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Blood and Iron (Promethean Age #1)

by Elizabeth Bear (Goodreads Author)

3.44 · rating details · 515 ratings · 109 reviews

Spellbound by the Faerie Queen, the woman known as Seeker has abducted human children for her mistress's pleasure for nearly an eternity, unable to free herself from her servitude and reclaim her own humanity.

Seeker's latest prey is a Merlin. Named after the legendary wizard of Camelot, Merlins are not simply those who wield magic, they are magic. Now, with rival mages a...more

Paperback, 448 pages

Published June 3rd 2008 by Roc (first published June 27th 2006)

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Oct 06, 2008

Res rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sff

The one where Seeker is a half-fae compelled by some sort of blackmail to serve the Queen of Faerie, who takes her off the task of kidnapping mortals and sends her to bind this generation's Merlin.

I did not like this book.

The author has packed into it every bit of British Isles mythology she can think of plus some she just made up. (Werewolves who change whenever they like, except at the new moon?) Two hundred and fifty pages in, she was still introducing new rules, so t...more

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Apr 13, 2009

Julie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-urban, fantasy-sf, read-in-2008, read-since-august-2006

I couldn't get involved. Too much backstory. Too many competing mythologies. Fae, werewolves, Arthurian legend, talking trees, oblique references to events and people I couldn't keep straight.

The problem might be in me.

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Oct 29, 2008

Sbuchler rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, read-in-2008

Genre: fantasy, possibly epic fantasy and arguably urban fantasy, but mostly it's fantisy with fairies.

Half-way though the novel I was still unsure what the book is gonna do plot-wise... however, the characters and their evolving interactions are fascinating. It was described to me as "magic and fairie in modern New York" but it's rather more like Fairie with a dash of modern for relief. It really catches the feel of a court of immortals - the interpersonal histories go bac...more

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Feb 12, 2010

Chris rated it

Shelves: fairy, arthur, modern-fairy-tales

I might go back to this book; I don't know. I reached page 196 and realized I didn't care about any of the characters. I wasn't even curious about them. Bear's idea is good, but it seems, as several other reviews have pointed out, that she is throwing every single myth or legend motif into the mix, and it doesn't quite work. In some ways, it feels like she is going down a list. Okay, I mentioned a kelpie, now I need to mention Arthur, and so on. Her twist on Merlin was cool, but even that ...more

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Mar 01, 2010

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

A frustrating book which could've been better than it was, I think.

The overall story is the type of thing I enjoy - magic vs. science, ancient vs. modern, with a sort of complex morality where both sides are right, and both sides are wrong, and you sort of like them and hate them equally. Well, not quite equally as, despite everything, I did side with Faerie because, as the Merlin said, a greenhouse is not a garden, and a garden is not a jungle, and I like a bit of wildness, me.
...moreA frustrating book which could've been better than it was, I think.

The overall story is the type of thing I enjoy - magic vs. science, ancient vs. modern, with a sort of complex morality where both sides are right, and both sides are wrong, and you sort of like them and hate them equally. Well, not quite equally as, despite everything, I did side with Faerie because, as the Merlin said, a greenhouse is not a garden, and a garden is not a jungle, and I like a bit of wildness, me.

But the characters were distant and hard to follow. Their motivations were oftentimes confusing and I couldn't quite figure out why they were doing what they were doing. Of course, sometimes, I don't think they did, either. There are some books which fail to get you to relate to the character because there is too little information given on how the person is feeling, and what they are thinking. There are other books which seem to give you too much. This is one of the latter. It got quite repetitive and tedious, actually.

But, really, the main problem is that Bear seemed to try to cram in every version of Celtic and British mythology that ever existed, starting with the Tuatha de Danaan (an Irish notion), including the Seelie and Unseelie courts (Scottish), growing straight through Arthurian legend, co-mingling Shakespeare (both British), and then modernizing everything into this huge hodge podge of every damn thing under the sun, throwing in some 'werewolves', a bit of the old battle between Heaven and Hell (related to faerie through the seven-year tithe to Hell, though that was changed a lot since I always read that the tithe was a blood tithe and that, usually, they sent a mortal to fulfill it, not one of their own - but a necessary change for plot reasons), and then throwing in different magical systems to keep track of on top of it. (Maybe I'm just biased because I'm not a fan of the Arthurian stuff, or the teind tho I did like how Morgan was depicted, even if I was annoyed at the conflation with Morgan le Fay and the Morrighan. I had to keep telling myself this was a fictional story and not a treatise on the myths.) And, like someone else said, why should Celtic mythology rule the whole world? Except there were also Russian faeries in Faerie, but how come no, say, First Nation spirits, since the modern part of the story is in New York?)

Oh, and I know you can't blame Bear for the names, but when using names in Gaelic which are unpronounceable to English-speakers who don't know the rules of Gaelic, it might help to have some sort of table or something.

Not that that's entirely relevant, but, anyway...

As for characters, Whiskey was, by far, the best character and I truly felt for him. I sort of liked reading about Keith and the pack, though I grew tired of his constant vascillation. I liked the Merlin, too, though she was so important in the first third of the book, and then sort of just got shunted to the sidelines one she chose her side.

But I think the biggest thing that kept me distanced from the book was just the writing. At times it was hard to follow and jumpy. Something would happen sort of out of the blue, and I would flip back to see if I skipped a page or skimmed a paragraph by mistake. This seemed to happen a lot where I would sort of just start the skim. I didn't mean to - I'm not really a skimming type of reader. But the language was just laid on so thick in places. I mean, some of the metaphors were so overwrought. To paraphrase one example (since I don't have my book in front of me): 'His voice was like velvet brushing up her arm, but also cut like a razors edge of cold rain.' Or some such nonsense. At the start of the book I found the metaphors truly distracting. They did become less so as I progressed, but I don't know if that's because there were less of them, they got better, or just because I didn't pay as close attention.

**ETA - another thing that was a bit odd - we mostly follow three perspectives - Seeker/Elaine's, Keith's and Matthew's, and these are told in third person. That's fine. But then, at one point, Elaine's perspective switches from third person to first person for no real reason whatsoever. I mean, even in third person, we're told her inner thoughts and workings, so it's not like we get a more personal perspective by switching to first. It just sort of happens and for a second I was like "wait, was her part always in first person? *flip back* No, no it wasn't... it just changed. Ok - why? Wtf?"

Anyway...

Back to the jumpiness - at first I assumed this was a plot device. The characters didn't really know what was going on, so I figured it was a way to draw out the suspence. But then things started coming together, and people would be sitting around talking, sort of being expositiony, and they would have an eureka moment, and I would be left sitting there go "what the hell just happened?" I mean, I know that Faerie is all about riddles and puzzles and things, but this book seemed far too ponderous and hard to follow at times, for what amounted to, really, much ado about not that much because, at the end of the day, it wasn't really all that difficult. Sort of like she wrote it in a way to be befuddling because she knew that it was really rather straight-forward, but she wanted it to seem more layered than it was.

Then again, I suppose that, too, is very fey - all smoke and mirrors, tricks and illusions...

I haven't decided if I'll continue with the series. I am curious as to what happens. Does Keith return? Does Whiskey get released? I wasn't really satisfied with how this book ended, and I would like a more complete and, dare I say, happy-ish resolution, but being that none of these things are guaranteed, I'm not sure I want to get through the overly dense writing without knowing if the pay-out will be worth it. Decisions, decisions... *le sigh*(less)

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Mar 06, 2009

Catherine rated it

· review of another edition

I found this to be a remarkably frustrating read. The first third or so is a terrific fantasy novel dealing with the Fae and a post-Arthurian mythos that I found fascinating. The rest of the book seemed as if it was written by a different author. The protagonist, a woman warrior caught up in Fae politics and developing into the next defacto ruler, suddenly becomes wildly unsympathetic. She enslaves one of the Unseelie Fae, breaks him and engages in what can only be viewed as nonconsensual sex (i...more

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Jan 25, 2009

CD rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fantasy fans

I was looking for a book to take me away from it all while my favorite authors (Saintcrow, Aguirre, Bishop, Harrison, Briggs, etc.) are between books. Blood and Iron filled the bill. There was more of an emphasis on the plot machinations of fae and magi, with a Duke of Hell thrown in. In fact, it is a bit hard to keep all the players together without a list of characters and their relationship with each other. I kept wondering if this was the first in a series, because there seemed to be inf...more

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Dec 28, 2008

Lightreads rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, urban-fantasy, fantasy, derivative-fiction, lgbt

The powers of faerie are fighting a losing war with the iron powers of humans. This generation’s Merlin has been found, and both the faerie Seeker and mage Matthew of the human Prometheus Club must try to win her loyalty for their side. But this time it’s more than just the Merlin – a dragon prince is coming, a man in the mold of Arthur and Vlad Dracula, who will pay the mother dragon in blood as he is destined to do.

This is a really excellent book. It divides its time between the ee...moreThe powers of faerie are fighting a losing war with the iron powers of humans. This generation’s Merlin has been found, and both the faerie Seeker and mage Matthew of the human Prometheus Club must try to win her loyalty for their side. But this time it’s more than just the Merlin – a dragon prince is coming, a man in the mold of Arthur and Vlad Dracula, who will pay the mother dragon in blood as he is destined to do.

This is a really excellent book. It divides its time between the eerie realms of faerie and the sometimes eerier glitter of New York, and manages to underpin them both with the same old old stories. The writing is a pleasure in and of itself – poised and precise, but also rich and simultaneously quirky.

“We’re fucked,” Seeker confirmed. “Welcome to fairy tales. Have a nice day. Canapé?”

And it is soothing to this chafed and tired reader to see the variously queer and colored characters going about their business (though really, it all seems much smaller when you’re dealing with different species, which I suppose is part of the point). And it’s all wrapped around a core of those same old stories, so that Arthur and Morgan and many of the rest are both legends and breathing people, and so that the misty present is layered cross-wise over the bloody past. Because all the really good stories are just retelling themselves off the old pattern, you know, and the really interesting thing is to see how this particular set of poor bastards protagonists rework it in their own image.

I have complaints (I wouldn’t be me, otherwise) and they’re of the particularly plaintive sort when you really like the book and wish it hadn’t made you flinch and twitch here and there. Firstly, some of the layering was irritatingly obscure, and I say that as someone who is very comfortable and conversant in the relevant myths. The . . . top story, I suppose you could call it, does operate well on its own, but I was distracted and frustrated by chasing down allusions sometimes. The book could have been way more accessible without sacrificing an iota of grace or atmosphere.

Second, though I enjoyed the writing, it slipped occasionally into painful self-consciousness. See the line quoted above in context, actually. Not frequently, and not agonizingly, but it sort of shouts at you from prose otherwise so smooth and effortless.

And lastly, this idea of faerie as the reality arising from stories constantly retold could have been far more developed, for my sensibilities. I kept looking for it in the major seams of the story, and then catching a glimpse of it as a bit of edge trimming. There were other themes that I appreciated, but this one kept tugging at me and telling me that it was important, and then not being important.

Perhaps in another book. Which apparently there will be. The prospect delights me, I’m happy to say.

Complex, thoughtful, well-peopled, strange. Oh, and happily recommended.(less)

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Jan 11, 2011

Ithlilian rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

If you are expecting a simple urban fantasy story with mages and faeries, then you are in for quite a shock here. Blood an Iron is a novel to be read slowly, to be savored, and to be reread. As such, I have to admit that I didn't understand some of the references. The characters speak in riddles and do not spell everything out for you. It is as if we are looking through a window into their lives, not as if they were telling us a story. All of the characters understand the mythology and what is g...moreIf you are expecting a simple urban fantasy story with mages and faeries, then you are in for quite a shock here. Blood an Iron is a novel to be read slowly, to be savored, and to be reread. As such, I have to admit that I didn't understand some of the references. The characters speak in riddles and do not spell everything out for you. It is as if we are looking through a window into their lives, not as if they were telling us a story. All of the characters understand the mythology and what is going on, so it makes perfect sense that they wouldn't be explaining it to each other. Not understanding what a character mentions is a little frustrating, but it just spurred me on. I felt compelled to continue in case some little detail is hinted at or is explained in more depth later. Nothing is ever clearly spelled out for you though, you have to think, make inferences, and pay attention. In addition to the complexity of the plot, there are the characters. The characters here are multidimensional, and stronger than anyone should ever have to be. Their tale is touching and heartfelt, and you will experience the ups and the downs with them. Blood and Iron also has the unique distinction of presenting the story from both sides, the fae and the mages. The faeries kidnap children from their beds, leaving dead replicas in place of real children. They ensnare humans and turn them into a mere shell of what they used to be. A cult of humans, the Prometheus Club, aims to rescue the kidnapped children and the kill fae as punishment. One would think that the reader would be siding with the humans against the fae, but the compelling story of the fae mixed with the vengeful nature of the human mages makes it a tough decision. In fact, my least favorite parts of the novel were spent with the mage Matthew. His story was boring and paled in comparison with the complex story of the fae. We do get to understand his motivation though, and he certainly is more direct and clear than the fae, but the author leaves it up to you to decide who to cheer for. I really feel that Blood and Iron is a masterfully crafted novel that is much more complex than any urban fantasy I have ever read. I really felt like I was there with the characters, and I can't wait to read the next installment. (less)

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Dec 03, 2009

Margaret rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: arthuriana, fantasy-and-science-fiction, new-york, mythology-and-fairy-tales, secret-history, authors-ab

Elaine Andraste, now known simply as Seeker, is a servant of the Medb, Queen of the Daoine Sidhe; stolen by the Fae in childhood, she has spent her life bound to the Faerie Realm, stealing other human children for the queen. Matthew is a mage, of the mysterious Promethean Club, a group of human magic users in league against Faerie. When the Medb requires Seeker to trap the Merlin, the newest incarnation of the powerful wizard who could save Faerie or doom it, Seeker comes into conflict with Matt...more

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Jul 19, 2010

Elizabeth rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. While I liked this book generally, I found it frustrating as I got deeper into it. I took it home based on the description on the back cover. The description isn't wrong, but partway through the book, that storyline is subsumed in a different, bigger storyline. I'd been enjoying that original plot, though, and I didn't make the transition well.

Additionally, I found it hard to connect with many of the characters. Bear does a fine job of conveying the Fae's otherworldliness and dispass...more

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Nov 18, 2011

M.E. Traylor rated it

· review of another edition

A pretty compelling traditional fae universe, up until it becomes clear that the resolution is going to become a convoluted overkill of masturbatory tragedy. I did appreciate the element of the characters taking personal responsibility for all the tragedy (sorely lacking in fiction whenever fate is invoked). A lot of the main characters feel more like manikins than people, with a few exceptions like Seeker, Whiskey, and the Mebd. Keith's defining characteristics seem to be that he loves Elaine a...more

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Dec 21, 2011

Shara (Calico Reaction) rated it

· review of another edition

Of all the Elizabeth Bear books I wanted to read, this was not one of them, because faeries, as a rule, don't interest me much in the fantasy genre. But a good friend of mine dared me to do it, and I did. The book is complex, an urban fantasy that mixes Fae, werewolves, Arthurian Legend, a dragon, emissaries from Hell, literary references, and a whole bunch of other stuff. For the most part, I enjoyed it, though I felt my rather sad lack of knowledge of the Fae and its history kept me from enjoy...more

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Jun 23, 2011

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

I haven't been able to chose a favourite book since I was about seven, but this, HANDS DOWN, is my favourite. The writing is breathtakingly beautiful. The characters are alien and sometimes (literally) soulless but still sympathetic and tragic. The plot is so complicated and layered that a quarter of my way into the first reading I decided that I was going to have to re-read it. Elizabeth Bear rips into the traditional literary ideas regarding faeries, Faerieland, and magic and rends it limb...more

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Mar 21, 2010

Lynn Abbey rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: experienced readers of urban fantasy

Recommended to Lynn by: lynn@lynnabbey.com

Shelves: contemporary-fantasy, dark-fantasy

This book/series should be right down my alley: contemporary urban fantasy (in the NYC sub-genre of urban fantasy, and I'm a sucker for any story that includes Central Park), literate style, and a complex plot -- yet Blood and Iron never really took off for me.

In some measure, its very realism worked against it. Most people don't think about themselves when they're busy doing things, as Bear's characters usually are, so the description/analysis of character A often pops up in charac...more

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Sep 05, 2007

Robin rated it

· review of another edition

Werewolves. Fae. Magic. A rich, detailed world with marvelous, multilayered characters.

And the Kelpie? OMG, the Kelpie.

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May 09, 2010

Rob rated it

Shelves: random-comments-review

...Apart from the interesting use of Celtic mythology, Blood and Iron is stylistically very well done. The concept of a war between the Fae and the mages certainly has potential beyond this first book. The plot however didn't really appeal to me. If you like Bear's writing and the subject she takes on here, this book will most likely be one of your favourites. I am not entirely convinced yet but I certainly liked it well enough to try the second Promethean novel Whiskey and Water.

Ful ...more

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Jun 21, 2008

Kristen rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of dark fairy tales

4 1/2 stars

Full review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/...

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Mar 28, 2011

Rattyfleef rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favourites

Dense, tightly-plotted dual-world fantasy. Half in New York, half in Faerie, and everyone has thorns, teeth, or both. Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are principle players, as is my favourite-ever version of Morgan LaFey. I loved Matthew so much I was nauseous when he was in danger of being killed. The book was a splendid escape at a time I really needed one and it was a big chunk of the genesis between my 'patience' and 'fortitude' tattoos.

It's not a fluffy book--you've got to wrest...more

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Apr 14, 2010

Lera rated it

· review of another edition

Started off thinking this was not bad, but I don't think I'll bother with another. The premise is that Faerie is not doing terribly well in a long-running battle with some human mages, whose position is enhanced by the general human tendency to spread iron around all over the place. The appearance of a new Merlin, whose favour the two sides (and multiple elements within Faerie) struggle for, brings things to a head. There are also some werewolves and Arthurian characters knocking about the pl...more

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May 29, 2009

Ceridwyn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: overtly_mature_fantasy

I'm not sure who it was who said that the ideas happen in sci-fi and the good writing happens in fantasy... but I kept thinking about that while reading these. Bear is a sci-fi writer writing fantasy and it's fascinating.

The myth and plot are dense and convoluted in a really very pretty way, plus yay for rampant bisexuality. But I think I wanted to like this and understand more of what was going on than I did, which may just be me not being all that clever, however, when somebody wo...more

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Jul 07, 2011

Bettielee rated it

· review of another edition

This is the second Elizabeth Bear book I've read. I've decided that she is difficult, complicated, and keeps an awful lot back from the reader - there are whole conversations where the reader does not know what the fark is going on, however, I think the woman is a genius. This book, in particular, is almost like the type of book I would have ordered from an author. Fae, Horses as characters, unicorns, Arthurian legend, the land of Faerie, and its inhabitants are difficult and dangerous, and not ...more

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Jan 15, 2012

Dawn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, fiction-fantasy

Elizabeth Bear is one of those names I've been seeing on the shelf in the bookstore forever and never managing to pick up. Always there's something else to tempt me away from taking on a "new" established author to follow. Usually a new title by someone I'm already following. My husband, however, has a few of The Promethean Age novels and has been recommending them to me, so when I wanted a taste of new fantasy, I just went to his shelf.

In Blood and Iron Elizabeth Bear throws...moreElizabeth Bear is one of those names I've been seeing on the shelf in the bookstore forever and never managing to pick up. Always there's something else to tempt me away from taking on a "new" established author to follow. Usually a new title by someone I'm already following. My husband, however, has a few of The Promethean Age novels and has been recommending them to me, so when I wanted a taste of new fantasy, I just went to his shelf.

In Blood and Iron Elizabeth Bear throws you into the deep end of the pool and expects you to swim. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Elements of both really, which ironically enough mirrors the themes of the novel, duality, conflict and balance.

The writing is dense, and well crafted, but there is much confusion in the continually switching between the three POV characters, all in the first person. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that for the ebook edition I have, I was forced to convert formats to one my reader prefers. Occasionally that causes formatting problems that can cause confusion when things like decorative dividers are lost. You have to work at this one, and you have to be willing to leave control of the story in the hands of the storyteller, and let her keep you in the dark a while.

Another factor is actually the meat of the story... Ms Bear takes up the threads of a number of myth and legend cycles of the British Isles and weaves them into a neat whole. Folklore purists will twitch, and folk unfamiliar with the conventions of the Gaelic languages will flinch, but mostly it works. Perhaps this work is best appreciated by those with at least a passing familiarity of the legends of the Good Neighbours as opposed to those who think the Fae folk are cute little pixies with teardrop shaped wings and pastel tutus.

The plot includes a number of mechanics I havent seen in use before for the war between man and fae, and that always pleases me to no end, having read as much fantasy as I have. Generally authors lose points with me for dragging out the Arthurian legends, but it's well handled here as a subplot.

It's a strong novel, if confusing here and there. If you have the time to spend for slow, careful reading, and enjoy more adult, Celtic based depictions of the Fae it's not a bad choice at all. (less)

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Jan 29, 2011

Mark added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

A story of modern Faerie. The author uses an interesting stylistic twist that rubs me the wrong way. She keeps using descriptions or phrases and then almost immediately contradicting them, I believe in an attempt to imbue the impression of Faerie as not obeying the normal rules of the world. For example, she'll declare something as impossible and then have it happen in the next paragraph. She'll describe someone who we think is human doing an action requiring three hands. She'll say things ...more

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Jul 02, 2009

Sophia rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: changelings, people who like folklore, myth, faerie, or fantasy that doesn't suck

Shelves: fantasy

Holy god does Elizabeth Bear know a lot about Faerie.

It seems about a half to a third of fantasy novels rely on the reader's knowledge of Arthurian legend, but Blood & Iron insists on at least cursory knowledge of more than just the barest bones of Irish (Scottish, English) folklore. If you don't already know at least a teensy bit about the daoine sidhe or the Unseelie court, you'll want to.

And go read Tam Lin, while you're at it. (It's worth it on its own, honest.)
...more

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Sep 26, 2009

Chrissy Wissler rated it

· review of another edition

The fantasy and the detailed world building were top-notch in Bear's book. The reason, however, for the low score is I never really connected with the world and its character. This world is based on the ancient stories and myths of the Fey, and although its explained enough to understanding what's happening in the story, I didn't quite grasp the full complexity of it. There were plenty of pivotal moments in the story where I simply didn't understand the connection between the story and the myths...more

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Apr 30, 2009

Mary rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Urban fantasy readers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 08, 2009

Ben Babcock rated it

Shelves: fantasy, from-library, 2009-read, alternate-history, urban-fantasy, mythology-remix

It's always delightful discovering another author in one's favourite genre whose entire oeuvre you want to read after finishing just one book.

Blood and Iron begins in media res, with an agent of Faerie--the Seeker of the Daoine Sidhe--and an agent of humanity--the Promethean Club's Matthew Szczegielniak--chasing the same quarry: a faerie changeling. After introducing us to these two main characters, the book pulls back in scope and reveals the centuries-old conflict between Faerie a...moreIt's always delightful discovering another author in one's favourite genre whose entire oeuvre you want to read after finishing just one book.

Blood and Iron begins in media res, with an agent of Faerie--the Seeker of the Daoine Sidhe--and an agent of humanity--the Promethean Club's Matthew Szczegielniak--chasing the same quarry: a faerie changeling. After introducing us to these two main characters, the book pulls back in scope and reveals the centuries-old conflict between Faerie and the Promethean Club over the fate of the mortal world.

I say "main characters" because it's hard to tell who the "good guys" are in this book. There are times when I hated Matthew and times when I hated the Seeker. I praise Elizabeth Bear for her ability to establish such moral ambiguity. Although she addresses rather tired motifs for fantasy, such as the decline of "old gods" and their replacement with a "new era" (i.e., the death of Faerie and the rise of the mortal world), Bear employs the motif effectively and turns it into a compelling theme.

In addition to her ability to create complex characters, Bear's got a nice ear for dialogue. None of it feels stilted, even the formal tones of the faeries. Unfortunately, much of the dialogue feels like filler, and there are times when I don't entirely understand what's going on. And that brings me to...

...the mythology of Blood and Iron. Bear draws from a global coffer of sources, notably Arthurian legend and faerie tales. She integrates them well, for the most part, but it can become a cacophony of mythology at times. It isn't the synthesis of these myths that irks me so much as how Bear uses it, however.

Just when I thought I had the rules of Blood and Iron figured out, Bear would introduce another element that caused my understanding to vanish. This was not a pleasant feeling. For example, take the antagonist, the Dragon. The Dragon is shrouded in mysticism, and the main characters bow to a complex set of rules and requirements involving her. Any time a character speaks about these rules, the reasoning is cryptic and never straightforward. Even with some human (or at least part human) characters sharing their thoughts with me, I never achieved the same level of comfort I felt with, say, the rules of the Faerie Court in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series.

The ending of the story was anticlimactic. I won't reveal too much, other than that the climax occurs during an epic battle, but this doesn't affect the main characters all that much. The Merlin, who is an important figure in the middle third of the book, is marginalized and shunted off to the side.

While I'm very critical of the book in this review, I did enjoy its premise, if not the execution. That's why I'll read more of Bear's work, particularly this series. Bear's a talented writer with extremely creative ideas--I'm intrigued by what I've read about subsequent books in this series (such as Ink and Steel), but I want to read them in order. Hopefully her use of mythology (or at least my comprehension of that use) will improve, allowing me fully immerse myself in the world of her Promethean Age rather than simply being a spectator.(less)

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Oct 21, 2008

FicusFan rated it

Shelves: fiction, dark-fantasy, faerie, paranormal, urban-fantasy, read-10-08, read-2008, war

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I really wanted to like this book more. I am a fan of the author, though I have only read her SF books before this one.

I can't put my finger on the problems exactly, though this is what seemed to me to be issues:

The book started out jumping around with several different characters and viewpoints. You never really got a good handle and who they were or what was going on. At the same time it was wordy. So it was easy to put down, and hard to pick back up.
...more

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Mar 05, 2008

Kim rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of faerie fiction and urban fantasy

Here is the one sentence version of this review: This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book that confused the heck out of me!
Want more?
All right, first off, let me start by explaining that I am a complete nut about faeries---the old-style, human-sized version of them, seductive and amoral, that appears in old ballads like Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. Those are the kind of faeries found in Blood and Iron, and the novel is strewn with familiar bits of Arthurian legend and faery lore. In fa...more

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Fantasy

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Mythology > Arthurian

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Fantasy > Dark Fantasy

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About Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. This, coupled with a childhood tendency to read the dictionary for fun, led her inevitably to penury, intransigence, the mispronunciation of common English words, and the writing of speculative fiction.

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Blood and Iron (Promethean Age #1)

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