mortality brings with it a host of infirmities and weaknesses that can bring sadness and pain in our lives, but is it worth it to have our mortality if in exchange we have the deep and lasting relationships that we form in this mortality. Is it worth the happiness of these relationships if eventually we will all die and lose those we love in mortality? Those were the things that Ash had to question. Would he be happy aging and being weak and eventually dying while his love Meghan remains eternally youthful and vigorous? These tasks that Ash met were not necessarily tasks of strength and agility that he was used to meeting. These often involved tests of his emotions, and that is an area that Ash has little experience in dealing with because of his lifetime of suppressing his emotions as a member of the Winter Court.
Along the journey Ash and Puck meet up with another companion. I will not say who this is so that the surprise is not ruined, but it is a doozy of a surprise. I have to admit that I would have expected a lot more struggle from Ash when he meets of up with this character. He comes to terms with things a bit too quickly in my mind. Our memories are powerful tools, and sometimes our memories of others can be so powerful that we create an almost supernatural and perfected image of those in our past who we love so much. I would think that it would take a bit of time to work through our emotions over the ones we have loved and lost until we can come to terms with those in our present. I know that that makes no sense in the context of this review, but I can't be more specific without spoiling the plot. I just felt like there needed to be a bit more struggle from Ash on this one.
Puck was wonderful, as always. Somehow Kagawa is able to write his fun-loving prankster of a character without having him become a giant cliche. He has a depth of personality that is not just that of a prankster, but of one who knows what it means to love deeply and watch that love return her love to another. He isn't just the comedic relief in this book. He is a constant and true companion who risks his life to help Ash complete this task. He finally gets the opportunity to really put into words his feelings of regret and anger about Meghan's relationship with Ash. I loved that scene in this book. He is able to pull Ash out of himself to see that Ash is not the only person who suffers pain and loss.
I did enjoy this book a lot. So why four stars instead of five? Well, despite the terribly depressing ending, I really did feel as if Book Three was just an amazing ending to this story. I wanted Ash and Meghan to be together, though, so I was very happy to see this book coming out. However, it seems like a super long epilogue to book three rather than a true book four. That isn't a criticism of the story or the writing at all. I still loved all of it. It just seemed as if this was a book where all the loose ends of the previous book were tied up. Would Ash and Puck ever move past the ancient anger that is between them and the oath that Ash swore to kill Puck? Would Ash be able to forgive Puck for the accident that killed his love? Was there a way for Ash to become human so that he could be with Meghan forever? Would Iron be able to co-exist with Winter and Summer? This book sought to answer those questions. I wanted the answer to these questions, and in this book I got them. It was the epilogue I wanted to the last book, just longer than the normal length of an epilogue.
I think that this book suffered a bit from the absence of Meghan from the story. Although the relationship between Ash and Meghan has always been an important part of the books in this series, it was never over the top. There was a subtleness to their relationship that never seemed trite or overly sappy. Meghan was able to bring out the emotions in Ash, and Ash was able to help Meghan find her own inner strength so that she would have the power to fight the powers that fought against her. Their relationship as well as Meghan's relationship with Puck was a driving force of the previous three books. With Meghan absent, all we had in this book was Ash's wishes to be with her and a few lucky encounters with Meghan through dreams. The nature of the dilemma that Ash faced in his quest made it so that Meghan could not be in the book for most of the time. I think that I wish that when Ash finally gets to the end of his journey there had been a bit more of the story that involved the Meghan and Ash together. I wanted to see more of their happy ending after traveling on this journey with Ash and Puck for the entire book.
I also kind of missed Meghan's point of view in this book. I think that I just related more to her thoughts than I ever did to Ash's. After three books of basically guessing at Ash's feelings because of his annoying habit of hiding everything he feels, even from Meghan half the time, it was hard to all of the sudden get direct access into his head. His character was almost more powerful to me as he was surrounded in mystery in the first three books of the series. But, despite this, I still have to say, I just love Ash. Although this may have not been my favorite book in the series, I still love Ash. And Puck. Oh Puck! How I want for you to find your own happy ending someday!
So, despite my slight criticism of this last book that keeps me from giving it a full five stars, I still am super glad that this book is part of the Iron Fey series. It gives closure to a wonderful, beautiful story that I have loved all along the way. I highly recommend this series for those who are fans of fantasy and romance with a bit of adventure thrown in along the way. I am sad to see this series come to a close, but it is one that I will read again and again, so it will never be far from my memory. If these fey characters are simply kept alive through the memories and imaginations of those in our world, then I predict a long, happy existence for Meghan, Ash, and Puck!