Title: The Iron Wyrm AffairAuthor: Lilith Saintcrow
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk
Series: Bannon and Clare #1
Trade paperback, 320 pages
Published on August 7, 2012 by Orbit
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|AMAZON|BOOK DEPOSITORY|
Source: Publisher
|SUMMARY|
Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.
In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.
The game is afoot..
|REVIEW|
I am a big fan of steampunk/fantasy, and The Iron Wrym Affair’s cover sucked me
in. I’m thinking with a kick-butt cover like that, the story must be just as
good. Wrong. The book is somewhat package and said to be a steampunk novel in
an alternate Victorian England but I never got that. Yes, there were clockwork
horses, the mechanical wrym, and gadget terms thrown at readers but I don’t
think that qualifies as being ‘steampunk’. This is one of the most confusing
books I have ever read, like to the point where the book has ended and I still
am unsure of what I just read! This new world that Saintcrow created felt like
it was thrown together, without a clear structure or explanation. It’s as if
readers are supposed to understand everything that is presented in the book.
The
characters were another problem; I didn’t feel the connection to them or even
between them. Clare is suppose to be a great Mentath, a person that solves
problem and puzzles using method of deduction but half the time it sounded like
he was just rattling off on the obvious. I didn’t really need to read him
stating what readers can see for themselves. Then we have Bannon, who has trust
issue with her shield, Mikal (The man saved you countless of times, he isn’t
going to murder you!) Yes, we know you’re the most powerful prime sorceress in
Londinium and readers get reminded every few pages/or chapters which was quite
vexing in my opinion.
Overall not my cup of tea, there were way too much going on
and it confused me to the end. If you’re new the steampunk genre, or interested
in it…try another book. This is a pretty bad representation of steampunk, and I
wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea of the genre because they read this
book. I get authors creating their own world, and making up their own terms but
this was just a big mess. If you still want to check it out, I advised saving
your money by borrowing from a friend or from a library.
**Thank you Orbit for sending me a copy of this book for review**
FTC disclaimer: Orbit provided me with a copy of The Iron Wrym Affair, and in return I provide an honest review.
OMG I was actually thinking of the same thing. Great review. I love steampunk but this book is such a confusing maze that I had to struggle through. It's a DNF for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Primrose! Thanks :) Yeah, I almost didn't make it, I wanted to put it down soooo many times but felt obligated to finish and write the review (book received from the publisher). I love steampunk too, sadly this is a steampunk in disguise.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honest review. I guess I'll have to do a lot more research before I give this book a try - or maybe borrow from the library. :D
ReplyDeleteNo problem Barbara :) Yes a library would be a good idea!
ReplyDeleteAw... I should probably stop judging books by their covers. It was the cover that made me put this on my to-read list, not the plot. Yeah, I guess this going to be removed. I have characters who are so irritating and seem to think they are so that, when they're really not.
ReplyDeleteAngie @YA Novelties