Iron and Magic
Title: Iron and Magic
Series: The Iron Covenant #1
Author: Ilona Andrews
Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: 5/5
No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.
Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.
Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.
Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?
As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”
Hugh and Elara may do both.
My Review
Ilona Andrews never ever disappoints! And they probably never will.
Such an amazing start to this trilogy, Iron and Magic is action-packed, thrilling and sexy, with two powerful characters I cannot get enough of. I was never a big fan of Hugh back in Kate’s books, I always thought he was a bit creepy and maybe a bit of a maniac (he still is), but there was always something interesting about him and his character made a great bad guy. Here, Hugh is still a bad guy, but one I absolutely fell in love with.
This book was just fantastic, the world was so well built, characters developed to the max and honestly, there was nothing more I could’ve asked for (except for the next book, bet I gotta wait another year or two for that). Personally, I think Hugh D’Ambray is one of the best characters Ilona Andrews has ever written. They completely redeemed him from the unforgiving villain in Kate’s books, but still kept him grounded to who he really is (still an unforgiving mass murdering maniac), and honestly, I couldn’t stop reading and I want more just to jump back into Hugh and Elara’s world.
Talking about Elara, she is my newest favourite heroine. This woman is mysterious, I feel like I know nothing about her. I have no idea what her powers are, I don’t know her origins, but I do know that she is strong, beautiful, scary and the best match for Hugh. I can’t wait to read more about her, because she is so different from every character in this world, and I just love her. There’s so much tension between her and Hugh, but there’s no spontaneous love getting thrown around, it’s just pure character development and slow-burning romantic tension, and I love it.
I don’t want to give away anything about the plot, but the book is filled with action, vampires and magic, with new foes and friends and I hope Hugh and Elara jump into the fight with Kate against Roland in Kate’s finale (that scene with Roland and Elara had me trembling). The book was just epic, Ilona Andrews did an amazing job, and I cannot wait for the next book!
About The Author
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)
Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.
