A gritty and unique fantasy novel featuring Fae and goblins. Fae and goblins live together in the Iron City where Fae are subjugated by goblins. Fae aA gritty and unique fantasy novel featuring Fae and goblins. Fae and goblins live together in the Iron City where Fae are subjugated by goblins. Fae are forced to work in various jobs, including mining, where they are slowly being poisoned by iron in which they developed fatal cancers. The story follows various characters as they participate or are caught up in a rebel.
I loved the plot as it was the perfect blend of action, gore, violence and suspense. I was never sure what was going to happen as no character was safe from death. The ending was a surprise, I was hoping for a happily ever after but instead I’m giving a realistic ending where everything doesn’t get their Knight in shining armor or their dream castle.
The characters were great with a wide range of characters, species, and personalities. No character is truly good or bad and instead their choices are motivated by their desires and past. I really hate stereotypical bad guys in which they do bad things because their bad guys, so I was glad that wasn’t present here. There was a wide range of Fae species, so to casual fantasy readers they may get confused. I ended up Googling the various types of Fae as I was curious but this isn’t necessary to the story.
The world building was good but I wish a tad bit more history on the types of Fae and the war was added. A great prequel novel would be about the initial war between the Fae and goblins that occurred centuries ago.
Another random thing I liked was the chapter titles. They were satirically dark. Some of my favorite were “Three Assholes Walk Into a Bar”, or “The View From Rock Bottom”.
Overall this was a great dark fantasy novel. Normally I’m not a fan of dark fantasy (too much gore) but I enjoyed this novel as I loved the premise of the story. I would strongly recommend this novel to dark fantasy fans.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for this ARC. ...more
A great novel that followed three main characters from different walks of life. All three characters either currently reside in Cache (the main city) A great novel that followed three main characters from different walks of life. All three characters either currently reside in Cache (the main city) or recently vacated the city. Although the city was supposed to be a utopia where every citizen contributed and was taken care of in return, cracks were starting to show.
Evie, a strong and determined woman, is forced to join the mysterious Savage Legion after she is caught up in a bar fight. The Savage Legion consists of Cache’s unwanted and are thrown at their enemies with no regard for their lives. In these portions of the novel I learned a lot more about the darker side to Cache and how the “utopia” wasn’t as perfect as the leaders wanted the citizens to believe.
Lexie is a politician who was trying to keep her Gen together after her husband went missing. Some portions were a slow as there was more description and less action, compared to Evie’s. I loved the addition of her bodyguard, Taru, who is Undeclared as his gender is non-defined.
The last main character is Slider, a disabled homeless girl who is given another chance at life after being picked up by the police. Instead of disappearing, as numerous undesirable citizens do, she joins the Planning Committee whose job it is to better the city and its citizens through new inventions. Although I found Slider boring at times (some of the initiation trials was dull) I found her sections the most informative as the true dark side of Cache is revealed and why.
Overall this was a good fantasy novel that took me a bit to get into. I found it was hard to get into and dragged a bit (lots of political talk) but I loved the suspense. The slow reveal of the true face of Cache and its secrets had me hooked. There are plenty of battles and gory sections so readers be warned....more
This novel had a slow start with not enough background information given. I didn't realize this series follows another series, The Faithful and the FaThis novel had a slow start with not enough background information given. I didn't realize this series follows another series, The Faithful and the Fallen series. However, even though everything is explained throughout the novel I still felt like I was missing important details, like why the Ben-Elim having a dark side was so terrible.
The plot was okay, there was a good amount of action and suspense. The foreshadowing/prophecy elements integrated into the novel were very well written. I didn't like the characters are I found them one-dimensional and stupid overall. Most of their actions I was questioning as they were out of character for themselves or just nonsensical.
In conclusion, this is an okay epic fantasy with great emphasis on swords and battles and little attention given to magic or romance. Not my favorite fantasy genre, hence the lower rating.
Thanks to Pan MacMilian and Netgalley for the ARC. ...more
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