The Iron Ghost

The Iron Ghost
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr!

Wydrin the Copper Cat of Crosshaven, Sir Sebastian and Lord Aaron Frith are experienced in danger and dealing with the old Gods, what with how they defeated them and everything. The three are now enjoying the perks of being very, ridiculously popular, with their services well in demand. They soon find themselves travelling to the distant Skaldshollow, with what's promising to be an easy quest, and more importantly, easy coin, they can even enjoy some nice mountain air and some lovely views.

That is....until an old demon buddy of Sebastians decides to make a comeback and, feeling lonely, decides to resurrect his old crazy mage buddy, who decides Frith is going to be his new bro, promptly kidnaps him and then brings them all a world of trouble with his general cray cray. Not to mention the new buddies they make in the mountains out of a rather interesting race of people, the thieves who stole the item our trio where sent to retrieve. And by buddies I mean they hate them with a burning passion and try to kill them, but it's all good cos they have cool Wyverns!

It's up to our trio, with the help of a Prince and a girl with a rather...unusual talent, not to mention some stones that like to take casual strolls and a ghost, to stop this utterly crazy mage, and restore the world to rights. But with enemies, old and new, all over the place, it's going to be very...challenging.

Sorry, I'll get to the review in a minute but OH MY GOD IT HAPPENED! WYDRIN AND FRITH...FINALLY! FREAKING FINALLY OMG IT WAS SO CUTE AND OMG I WANTED TO BANG THEIR HEADS TOGETHER BUT FINAAALLLLYYY! Now I need another book to satisfy my cravings for this extensive and enchanting world, because I hate leaving it and I already want to go back and it's not just because I need more Wydrin and Frith!

I LOVED The Copper Promise when it came out, seriously loved it, and I didn't realise there was a second book of sorts, so you can imagine my feelings when I found about this book and I'm so grateful that the publisher sent me a copy because it was everything I was hoping for and more.

I still love Wydrin, she's still my favourite, she cracks me up all the time, and I'm always laughing out loud at everything she says and does and she's so perfect, and there where a couple of heart stopping moments for me when I was like "hell no that didn't happen!". Each character is so well written and full of depth and a bit more of them was explored in this book, but nevertheless Wydrin is still my fave! I do like the other three, but she's the best. I do feel it's time for Sebastian to get his happy ending now, can we find him a bloke please!? I was all excited for him in this book and then it was like "aw noooo!".

Each character, when we met them, had a complicated backstory, there's little bits that are added, but it's more in the present and the aftermath of what happened after their big battle with the ugly dragon. I was kinda sad, because I loved all the backstory's and wanted to see more of the character's lives, especially Wydrins because, hello.....pirates, but I still loved the story nevertheless.

There's a smidgen of romance, squint and you'll miss it, but that's what makes it so perfect, especially when it's thrown in, it's so subtle and not even secondary to the story like....fourthly or something. It's so well done. I heart Frith and Wydrin.

We get different POV's again, and like in CP, each is very well done, and the switches are always done at the perfect time. We even travel back in time at certain bits to see what happened with Sebastian and the Sisters after events of CP. I love the POV changes because it keeps the story fresh, and the narrative engaging and for me I can't imagine the story without the POV's because there's so much going on in the plot, and the group isn't always together so we need a way to see what's going on in different places with different characters.

The world continues to be well written, well created, and utterly absorbing and enchanting. I get sucked in right from the first page, and the world is clearly so extensive, and we got to see a little bit more of it in this book, and I'm still eager for more. It's original, it's magical, it's enchanting, it's an incredibly written and imaginative world, and it's one you can get lost in for hours, and daydream about and think about when you've finished reading, not to mention the characters that are so colourful, they decorate the richly created world like diamonds on a tiara.

Our trio of heroes really develop even more in this book and come in to their own, and this book has every bit of the old school quest vibe that Copper Promise did! Each chapter leaves you wanting more, it's beautifully written and so descriptive, and the plot is so complex, and there's so much going on you can't put the book down, not to mention how hard it is to guess what's going to happen next. There where plot twists left, right and centre, and I found myself just rolling with it, being shocked and feeling all the feels, rather than even attempting to guess what was going to happen! I'm still devastated about a certain death in the book though, I mean really...did you have to? It's like Dobby all over again *ugly sobbing*

Everything you loved in the first book, the magic, the griffins, the adventure, the action, all the unique and original things that made you love CP are all present here, except we also get some really cool looking walking stone statue thingies, which where awesome! Each element and little side plot, or plot thread are all woven together to create this incredibly rich and intriguing plot that never has a dull moment.

Iron Ghost is a fantastic continuation from Copper Promise, you're immediately right back with the characters in their world, you know what's been going on without spending pages reading a "previously" kinda bit, little tidbits give you what you need to know.

Iron Ghost is atmospheric and vivid, the world continues to be imaginative and rich, with a rich history and mythology and colourful, well written and complex characters, that all combine to suck you in to the world and keep you enchanted up until the very last page. You'll be left wanting more, more of the characters and their....relationships *coughWydrin&Frithcough*, more of the world, more of the magic, more of the adventure, more of the laughs and more of the mayhem. I need another book more than something I really need, I can't think of anything right now that's not too over dramatic! I just need more!

The Copper Promise

The Copper Promise
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy!
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr

So, I'm gonna start this off a little differently. In case you aren't aware, The Copper Promise is 4 books in one, so this is a story in four parts. I feel like the synopsis for this only really covers the first part of the book, which is no good at all if you want to know what to expect!

Our journey starts with part one where we see Lord Frith, crippled after being tortured and thought dead, meeting with two sell swords. The Copper Cat, aka Wydrin who happens to be a bit of a card shark, and her companion Sir Sebastian, a Knight kicked out of his order. Frith wants revenge against the people who killed his family, and the secrets at the bottom of the Citadel are going to help him get it...and Sebastian and Wydrin of course. Frith finds what he's looking for and gets the means to his revenge, the mage's power, but the trio are tricked in to opening the last seals and releasing the last God left standing after they're trapped in the Citadel. A God called Y'Ruen who happens to be dragon shaped and who has a rather unusual army.

We continue the adventure in part two, dumped by Frith's magic in the middle of the forest, the trio stumble upon Pinehold, a town that's under the horrendous rule of Fane, the man who ordered the Frith family destroyed. Being the greedy villain he is, Fane is determined to find out the location of the Frith vault....as the residents of the village are finding out...he's methods aren't pleasant. With Friths magic out of control, the trio have to resort to more...explosive ways to free the town, and avoid being captured and killed by Fane and his Children of the Fog.

Part three see's our trio disbanded. After finding the location of the vault, Frith has set out to find the Nowhere Isles, the place where the forbidden texts, and the words he needs to know to control his magic, are located. Sebastian has gone after the dragon, and Wydrin is off home in search of her brother and more trouble. After a job involving pirates goes wrong, Wydrin is tracked down by dead man walking Gallo, and the two set off to find Sebastian aboard her brothers pirate ship. Meanwhile Sebastian is tracking the brood army when he stumbles upon a contingent of his old Order, and a mission, to find the enchanted armour they need to fight the army. In the Nowhere Isles, Frith is being tutored by a mystic called Jolnir, and is swiftly learning to control his magic. But when one is attacked by a dragon, another makes a deal with a demon, and the third stumbles across a fifth God no-one knew about...they need each others help even more.

The final part of our story concludes with Wydrin seeking out Frith for help, and at the same time being given a mission by a God, a way to destroy Y'Ruen to be precise. After picking up Sebastian along the way, our adventurers travel to a Gods Rookery, retrieve some rather suspect clues. But before they deal with the Dragon, Frith is determined to have his revenge, and an old foe shows up to cause trouble for Wydrin. Can the all stop bickering long enough to do what needs to be done to get rid of Y'Ruen once and for all?

So yeah....it's safe to say the plot is very complex, but don't let that put you off! Some concentration is required but you don't need to be sitting there making notes or anything! Don't let the size of the book put you off either! It really is a genuine quest story, featuring one of the best ragtag band of heroes I've come across!

"Follow me, Lord Frith and associated untrustworthies." 

The Copper Promise jumps straight in to the thick of it, and from there it's very fast paced, before you know it you're zooming through the book and it's over! I know you're looking at the size of the book and the amount of pages, and you're worrying about having to slog through it or it being hard to read, but fear not! The chapters are small which helps but unlike quite a lot of fantasy, the language is easy understand and read, there's no complicated pages of backstory, it's written very concisely, but still gives you a good amount of backstory and hitory but eked out over the book instead of giant info dumps. It's very concise for a fantasy to be honest!

The world is incredibly well built by the author. It's atmospheric, it's vivid and it sucks you straight in. It's incredibly imaginative, and you can see that in every aspect of the book not just the world created, but it really gives your imagination a workout. The world is incredibly expansive, there's plenty of other "realms" or "lands" hinted at, the opportunity for further exploration is definitely there.

The Copper Promise is as I said, fast paced, and the writing is so beautiful and descriptive the entire way through! The flow the book is so slick. We get multi POV's in Copper Promise, mostly Frith, Wydrin and Sebastian, but from part two we get the POV of the thirty-third one of the soldiers, and we also get the POV's of various other secondary characters. No matter the character, the narrative flows smoothly from point of view to point of view, and keeps you engaged the entire way through. Some of them are delightfully creepy!

Each POV was done very well, I loved getting to see the characters from each others perspective, as well as the event, although for part three it came in handy so you could keep  up with what was going on with all of them instead of one character! Some of the POV's where simply fascinating, others where kind of creepy, but all where written fantastically.

Each part is ended leaving you needing to know more, I mean the ending of Part One was chill inducingly powerful. Then there was the incredibly creepy opening chapter from the POV of the thirty-third, and it just goes on!

"One day, child, you will learn that the written word is powerful precisely because anyone can use it." 

Each and every one of the main three characters is written with incredible detail, they each have a complex backstory, which you get little parts of as we journey with them through the story. They have incredible depth. The characters, including the secondary ones, all jump off the page, they all have interesting/colourful personalities each different from the other and they're all equally as complex, you end up loving all three of them and even a couple of the secondary ones!

I think Wydrin has to be my favourite character, I really loved her. Her love for knives was a little quirk that made you like her all the more, as well as her love of a good fight! She's just so loud and loveable and she makes you laugh again and again! Her friendship with Sebastian was interesting seeing as she's kind of reckless and always gets in to trouble, but Sebastian is more level headed and always has her back. Sebastian was interesting because despite being kicked out of his Order, he still wants to help people, he still has honour. Not to mention his bizarre connection to the thirty third.  Frith, well, I liked him, he was quite badass at times but he came across as a sulky child more than once and he's totally out for revenge which is understandable, but he does help others despite the cost to him so he's not totally selfish.
I also really loved Jarath, and I really need more of him because I loved his relationship with Wydrin. And he's a pirate, so there's that!

There's so much to love in the book, there's magic, dragons, weird lizards, Griffins, a woman who can make magic glass which is totally awesome! Every aspect of the book is incredibly unique. That's not including the Gods and the pirates and assorted other unsavouries.

The plot is complex, there's a lot going on and there's plots within plots, but it all comes back to getting rid of the dragon in the end. In the meantime you get little side stories, each expertly woven together, and flowing on from each other smoothly as the story follows it's course to the end. The plot is incredibly rich with so much woven in to it, the plot points, the arcs, the characters and everything. There's also a very rich history to the world that's been created, woven in to the story expertly, you get hints, little tidbits, legends that are mentioned or concisely told by the characters to each other.

The plot twists and reveals come out of nowhere and take you by surprise, they pretty much leave you shocked and astounded by the new information or new direction of the story.

For all you romance fans, there's even a liiiiittle bit of that. I'm sure you can guess it's Wydrin and Frith, but it's not the main focus of the book. In the beginning it's little things and you kind of see it happening subtly, then near the end it's like "Okay it's really happening!". I was incredibly raaaaaaaahhh about the almost kiss! Come ooonnnnn they need some happy!

I still think there could be more to this, I think there could be other books, I mean it was left kind of open ended with Wydrin and Frith and the whole brood army training issue, I'd personally love to see another one and see more of the world from the book!

The Copper Promise is an engaging and entertaining quest story, with a complex plot made up of many threads, and featuring lively and colourful characters you can't help but love, magic, crazy gadgets, demons and bizarre creatures! It's impossible to put down to be honest, and unique to the core. An imaginative and different read, perfect for when you want something a little bit special!