Ironskin – Tina Connolly

Book one of Ironskin. First published October 2nd 2012 by Canvas

Genre: Steampunk / Fantasy

Note: This review contains spoilers

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a “delicate situation”—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

I’m so glad this book popped up on my Goodreads feed. I was a bit put off by the fact it was based on Jane Eyre *cue A-Level Literature flashbacks* but I’m happy I stuck with it. Even though it has quite a few elements of Jane Eyre in it, Connolly spins her own story around it merging the original elements and her own additions really well. I like the theme of beauty as well as the price of beauty that runs through the book.

Jane is an ironskin, a victim of the Great War with the Fey. She has a Fey curse on her cheek that infects those around her with Rage. Because of this, she must cover her cheek with an iron half mask as iron is the only thing that can contain the curse. Her curse makes it hard for her to find work, until she comes across a carefully worded advert for a tutor. This is how she meets Mr. Rochart and his young daughter Dorie.

Unlike in Jane Eyre, in Ironskin Jane’s duties as a governess/tutor to Dorie are quite central to the plot. Dorie appears to be Fey-cursed like Jane, even though she has no visible scar. Jane’s job is to help her with these abilities, which isn’t easy with a reluctant Dorie and Mr Rochart being mysterious around the house. The story is mostly concerned with the mystery behind Dorie’s Fey abilities, as well as Jane’s efforts to help the girl with her powers.

Jane is a great character – a strong willed, independent woman determined to make her own way in the world despite the difficulties she faces being an ironskin. Her sister Helen offers her an easy way out; move in with her and her soon-to-be husband, but Jane much prefers to stand on her own two feet. She’s cursed because she joined her brother in a battle against the Fey, when they came out of the forrest to attack her village. Her brother died and Jane was cursed, but she still fights to find her place in this new post-war society. 

Jane and Rochart’s relationship is slow to build, and it came a bit like a shock to me when he (inevitably) confesses his love for Jane. I felt Jane and Dorie’s relationship was built up far better. Rochart spends most of his time sulking and being mysterious, then all of a sudden throws a party and then he sulks some more. I understand that being a mysterious artist is kind of the point, but I felt we needed to see just a little bit more of him in order to become invested in his and Jane’s relationship. I found his work far more interesting than him. He’s basically a plastic surgeon for the elite, utilising Fey magic to make his clients beautiful.

My main complaint about Ironskin is that the world building is quite confusing. We’re told there’s been a Great War against the Fey but the how and why isn’t really explained and at times I found the concept of the Fey hard to grasp. This was a bit disappointing, as I was quite interested in this new way of depicting the Fey. I’ve now read book two, Copperhead, and it does a better job answering those questions, so I’m happy to see the series has evolved nicely. Also, because of it being based on Jane Eyre, I kept picturing the wrong time period. Again, this was better written in Copperhead – perhaps the city as a setting in the second book helped set the time period better.

Score

 6.5/10

Recommended to…

I don’t read much Steampunk, so I had to ask my sister for recommendations after this. She said the book made her think of A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray and if you’re interested in the Steampunk element, Soulless by Gail Carriger is a good follow-up book.

Followed by…

Copperhead  

 

Cinder – Marissa Meyer

Book one of The Lunar Chronicles. First published January 1st 2012 by Feiwel & Friends.

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Note: This review contains spoilers.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I’m a sucker for all things fairytales. So, of course, the minute I saw the beautiful cover and read the blurb I was hooked. Cinderella as a cyborg? In futuristic China? Bad guys that live on the Moon? Hell yes. I was immediately drawn by the concept. 

Cinder is an original take on a familiar and well known fairytale, but the story is unique and it’s easy to forget it is based off Cinderella at points. The story depicts Cinder’s struggles as a cyborg without memories of her childhood. She meets prince Kai when he comes to her mechanic shop to fix one of his androids. Their relationship grows from Cinder being starstruck to a tentative friendship with a lot of banter. I like how they are not thrown together immediately, but are given time to develop feelings. 

Cinder as a character is very relatable. She’s hardworking and no push-over. Her problems and insecurities only make her stronger. When she finds out she’s immune to the illness that’s plaguing New Beijing, she works with Dr. Erland to find a cure which takes a lot of courage. 

Cinder also has a great supportive cast. My favourite character has to be Iko, a small ‘defective’ android with a cheery personality close to that of a teenage girl. I found her amusing, and she’s Cinder’s best friend and biggest supporter. Her relationship with her adoptive family is also well-drawn and you can see the love she holds for her younger step-sister, Peony. Her stepmother Adri is a horrible, horrible human being, but at the same time you can see that she loves both her daughters and acts so horribly towards Cinder because she’s afraid of Cinder’s negative impact on what remains of her family. 

The introduction of the Lunars – a colony, turned monarchy, who live on the moon and have creepy powers – makes Cinder more than just a fairytale retelling. Queen Levana is a great villain. She’s a strong ruler, manipulative and ruthless. You never know what she’s hiding under her projected illusion of beauty. She’s trying to secure an alliance with Earth through marriage to Prince Kaito, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth. Queen Levana is threatening war if an agreement isn’t reached, leaving Kai and Cinder’s growing relationship in a precarious position. Her role as a villain grows in the following books, Scarlet and Cress and she’s a link that ties quite a few of the main characters together.

I really loved this book. It has enough elements of the original tale to be a retelling, but the author makes the story her own. All the elements introduced lead nicely into the following books of the series – which I read as soon as  managed to get my hands on them. I am looking forward to book four, Winter, which is out next September!

Score

8.5/10

Recommended to…

Lovers of fairytale retellings. Another of my favourite Cinderella-based novels – with more Asian influence – is Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriott. Of course, I also have to recommend Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire – author of Wicked – which is one of my all-time favourite retellings.

Followed by…

Scarlet

 

Poison Study – Maria V. Snyder

Book one of The Chronicles of Ixia. First published October 1st 2005

Genre: High Fantasy 

Note: This review contains spoilers

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

I got this lovely collection for Christmas and they have sadly been stuck on the shelf under the rest of my to-read pile since then. They came highly recommended by my sister, so I eventually put them at the top of my reading pile and managed to get through almost three books in a week! I’m currently on Fire Study and looking forward to seeing where Yelena’s journey will take her. But that’s a story for another post…

What can I say about Poison Study? It gripped me right from the beginning. The narrative style is deceptively simple; the language very readable and easy to follow. At the beginning, the lack of description was more noticeable (probably due to the last book I was reading making use of more flowery language) but as I got into the story I noticed it less. I found the stark use of language mirrored the Ixian way of life, although I’m not sure if this was the author’s intention.

The idea was original: it was the first thing that drew me to this collection. I’d never read about a food taster before: I’d read about assassins who used poison as a preferred weapon, but never about the person standing in between the target and the would-be-murderer. The set-up of the condemned murderer being offered a chance at survival reminded me a bit of Throne of Glass, another reason I was drawn to the story.

The country of Ixia was well drawn. The military regime was easy to picture, with everyone wearing uniforms to denote their place in society. The country is run by the Commander and his appointed Generals, who each have control of a sector of Ixia. Yelena is put under the care of Valek, the Commander’s right hand and spymaster. Valek quickly became one of my favourite characters. He’s an intelligent, deadly assassin, and seems to be one of the few people who doesn’t underestimate Yelena. I loved how their relationship was slow to build, letting the reader come to love him at the same time Yelena does.

We don’t learn much about Yelena other than what she feels necessary to tell us. Even though though the novel is written in the first person Yelena remains guarded. She is very straight forward in her narration. Her thoughts do come through at points but they don’t colour the narration. I actually had to go back and double check what point of view Poison Study was written from, as I was convinced it was close third person. I felt we learnt more about Valek through Yelena’s eyes than about Yelena herself. However, having read the second book, Magic Study, Yelena’s growth as a character is more noticeable. The secondary characters, Yanco and Ari, quickly became two of my favourite sidekicks. The scenes with them show another side of Yelena: slightly softer and fun-loving. 

I really enjoyed this book; it’s a different kind of fantasy than I usually read – less magic, but more political intrigue. 

Score

9/10

Recommended to…

The set up of the story reminded me of Throne of Glass, with a slightly less deadly heroine. If you enjoyed the ‘poison training’ aspect, you might enjoy Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. 

Followed by…

Magic Study

Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas

Book one in Throne of Glass. First published August 2nd 2012 by Bloomsbury.

Genre: Fantasy

Note: To view spoilers, highlight the white text.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name’s Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I’d still beat you, no matter what you call me.”

Throne of Glass revolves around Calaena Sardothien, an eighteen-year-old assassin serving a life sentence in the salt mines of Endovier. That is, until she is dragged before the Crown Prince and his Captain of the Guard. Prince Dorian offers her a chance at freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

I’ve read many conflicting reviews about Throne of Glass, and they all hinge around one fact: whether you like Celaena or not.

Personally, I loved Celaena as a character, which might be why I devoured the book in record time. She’s arrogant, petty, self-obsessed, judgmental, sometimes emotional and vulnerable. She’s obviously not written to be liked, which makes me like her more: she feels real and relatable. Calaena is, after all, an eighteen-year-old girl. You have to expect her to act her age at some points. The downside to this was that sometimes she could be too perfect. I wanted to find just one flaw which is why I burst out laughing when Chaol told her she snored like a bear.

The first chapter – in the mines – had me hooked. I wanted to know what crimes an eighteen-year-old girl could have committed to end up in such a dire situation. I was also drawn to her blood-thirsty nature, not many young female characters are like Calaena and it was a welcome change. I love that she can be ruthless in one moment and then turn around and gush over a pretty dress the next second. The competition was interesting to read about, but I was disappointed there weren’t any more women involved in it.  At times it didn’t feel like a competition, so much as a means for Calaena to show off how talented she was. I never once doubted that Calaena would end up winning the competition. Her training sessions with Chaol, however, did add to her character and at those times she didn’t feel as perfect or arrogant as in other parts of the novel.

I liked the introduction of the Wyrd and the deeper mystery surrounding the glass castle. It added another layer to the story you can see leading into the following books of the series. As for supporting characters, I was glad when Nehemia was introduced as such a strong female character, and love her development in the next book. She seems to ground Calaena, becoming very central to her life. The villains seemed too obvious, which was a shame. There was so much potential for a well constructed antagonist. At times , I felt that the book was just a set up to the following novels in the series. The king could’ve been built up to be more threatening. I hope that in the following books we get to see an eviler side to him. For now, he just seems to sit on his throne plotting and give both Calaena and Dorian the creeps.

I’ve read many complaints about the love triangle. I didn’t find it that distracting myself – there wasn’t that much focus on it. I found there to be a nice balance between the competition and the romance, and the eventual outcome of the ‘triangle’ felt quite organic to me almost to the point that I didn’t even consider it a triangle.

I’m really glad my sister placed the books on my table and nagged me until I read them. I immediately started Crown of Midnight once I’d finished.

Score

7.5/10

Recommended to…

Lovers of fantasy involving some political intrigue, and also fantasy with strong female characters. If you enjoyed Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, this is a good follow-up series. Also check out The Assassin’s Curse if you enjoyed Throne of Glass.

Followed by…

Crown of Midnight

The Spirit Thief – Rachel Aaron

Book one of The Legend of Eli Monpress. First published October 1st 2010 by Orbit.

Note: To view spoilers, highlight the white text.

Genre: Fantasy

‘How did you get in here?’

‘How I got here isn’t important, because I could do it twenty times again, each time a different way.’

The Spirit Thief introduces Eli Monpress, the greatest thief in the world! Who also happens to be a wizard. It’s the first book in the series, setting up great characters and a rich world for them to interact with.

The plot is fast-paced, stopping enough for some necessary explanations about the world we are delving into. World building can be difficult to pull off, especially in the first novel of a fantasy series. The exposition in the story wasn’t overwhelming and fit seamlessly into conversation. There are still some things that require building on, but weren’t necessary to the plot of the first novel so hopefully we’ll learn more in later books.

The story kicks off with Eli kidnapping the king of Mellinor, in the hopes that this will raise the bounty on his head. This attracts the attention of the Spirit Court, who sends one of their members, Miranda, to find and bring Eli to justice.

The characters we’re introduced to quickly grab our attention. Eli is charming and seemingly carefree, but there is more to him, which emerges as the book progresses.  I’m particularly interested in seeing where his relationship with Benehime goes. Eli travels with a master swordsman, Josef, who carries an ancient ‘awakened’ blade that has chosen him as it’s bearer. This causes complications, as another master swordsman wishes to duel him. Nico, a young girl who is also a ‘demonseed’ or a spirit eater, completes the trio. She is dangerous when unleashed, and only Josef seems to have any semblance of power over her when she loses control. I’m looking forward to see them develop in the following books.

I loved the concept of magic in this world. The idea is that everything in the world is in possession of a spirit, and wizards are able to hear these spirit voices and exert their will over them. I haven’t come across a similar concept before, which immediately grabbed my attention. The story begins with Eli talking himself out of a cell by convincing the door to fall apart, setting a lighthearted tone for the rest of the book.

I love how differently Eli and Miranda interact with spirits. Eli chats up the spirits creating ‘goodwill’ as he puts it, making them happy to help him even without him asking. Miranda is a ‘spiritualist’ who enters into agreements with spirits in order for them to become her servants.

Overall, this is a very strong start to the series and I really look forward to reading more.

Score

9/10

Recommended to…

Lovers of fantasy looking for something a little more lighthearted. If you enjoyed the Chronicles of Elantra, The Legend of Eli Monpress is a good follow up series.

Followed by…

The Spirit Rebellion