Review : The Iron King
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Pages : 363
Genre : YA, Fantasy
Series : Iron Fey, Book 1
My Rating : 
What it’s about :
Megan Chase’s life has never been exactly normal; her father disappeared before her eyes when she was a kid, she has a hard time fitting in and her only friend is a prankster. When really strange things start to happen, and Megan starts to question her own sanity. Then things take a dramatic turn on her sixteenth birthday and Megan embarks on a journey to save her brother, where she discovers a whole new world she had never suspected to exist.
I feel that my summary is specially bad this time around; there was just too much happening in this book, so I just went with the most general summary I could write. But there are plenty of great summaries (and great reviews!) on Goodreads if you want to find out more.
So, it’s never been a secret that faeries and I, we don’t get along as well as, say, vampires and I. Or werewolves and I. Or Zombies and I. You get the picture; faeries are pretty much at the bottom of my list of “favorite fantasy creatures”. It might be that I had two bad experiences with Tithe and Wings. Or maybe I’m just not into faeries!
The point I’m trying to make is, I had every reason not to like this book. I was prepared not to, but I picked it up anyway because it received so many great reviews! Also, the covers are gorgeous, and you all know I’m very weak when it comes to resisting fantastic covers. I’m glad I did; after reading it, I think faeries and I are on a good path to reconciliation.
The Iron King was, before anything, an adventure story. As I said, there are so many things happening I wouldn’t know where to begin! The story starts a little slow, but when it does, it doesn’t stop until the very last page. The author did not loose time describing every part of every day, which means the book had something new to offer on almost every page. Of course, the traditional love triangle does make an appearance, but while it’s on Megan’s mind, it isn’t her main focus. She’s there to save her brother, and although naive at times, I admired her dedication.
Also, I have to mention Kagawa’s unique imagination when it comes to world-building. The world she created was fascinating. I did find the story a bit uneven when it came to keeping my interest, but again, I believe it was mostly a result of my usual disinterest for faeries.
I will be reading at least the second book in the series, and hopefully my enjoyment will continue on to book 3! There’s also a novella, Winter’s Passage, which I have on my e-reader and will of course read.
Series Reading Order :
- The Iron King
- Winter’s Passage (novella)
- The Iron Daughter
- The Iron Queen
This book is WAY out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed it and I’m glad to see you did too.
i have this book already sitting on my book shelf. glad to see that you like the book. i’m looking forward to reading it now.
Kathy : It was a bit out of my comfort zone, too, so it speaks a lot of Kagawa’s talent that we both still enjoyed this one!
Toothy : I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on it, too! 🙂
i’ve finished reading the first two books, and they were amazing. it took me by surprise, although it wasn’t my favorite YA paranormal book. any recommendations for a similar book?
I love stories about the fae. I have searched hungrily for more of these fantastic tales. Here is a list of great reads that I have incorporated into my ever increasing collection:
Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside: Holly Black
The Wicked Lovely series: Melissa Marr
The Iron Fey series: Julie Kagawa
The Artemis Fowl series: Eoin Colfer
Fablehaven: Brandon Mull
Faerie Wars: Herbie Brennan
The Iron Witch: Karen Mahoney
Fairy Tale: Cyn Balog
The Wee Free Men: Terry Pratchett
The Merry Gentry series: Laurell K Hamilton
Again these are just a few of the wonderful books I have found, but each of them bring their own satifying flavor to the world of faeries.
hm, i definitely have read some of them, several of which are the ones by Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Julie Kagawa. I shall most eagerly check up on the other series. But i have been addicted to those really good supernatural/paranormal love stories; got any reccomendations? You should try The Tiger’s Curse series by Colleen Houck. It’s what I’m reading now, and rather captivating(:
I will check it out 🙂 If you like romance novels, Laurell K Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series is definately the way to go. Plenty of sexy faerie knights to make you drool!
Hi, somehow I missed your question back in February, but I am glad another reader stumbled upon it to give you some recommendations! The more the better, right? And I couldn’t have recommended a better list than Kaylyn’s when it comes to stories about the fae; many of these titles are on my own TBR list, and some I didn’t even know about! 🙂
As for other types of paranormal YA, do you have a favorite type of writing or creatures? I have loved Cynthia Hands’ two “Unearthly” novels, which have angels and a love triangle. A favorite of 2011 would be “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Laini Taylor : it is very different from the usual paranormal/fantasy YA, with an epic love story! “Incarnate”, by Jodi Meadows, is unique too, though it is a bit more fantasy: again, the romance takes an important place in this one.
There’s also a lot dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels on the YA shelves right now, but i don’t know if that’s your thing or not?
I have to make a confession. So, I’m a huge nerd and play dungeons and dragons…. and I’ve been working on creating a campaign that is based upon this series. I even made character pages for Oberon, Mab, Ash, Puck, and Grim. #sadlittlefangirl
Oh! I haven’t played D&D in a couple years (sadly) but I could absolutely see this turned into a great campaign! Are you taking inspiration only for the characters and the world or from the story too? (I hope you don’t mind my curiosity! 🙂 )
I will definitely check out the Merry Gentry series. I have also read Laurell K. Hamilton’s other series, the Anita Blake ones, and they’re definitely something you want to sink your teeth into; literally. Lili St. Crows series is an amazing author, someone you’d love. She’s also written many paranormal series, including the ever famous YA Strange Angels Series, and the Jill Kismet Series, and the Dante Valentine series, which are absolutely to die for. Check it out guys!(:
As for the D&D campaign, I’m taking from the characters and from the story. Of course I have to make my own tweaks to make it a playable campaign. Dungeons and Dragons does have its own set of rules of course. Also, another book series to check out: Fallen by Lauren Kate. <— angels.
I read a lot of interesting articles here. Probably you spend a lot of time writing,
i know how to save you a lot of work, there is an online tool that creates unique, google friendly posts
in minutes, just type in google – laranitas free content source