The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Fey: Evenfall #2, The Iron Fey #9
Published by Inkyard Press on February 1, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

As Evenfall nears, the stakes grow ever higher for those in Faery…

Banished from the Winter Court for daring to fall in love, Prince Ash achieved the impossible and journeyed to the End of the World to earn a soul and keep his vow to always stand beside Queen Meghan of the Iron Fey.

Now he faces even more incomprehensible odds. Their son, King Keirran of the Forgotten, is missing. Something more ancient than the courts of Faery and more evil than anything Ash has faced in a millennium is rising as Evenfall approaches. And if Ash and his allies cannot stop it, the chaos that has begun to divide the world will shatter it for eternity.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Back when I first read and reviewed The Iron Raven, I remember wondering if I’ve grown out of this series and was purely reading the series because this gave younger me such joy. With The Iron Sword, I think it’s pretty confirmed that I’m on my way to growing out of the series, but I’ll still read them because I truly adore the world Julie Kagawa built in her debut series and the characters.

The second book in The Iron Fey: Evenfall series brings us right back to the NeverNever, with a new threat on the horizon, and most importantly, the entire crew is back. Ash, Puck, Meghan – even Ethan and Kenzie make appearances. I was hoping we would have more of Puck’s POV (mostly because I enjoyed being in his head a lot) or even Nyx (because she’s such an interesting character – I’m absolutely curious), but we have Ash, which was both a pleasant surprise but absolute fun and joy to read again after The Iron Knight when Ash goes on his journey to earn his soul.

Now he’s finally achieved his goals to be at Meghan’s side in the Iron Realm, but he also got to start a family (which we kinda/sorta see in The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten), except that also comes with everything that comes with parenthood (if you count your kid being prophesized as the destroyer or champion of the faery world typical parental worries).

In The Iron Sword, Kierran’s gone missing along with a lot of the Forgotten, and like most parents, Ash is worried, even if Kierran can handle himself as the King of the Forgotten (I mean, he has the magic of all three courts in him after all). This book overall feels a lot like a gradual buildup to the finale in the next book, as Kagawa spends a lot of time with the crew trying to locate Kierran’s whereabouts and figuring out what new threat is heading for the NeverNever. It’s not a slow pace, but there also seems to be a lot of beating around the bush in getting answers and most things feel relatively surface level with not much depth outside of the continuation of the overall plot. There were quite a few times where I felt things were just being repetitive but in a different style.

While Ash has grown from his Winter Prince days, he also has that darkness within him that comes with being Unseelie that he seems to be tip-toeing the edge of the entire book. Long-time fans will know and see he’s developed from The Iron Knight now that it’s been years down the line, but newer readers who jump right into this series might feel a little differently. As much as I enjoyed getting into Ash’s head again, I think I was slightly disappointed because there are plenty of times where Kagawa dips into darker elements and just… doesn’t.

Perhaps this stems from after reading Shadow of the Fox, which I know full well Kagawa can and will go dark, but at the same time, I also wouldn’t recommend that one to the middle school me who adored The Iron Fey to the tee and was still a complete cinnamon roll. So really this goes back around to I think I’m growing out of this as an adult and no longer pre-teen/teen. It would also be completely unrealistic of me to expect this to be in a similar vein considering the overall style and tone of the series.

That being said, I still enjoyed myself. I love going back into the NeverNever and seeing the dynamics and relationships of my favorite characters as they go for a new adventure while facing down a new threat. There are a lot of humorous moments from the previous books and in Kagawa’s writing style that make their way into The Iron Sword and I love, but I do think that the series at this point is more feeding into the nostalgia of fans who have been around since the beginning of the series. I definitely won’t complain about it, though, because this was quick, light, and fun, and I would absolutely read the third book (or reread the previous books) for the pure joy this series brings.