Words on The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (The Iron Fey #4)

Faeries
Mar 17, 2015
5 min read

After the battle for the Nevernever, the false iron king has been defeated and Meghan Chase has taken her rightful place as the true Iron Queen. Meg has retreated to her new home in the Iron Realm. Due to the Iron Realm's lethal qualities to normal fey, the Summer and Winter courts cannot step foot in the young queen's kingdom, and this includes Puck and Ash, two of her closest companions.

But this is Ash we're talking about, and the winter prince isn't going to let something as silly and trivial as an entire kingdom that could easily kill him could prevent him from keeping his promise to stand by Meg no matter what, and he'll do anything it takes to keep his vow and be with the girl he loves. The only way for him to survive the Iron Realm is to become mortal, and that means that he's going to need to find a soul. While it will be difficult to find one, it is not impossible, and Ash sets out to find a soul, determined to pursue his quest to the ends of the Nevernever and beyond that, if need be.

Ash, along with Puck, Grim, and several others, begin their long and daunting quest. Along the way, they meet up with The Wolf, who is awesome, and The Seer, who is not nearly as awesome. All of the unlikely traveling companions will set out farther into the Nevernever than ever before.

Ash, of course, continues to be awesome. I really wish I could pronounce his true name, though. Honestly, who's cruel enough to name their kid Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn? Can you imagine what the poor boy would have gone through, learning how to spell something like that back in preschool? He's really sweet, and it's awesome to see how much he cares about Meg. The book's from his point of view, (POV) so I liked being able to see inside his head. He has a lot more to say than what he usually contributes to a conversation in the series, and he's not so closed off to the world anymore, so I got to know him as a character a little better. He's brave, of course, but also a little frustrated. He's scared he'll fail and not be able to win a soul, and he wishes that it was an easier thing to do. But he's also so determined, willing to do whatever it takes.

Puck came along, and he and Ash seem to get along okay. There were a few rocky parts where Ash lost it a bit and there were a couple death threats thrown around, but they fought suprisingly little. I wonder if Puck has come to terms with Meg and Ash being together, but it must still hurt to see the girl who's friendzoned you forso long kissing the guy who swore to kill you. Not a nice feeling, I bet. Puck always has time for a wisecrack, and I wonder if he uses his humor to push back his negative emotions, since he sometimes cares more than he lets on.

A for The Seer, she's an old friend of Ash and Puck. She's insightful, but she regrets some things she did in the past and wishes that she could change them. Even so, she aknowledges that what's done is done, and right now she has to help Ash and co. on their quest. She's a bit jealous of the friends that the boys have, and she resents the relationship that Ash and Meghan are in and envies Ash's feelings for the Iron Queen.

The Wolf is terrifying, but giant wolves are awesome. That needs to be a general rule, with the exception of Twilight, in which case, giant wolves are awful. Attractive, but awful. (Besides, Jacob always looks like he got hit in the face with a sack of coins.) The Wolf is cunning and strong, and Ash sould be glad that he's not on Wolf's opposite side, because he's not someone you want as an enemy. He's always looking fow ways to become stronger, and he's motivated by power. If anything, he has a disturbing fixation with decapitations. Whenever someone insults him/makes him angry, it's his go-to. "Rip of your head", "Bite of your head", "Tear off your head", etc. You get the picture.

Saving the best for last, there's Grimalkin. Hes' totally happy with himself, and Grim's embraced his darker, less pleasant half completley. The cat is, as always, dignified and intelligent, convinced of his superiority, and snobby in a strangely endearing way. Much like The Wolf embodies all wolves and humans' views of them, I just realized that Grim embodies all cats with his attitude towards life and his personality, down to the detail that he refers to himself as superior to "the dog" (The Wolf). The Wolf and GRim don't hate each other as much as they seem to, though, and I think that might be another thing that has to do with cats and dogs in real life, suggesting that they don't really hate each other that much after all.

Another thing I noticed about this book the second time around was how warm and fuzzy it makes me feel. Well, okay - I got that the first time. Only now did I stop and ponder why. It's a combination of the humor, romance, and action, I think. Not to mention, all the dramatic character entrances certainly doesn't hurt, either.

The back of my copy features a Nevernever survival guide, and there is a passage I really enjoyed:

"If you chance upon a big, grey cat, you probably owe him a favor. Even if you do not remember the favor, do it anyway. In the long run, you will do it, but it will be far less painful if you do it up front."

Something tells me that Grim might have wrote that in there. The wording sounds like him, and since it's mentioned in the first place, he must have had a say in adding it to the guide.

This was a great book. The series is very, very good, and this edition didn't let me down with my high expectations. The change in point of view from Meghan to Ash was interesting and allowed me to lean more about him as a character. There was a perfect blend of humor, romance, and action to keep me hooked, and I couldn't put the book down! The ending was satisfying, and I can't wait to get my claws on the next book in the series. 4.7/5 stars.