About.com Rating
Although The Iron Fey series was originally intended as a trilogy, according to author Julie Kagawa, when book three ended, Our Heroes didn't have a happy ending. The Iron Knight changes that, but only after a lot of emotionally-wrenching story.
Publication Information
- Full Title:The Iron Knight
- Series: The Iron Fey (#4)
- Author: Julie Kagawa
- Publisher: Harlequin Teen (US), Mira Ink (UK)
- Publication Date: 2011
- ISBN: 978-0-373-21036-7 (US paperback), 978-1-848-45060-8 (UK paperback), 978-1-459-21533-7 (ebook), B005JSJU2M (US Kindle ASIN), B005NKA5KW (UK Kindle ASIN)
A Change of View
At the end of The Iron Queen, Winter fey prince Ash vowed to find a way to return to Meghan in the Iron Realm, and The Iron Knight is the story of his quest. He's joined by Summer fey trickster Puck and the enigmatic cat Grimalkin, and they set out to find out how a faery can gain a soul in order to endure the touch of iron.
Because this is Ash's story, and Meghan is left behind in the Iron Realm to learn how to be a queen, the series has to switch point of view for this volume. Instead of being told in Meghan's voice, The Iron Knight is in Ash's voice. It could have proved a difficult choice, because Ash is not human, and doesn't have a human's perspective or moral code. But it works. (Better than Puck's narration in "Summer's Crossing") In fact, I think I enjoyed The Iron Knight more than any of the previous books.
A Change of Heart
I mentioned in my review of The Iron Queen that I liked Puck as a character less and less with each book. He seemed to become less cute and more annoying -- and sometimes even kind of an ass. But he redeemed himself considerably in this book. He was not only fun again, but proved to be a loyal friend.
And readers learn a whole lot more about Ash, too, making him -- in my view -- the best character in the series (aside from Grimalkin, who steals every scene he's in). He has a very long past, much of it lived emotionlessly, as the perfect Unseelie Prince of Winter, and he did a lot of nasty, even evil, things. Kudos to Kagawa for keeping him sympathetic even when detailing his cruelties.
A Change of Pace
All of the books in The Iron Fey series have been, at heart, quest narratives. The characters need to find or accomplish something, and the story details how they do it. The Iron Knight felt like it was even more of a quest, almost a role-playing-game story, where there are a series of things that have to be done in the right order to get to the final challenge.
That sort of plot structure was almost a cliché back in the days I first started reading fantasy, but it can work well, if the writer can overcome its limitations. I wondered if, in this case, the structure was a case of Kagawa's inner video-gamer manifesting in her writing. It's kind of underlined, too, but some chapters that felt a lot like sections from an action-adventure game. That's not a complaint, though, I'm a gamer too, and I loved the visual images those chapters created.
Not a Change of Mind
Although I quite liked the series anyway, the changes made to the way the stories are told -- point of view, plot, etc -- help to keep the story fresh, and I'm eager to keep reading along for however many more books Kagawa chooses to write.
The Iron Knight is, I think, the strongest novel of the series (so far), though I can't really suggest it as a starting point for those who haven't read any of the books yet. Some readers might be fine without all the backstory from the previous three books, but I think most will find a lot of Ash's motivation missing if they don't read all of them.