Title:  The iron Knight [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Julie Kagawa [website] [twitter]
Genre:  Fantasy
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: The Iron Fey
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: violence
Teachable Moments: identity, perseverance

“The dream.  My stomach turned, and I clutched the railing to remain steady on my feet.  I remembered the dream.  Killing Mab.  Ruling Winter.  Waging war.  Blood and death and violence, the hollow, ravenous void that threatened to drag me down and swallow me whole.  Fighting the Iron Queen.  Dying by her hand.”

Summary (from the publisher):
My name — my True Name — is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining sone of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.

And I am Dead to her.

My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

Opinion:
There is a reason why The Iron Fey series is one of my favorites — it’s fantastically plotted and characterized by Julie Kagawa.

Kudos abound for her ability to bring a certain freshness to characters with each new book all while maintaining a thread of consistency found throughout the larger series.  The progression of Ash, Meghan and Puck’s characters from the first through this last has been steadfast and incremental in a way that (thankfully) kept me from experiencing whiplash.  This doesn’t mean there were no OMG moments or that there wasn’t spontaneity just that it was appropriately done.

Furthermore, Kagawa was equally shrewd in creating an interesting progression to the ongoing plot. The central focus of the story, though not my favorite of the series, was not stale nor was it repetitive.  For the fourth book in a series it was surprisingly unique from it’s predecessors.  Again, there are some similarities placed within to anchor the whole (namely the war between the courts, the idea that monarchs from any faction should not co-mingle romantically, etc) but the fact that none of these was the sole focus of the plot goes to provide consistency and orientation as opposed to repetition.

Iron Knight is a story about Ash vowing to find a way to be with his love Meghan, who had (to her admitted detriment) left him for the betterment of all their respective Courts.  At it’s root the series is a love story, but what Kagawa did really well was make it so much more.  It wasn’t some schmoopy over-wrought gagfest where the girl was falling all over herself to win the boy or the boy was gagging to get in the girl’s pants.  It was a darker story where more than a fair share of challenges and obstacles were placed in the way of friend and foe as all tried to find their way to a happy resolution.  This, is what kept me coming back again and again.  It also kept me tremendously satisfied.

All that said, let me get to the business of this particular story.  Be forewarned, it will be near impossible for me to review this book without spoilers from here on out so read on at your own risk.

The Iron Knight is Ash’s story, a shift from the previous three books where the main focus was always on Meghan’s journey.  As a fan of Ash I wasn’t upset by that turn of events but do admit that the shocking lack of Meghan had me questioning whether I was liking it as much as the others.  That is until I got about halfway through, once I was able to fully embrace her absence and that this was his story and his story alone I was better able to connect to it.

The biggest take-away from this book that had me a little ill-at-ease was the re-appearance of Ash’s first love Ariella.  I was a bit put off by the conflicting feelings Ash was experiencing and at times felt like he was proclaiming his love for Meghan more out of obligation than anything else.  It took me awhile to get into the hows and whys of it all but in the end his inner turmoil made sense and made for a more realistic story.   I also attribute some of my discomfort to the fact that I couldn’t quite get with the program on Ariella as an independent character.  She was a bit monotone and flat.  This could be because I was comparing her to Meghan who is far more dynamic or it could be that the circumstances surrounding her presence made it so.  In the end, I suppose it was likely a combination of the two which ultimately kept me at arms length.

Having said that, one of the best parts of this book was seeing the relationship between Puck and Ash explored.  I hesitate to say it expanded as I believe there was always a form of friendship between them, but it was focused on more intensely and thoroughly here.  I enjoyed seeing their interactions and how they related to each other in different ways than before.  I liked how their relationship was built up from the animosity of previous books to the tentative collaboration to what I perceived as genuine and lasting friendship.  Sure, Puck was his usual annoying self but that is part of his charm and seeing the direct opposition to that in Ash was a good dynamic in a book that had it’s fair share of dark and twisty times.

All in all I found this book a winner.  I won’t spoil the outcome for you but will say that it was appropriate to the story in this book and the series as a whole.  Kagawa wasn’t afraid to take risks or embrace the unexpected which made for an interesting ride right up until the bitter end.  It’s fun, challenging, action oriented and has a great love story with a fitting end.