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A review by easolinas
The Iron Fey Boxed Set: The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
4.0
Ever since Holly Black released her Modern Faerie Tales, countless tales of teenage girls who discover their connection to the fey have been published.
Most of them are pretty generic. However, "Iron King may be one of the rare few that stands out -- Julie Kagawa's lush debut is filled with hauntingly lyrical prose and a likably down-to-earth heroine. Even better, she actually comes up with some unique twists for her fey.
After a rotten day at school, Meghan Chase returns home to find her mother injured and her brother Ethan replaced by a malevolent changeling. Her only hope to rescue him is to accompany her old friend Robbie -- aka Puck -- to the Nevernever. But to get him back, she must venture into the realm of the newest kind of fey: the Iron Fey.
In "The Iron Daughter," Meaghan finds herself permanently exiled to Prince Ash's winter realm -- and because she formed a contract of her own free will, Oberon cannot help her. Then a swarm of Iron Fey steal the Scepter of the Seasons and murder the crown prince of Winter -- meaning that war will break out unless Meaghan can stop it. But who can she trust.
"The Iron Queen" arises when Meaghan and Ash are exiled from their respective courts, and must focus on freeing Meaghan's beloved stepfather and teaching her magic. But then Oberon and Mab make an offer -- Puck, Meaghan and Ash's banishments will be lifted if she sneaks into Iron territory and kills their false king. But if Meaghan does, she might lose what she loves most...
Finally, "The Iron Knight" sees Ash separated from his beloved Meaghan, since she is now the Iron Queen and her realm would kill him. The solution: he must gain a soul and become human. His journey to attain that will take him to the edge of End Of The World, where Ash will face challenges that no other faerie has overcome -- his terrible past and his terrifying future.
At first, The Iron Fey series seems like a fairly standard urban fantasy, with high school problems and secret fey heritage. But once Kagawa shifts her story into the Nevernever, the book shifts into an ethereal, moonlit tale filled with nature's beauty and silken prose.
In fact, Kagawa's exquisite prose is why this book stands head-and-shoulders above most other faery tales -- she laces the story with hauntingly lovely scenery and luscious descriptions ("Skeletal trees loomed out of the water, their expanding web of roots looking like pale snakes in the murk"). The entire fourth book is a powerful trip through Ash's soul and past, filled with tragedy and hope.
And the faery world she creates is suitably "rich and strange" -- while it's hauntingly beautiful, everything there is deadly. But with the idea of "iron fey," she also adds something new to the genre: a type of fey generated by modern technology rather than nature.
There are a few flaws, though -- the first half of the third book takes awhile to get moving, and the strong, capable Meaghan seems to crumble into weepiness in the second book.
Fortunately, the rest of the time the characters are quite gripping. Meaghan seems like an average girl-who-discovers-she's-part-fey at first, but her strength and determination -- as well as her willingness to make tough choices -- put her head and shoulders above the rest.
And she has a lovely relationship with Ash, a chilly Winter prince who refuses to let anything stand in the way of their love; and there's also a friendship with the deliciously mischievous Puck. Not to mention Grimalkin, Wolf, and the Leanansidhe -- all priceless.
"The Iron Fey" series is head-and-shoulders above the average "girl discovers she's a faery" fantasy books out there -- mostly because of Julie Kagawa's exquisite writing and world building.
Most of them are pretty generic. However, "Iron King may be one of the rare few that stands out -- Julie Kagawa's lush debut is filled with hauntingly lyrical prose and a likably down-to-earth heroine. Even better, she actually comes up with some unique twists for her fey.
After a rotten day at school, Meghan Chase returns home to find her mother injured and her brother Ethan replaced by a malevolent changeling. Her only hope to rescue him is to accompany her old friend Robbie -- aka Puck -- to the Nevernever. But to get him back, she must venture into the realm of the newest kind of fey: the Iron Fey.
In "The Iron Daughter," Meaghan finds herself permanently exiled to Prince Ash's winter realm -- and because she formed a contract of her own free will, Oberon cannot help her. Then a swarm of Iron Fey steal the Scepter of the Seasons and murder the crown prince of Winter -- meaning that war will break out unless Meaghan can stop it. But who can she trust.
"The Iron Queen" arises when Meaghan and Ash are exiled from their respective courts, and must focus on freeing Meaghan's beloved stepfather and teaching her magic. But then Oberon and Mab make an offer -- Puck, Meaghan and Ash's banishments will be lifted if she sneaks into Iron territory and kills their false king. But if Meaghan does, she might lose what she loves most...
Finally, "The Iron Knight" sees Ash separated from his beloved Meaghan, since she is now the Iron Queen and her realm would kill him. The solution: he must gain a soul and become human. His journey to attain that will take him to the edge of End Of The World, where Ash will face challenges that no other faerie has overcome -- his terrible past and his terrifying future.
At first, The Iron Fey series seems like a fairly standard urban fantasy, with high school problems and secret fey heritage. But once Kagawa shifts her story into the Nevernever, the book shifts into an ethereal, moonlit tale filled with nature's beauty and silken prose.
In fact, Kagawa's exquisite prose is why this book stands head-and-shoulders above most other faery tales -- she laces the story with hauntingly lovely scenery and luscious descriptions ("Skeletal trees loomed out of the water, their expanding web of roots looking like pale snakes in the murk"). The entire fourth book is a powerful trip through Ash's soul and past, filled with tragedy and hope.
And the faery world she creates is suitably "rich and strange" -- while it's hauntingly beautiful, everything there is deadly. But with the idea of "iron fey," she also adds something new to the genre: a type of fey generated by modern technology rather than nature.
There are a few flaws, though -- the first half of the third book takes awhile to get moving, and the strong, capable Meaghan seems to crumble into weepiness in the second book.
Fortunately, the rest of the time the characters are quite gripping. Meaghan seems like an average girl-who-discovers-she's-part-fey at first, but her strength and determination -- as well as her willingness to make tough choices -- put her head and shoulders above the rest.
And she has a lovely relationship with Ash, a chilly Winter prince who refuses to let anything stand in the way of their love; and there's also a friendship with the deliciously mischievous Puck. Not to mention Grimalkin, Wolf, and the Leanansidhe -- all priceless.
"The Iron Fey" series is head-and-shoulders above the average "girl discovers she's a faery" fantasy books out there -- mostly because of Julie Kagawa's exquisite writing and world building.