I was incredibly excited to receive a copy of Miles Cameron’s Cold Iron for review from Orbit! I’ve heard good things about his Traitor Son Cycle, but haven’t read that series yet. So this new series, Masters & Mages seemed like a  great place to start for me. Unfortunately, I struggled with this book in a lot of ways, and ultimately it just wasn’t for me.

To start with, Cold Iron is incredibly well written. And so many of the characters are extremely likable & captivating. And I think that right there was one of my biggest issues. It’s a single POV book, and I think I might’ve enjoyed this so much more had there been multiple POVs.  

Our main character is Aranthur Timos, a student and a mage in training. And we just follow him so closely, and in incredible detail. When we first meet him, he is traveling back home for a holiday. He stops at an inn, and is befriended by the family that owns it. There’s a violent encounter at the inn, and Aranthur is thrust into a world of political intrigue & shady goings-on that he wasn’t totally prepared for. 

I have absolutely no problem with a slow burn. I love it, in fact. Frequently, the first book in a series is my favorite. Setting all the pieces in place. Building the world from the inside out. Getting to know the characters. But something about the slow pace of this book just continually frustrated me. And again, there are some incredible characters in Cold Iron. Drako & Iralia & Dahlia…I really loved them. But I felt like things just plodded along in this book. There’s so many things that are just hinted at, or barely explored. The magic is…vague. And then there’s a dragon for a hot minute. And a unicorn. A MOTHERFUCKING UNICORN. But it’s just one more thing that Aranthur experiences briefly before moving on. 

I’m not sure I’m articulating myself very well here, and I fucking hate writing a negative review. But this one really challenged me, and not in a good way. I’m still very interested in The Traitor Son Cycle, as I understand it’s quite a bit more fast-paced. But I’m not sure I’ll carry on with Masters & Mages.

Thank you to Orbit Books for sending me a copy! Cold Iron releases 10.23.18