Iron Fey (1) - Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Iron Fey (1) - Iron King by Julie Kagawa (In German Plötzlich Fee Sommernacht, French La princesse maudite). I read it in German where it contained 495 pages. Girls, 12 upwards. Originally published 2010.
All Meghan ever has to worry about is the people in school making fun of her and her stepfather forgetting her existence. But it's her sixteenth birthday – now she will become a woman, won't she, she will have adventure, romance... won't she? Yes. But not as she thought. When Meghan's five-year-old brother is abducted by a creature from the faerie world. In order to save him, Meghan has to follow him to the Court of Oberon... and make a few life-changing deals, like the one with the Winter Prince Ash... Who happens to be the arch-enemy of Meghan's best friend – the Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream...
Okay, first of all: Why the hell is Ash in love with Meghan? Seriously, she's annoying! Sure, she has a lot to cope with. Her brother has been abducted, not to mention the fact that fey really do exist and she is one! But seriously, she's so uncool about it! She's always afraid and just... GAH! I mean, how dumb are you if you make a deal with a creature from the faerie world? MULTIPLE times?! Okay, the first time, she didn't know about the deals with the fey. All good and well. But then? She just throws favours away, totally unthinking. She doesn't even try to negotiate about the conditions! Doesn't she know the fairy tales? The one where the poor farmer's daughter has to give up her first born because she made a deal to make straw to gold? Seriously, this stuff is common knowledge! Don't jump off high cliffs, don't put your hand in fire, don't try to repair a lamp when it's on, don't make deals with fey – especially not blanco cheque-deals!
Okay, so far, so good. Otherwise, Meghan isn't that bad. Okay, she's winy and she really got on my nerves from time to time. But she's decisive and when she has an aim, she does everything in her power to get to it. I like how she frees herself, she really is powerful. Oh, and she tells people what to do. I like that. Even though I'm sorry for the Puck. He's in love with her, and he was her best friend – always there for her etc. But she treats him like a servant most of the time! She really is a princess by birth – and I don't mean that as a compliment.
By the way, I like the Puck. He's got humour, takes nothing seriously (except for Ash) and he's resourceful. A good companion.
Ash himself is, of course, the enigmatic, dark-haired stranger the girl falls in love with – I have to admit, Meghan has taste. He has an interesting past and seems nice enough. I actually rather like him. Still, he and Meghan, that doesn't fit! At all! He needs someone tougher. Someone he can respect more than her. If she developed a little, his feelings would make sense. But right know, I don't understand what he sees in her.
So far, so good. I like Meghan's little brother. He's cute – and the type of child you find in horror movies. The all-knowing innocent (who is the victim, not the kind of child who kills its parents because it didn't get chocolate or something). Like I said, I really like him.
But what was best in the book was the cat – and the world they live in. The Seelie and the Unseelie as well as the Iron Court, basically the whole plot line, with all the different powers and societies, rules of behaviour and all that? WONDERFUL! It's original, fascinating and definitely worth reading. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Oberon, Titania and the queen of the Winter Court. As well as all their powers, how it always goes cold when the Winter Queen's around. It's so damn well done, all the attention to details – the food... Really really really well done!
I do hope that Meghan develops into a person I can stand... because I'd actually like to read on about how the world changes, how the Winter Court functions and so on. Like I said, it's really fascinating with all the details and stuff!
There are many hints towards fairy tales and literature, which makes clear that the author did her homework before writing (very nice!) but she didn't steal the ideas or do copy and paste, but she weaved it into this world until it became one, believable world. Very. Well. Done!
In brief:
Okay, definitely stars for content and ideas as well as one for style. I give another one for the hints towards literature and fairy tales. I can not give one for stars because of the relationship between Ash and Meghan. That just doesn't fit!