Cold Iron by Miles Cameron – Review

Published: October 23, 2018

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: Masters & Mages

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 640 (Paperback)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

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 . . .
A powerful story about beginnings, coming of age, and the way choosing to take one step towards violence can lead to a slippery and dangerous slope, this is an accomplished fantasy series driven by strong characters and fast-paced action.

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Somehow this book escaped by attention until a mere 1 or 2 months before its release date! How in the world could I have almost missed the release of a Miles Cameron book!? I grabbed a copy and devoured this while I was on vacation last month. I spent literal hours at a time reading this and only paused to track down food. At this point, it’s my favorite book by Miles Cameron.

Aranthur, our main character and magic student, is headed home for the holidays when he decides to stop at a particular inn. Being in that particular place at the right time sets off a chain of events and decisions that make him a major player in current events. This take on the hero trope is so much less hokey than him being “the chosen one” and I loved it. There’s no prophecy, just this kid with an interest in magic and swordplay who makes a decision to help a woman in the snow. Had he made a different choice, his life would have gone in an entirely different direction.

Aranthur was a likable character, who at times was reasonably idiotic. He doesn’t know how to handle women well and makes some rather silly choices. He gets in fights. He gets in the middle of a house feud. He ends up amongst the inner circles of the court and attracting the notice of the emperor. Aranthur is a nobody who quickly becomes a somebody, someone with influence, knowledge, and a burgeoning power. It was glorious to behold! The other characters are equally interesting and mysterious. The whole story just had a certain appeal to it. Such intrigue!

Cold Iron was a stellar book that was both a coming of age tale and a denial of “the chosen one” trope that so commonly crops up in fantasy. The world building was awesome and it seemed to be set in the same world as Miles Cameron’s Red Knight series but I could be wrong. There were similar place names and the magic seemed to work similarly, but technologically it was much more advanced, so perhaps hundreds of years later? Anyway, I highly recommend this book because it was an all-around win for me. I have no complaints, other than that I have to wait for the sequel!