Blog Tour: Cold Iron

Cold Iron
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher 

Aranthur is a student. He showed a little magical talent, is studying at the local academy, and is nothing particularly special. Others are smarter. Others are more talented. Others are quicker to pick up techniques. But none of them are with him when he breaks his journey home for the holidays in an inn. None of them step in to help when a young woman is thrown off a passing stage coach into the deep snow at the side of the road. And none of them are drawn into a fight to protect her.
One of the others might have realised she was manipulating him all along . . . 

Cold Iron has a darkly intriguing opening, that's atmospheric and serves to draw you in. Then you meet our main character Aranthur....he's definitely an interesting main character. He's a farm boy and I particularly liked the fact there was none of the usual "Chosen One" trope or him being the best of the best. He purely happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets tangled up in certain events. I also found it intriguing that he initially struggled with killing a man for the first time. 

He isn't the best student, and he works hard. He has school work, a part time job on top of the happenings of the plot. He is relatable, but I did find him to be a bit selfish at points, but then again at the same time I suppose I can't really blame him. He gets dragged in to various different things by the people he meets, some of these relationships mean he gets dragged in to politics for instance. There's a political conspiracy that's threatening to bring about a war and of course our boy Aranthur finds himself getting caught up in it. He goes on a pretty interesting journey throughout the book, like the synopsis says it's a coming of age story. 

The world of the book is intriguing, not only the magic system but while our characters use the good old fashioned sword....there's guns starting to make an appearance too. I definitely got Medieval vibes from the world but like I said...guns. The weapons provide a nice amount of action, as Aranthur is still learning how to use a sword so we get some duels. As for the world building...it was nicely done. 

The pacing was okay, I did find my mind wandering one or two times, but my main issue with the book which is possibly me being a bit sensitive or picky...is the fact that everyone referred to Aranthur's race of people...including our main character, as mongrels. I did side eye that word choice a bit.