A review by cupiscent
The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding

4.0

I enjoy these books a lot. The plots are the perfect blend of silly and clever that makes them the same sort of whizbang entertainment as blockbuster action movies. The characters are all magnificently flawed, and they have to battle against those flaws all the time (instead of heroically overcoming the flaw once and permanently) as well as constantly grinding up against each other. The banter is never too much and the prose is just self-conscious enough to sparkle. All in all: fun.

This book gets bonus points for its lady characters, but an uncertain frown for the central Frey/Trinica conflict and its ongoing permutation.

Spoiler

I am really not sure that I like the idea that Frey's love (never mind how flimsy a thing it's been proven in the past, that's sort of the whole point of their conflict) can "save" Trinica from what she's become. Especially since what she's become is what she chose and fought hard and worked tirelessly to become. I don't like the idea that just because Frey's thought better of his abandonment, she has to undo what she's done. I don't like it at all. Whether or not what she's become is a toxic self-destructive prison or blah blah whatever, it's her choice, and Frey gets precisely ZERO say.

However, I do acknowledge that this might be a case of Frey being a viewpoint idiot, and the author's going to be more careful, nuanced and involved about unravelling this further. He bloody better, because I don't want to have to stop enjoying these books.