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Jul 03, 2011

Catherine rated it:

I was pretty excited to start this book. I liked that the author set the story in a Western environment and that the back cover indicated that the main character would be a guy. I’ve been trying to read more books with guys as the main character. They’re not quite as easy to find in my genres of choice as I would have first assumed. But this book surprised me. To me, Cedar Hunt was not the main character. In reality, there were multiple main characters. Cedar Hunt was not given any more p More...

12 comments like (21 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2011

Kindle-aholic rated it:

I've been waiting for this steampunk adventure for months and I was not disappointed. Really liked the characters. Lots of setup, but also a good story. Liked the worldbuilding and the magic system and the gadgets (gotta have the gadgets!). You've got a man cursed by an Indian god, Strange beings that stalk humans, witches, a zombie, and a girl who is more than she seems.

It's in 3rd person following a handful of characters (both heroes and villains). I've read some books where this e More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

Romancing the rated it:

Review by Zita: The old west during the age of steam. In this world people capable of creating both useful and decorative objects from gears, cogs, and wire are known as Devisers. In the east they are civilized and display their devices as the intricate works of art they are. In the west the rail is slowly creeping its way across the country, and the frontiersmen work and wait for the wonders of the east to arrive with the trains. This is a tale of true love and true evil. Of curses, murder, gri More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Elf rated it:

Devon Monk's Dead Iron: The Age of Steam, #1 is a mash-up urban fantasy-meets-steampunk-meets western. Set in a 19th century Oregon small town facing change as the rail comes closer, Dead Iron is a satisfactorily well-written but by-the-numbers example of how steampunk ought to be written.

In Monk's formulation, the veil between faery and Earth is very thin, and a mysterious, rare substance called glim enables those blessed with the Gift of Artifice to empower marvelous steam-powered More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2011

Holly rated it:

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

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Aug 28, 2011

Kathy rated it:

First in The Age of Steam urban fantasy/steampunk series for young adults set in the Old West.

The Story
The bogeyman takes four-year-old Elbert from his bed one night and Cedar Hunt takes up the chase with unforeseen results: a resurrection, a new love, and hope for his curse. But that hunt for the missing child quickly becomes entangled with the Madder brothers and Mae Lindson's hunt for her husband's murderer even as her husband manages to survive and begin his dangerous trek hom More...

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Aug 17, 2011

Fangs for the Fantasy rated it:

Dead Iron falls into the category of paranormal steampunk. I really looked forward to this book when I saw that it was chosen as the book of the month by one of my Goodreads reading groups; however, that excitement quickly turned to dust, and I found myself looking for anything to do other than reading this book. How do you know when a book is bad? When you find yourself thinking after reading a few pages, hnmmmm I suddenly have a desire to clean the kitchen, or a do a load of laundry. Yes, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 08, 2011

Maria rated it:

I reviewed this book for Night Owl Reviews with a rating of 4.25 Stars:

Dead Iron: The Age of Steam (Cedar Hunt) by Devon Monk is an exciting new entry in the steampunk genre. I was captivated by the characters and their story. While the action started a little slowly, like a rollercoaster it picks up speed and races towards the end. The world building was well done and the blend between magic, steam powered machinery and man was unique.

Cedar Hunt is an interesting main ch More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 28, 2011

Roswita rated it:

The old west during the age of steam. In this world people capable of creating both useful and decorative objects from gears, cogs, and wire are known as Devisers. In the east they are civilized and display their devices as the intricate works of art they are. In the west the rail is slowly creeping its way across the country, and the frontiersmen work and wait for the wonders of the east to arrive with the trains. This is a tale of true love and true evil. Of curses, murder, grief, and vengeanc More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 17, 2011

Ilona added it

This is a story with a uniquely American flavor. It is Wild West, but not the stark, romantic West of cowboys riding into town and not the cleaned up cutesy version where the hero wears a white hat and sings ballads. This is a gritty, harsh world of people who actually populated the small towns of American West: miners, traders, shop keepers, smiths and railroad workers.

Against this background, a wicked, dark magic spreads through the land, carried by the rails. Strange creatures More...

3 comments like (19 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Sandra rated it:

3.5 stars I liked this book, it had a fascinating story and interesting characters, but there were a few things that stopped it from being a 4 star for me. Cedar Hunt was supposed to be the main character, but really he was one of several main characters and didn't stand out as more or less important than them. This is fine, except that the amount with which the books jumped perspectives made it hard to get too in-depth with any one character. Like I said, it was a great story and I enjoyed More...

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Sep 26, 2011

K. rated it:

In a very different set of voices from Monk's Allie Beckstrom Urban Fantasy series, she delves into a steampunk/magical age of the American Old West.

Set in Hallelujah, Oregon, this book presents us with the tale of a magical creature's attempt to reopen the closed door to his own plane of existence.

Don't be fooled by the cover blurb, this story isn't centered around Cedar Hunt, the man cursed by Pawnee Gods to turn wolf at the full moon in order to hunt and kill the Stran More...

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Jun 13, 2011

E. Catherine rated it:

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

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May 30, 2011

Justin rated it:

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2011...

I am fascinated by the necessity those of us interested in genre fiction seem to
have for classification. Cyberpunk, hard sci-fi, space opera, high fantasy, epic fantasy, etc. Oh and the debates that ensue throughout the community when something is misclassified. In any case, there is no doubt what Dead Iron is - steampunk. Unfortunately, for author Devon Monk, it is steampunk reminiscent of Will Smith's Wild Wild West. While a far More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Meghan rated it:

I'm not sure how I feel about this book - the story was pretty intriguing, but there was times that the writing itself made me just want to put it down and not pick it up again. The choppiness of it, where many of the sentences were an average of 6 - 8 words and cut off awkwardly, didn't make it as an enjoyable read I was hoping. That more than anything turned me off to it and sometimes I had to force myself to keep going.

I'm relatively happy I did though. I love steampunk and weste More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Ranting rated it:

http://www.rantingdragon.com/dead-iron-a...

The first installment in a new series by Devon Monk (author of the Allie Beckstrom novels), Dead Iron is a wonderfully fresh and intriguing combination of steampunk technology and western action.

In a world running on steam and gears, science has taken the forefront. However, tales of magic still circulate; magic, and something largely regarded as superstition, a mysterious realm tied to the mortal plane: The Strange.

Ce More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Dead Iron is the first book in The Age of Steam series by Devon Monk and a ROC Fantasy.

Book Blurb:

In Steam Age America, Men, Monsters, Machines, and Magic battle to claim the same scrap of Earth and Sky. In this Chaos, one man must fight to hold on to what is left of his humanity....

Although the devisers have civilized the East with their contraptions, civilization hasn’t tamed the frontier that bounty hunter Cedar Hunter rides. Cursed by lycanthropy and carrying More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

The Reading List rated it:

Devon Monk’s Dead Iron is the type of novel that will make you reconsider how you feel about Westerns. Even if you’ve never had the urge to pick up a Western novel or watch a Western film you will love this book. It is definitely a steampunk Western which just proves my theory-- that if you add Sci-Fi or Fantasy elements to anything it instantly takes on an entirely different identity.
Bounty Hunter Cedar Hunt is a loner. He has to be. He is cursed to spend three nights a month as a werewol More...

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Jun 26, 2011

Mardel rated it:

This is one of those books that I would give 10 stars to if I could.

I am liking this cover. See the intense man, gun in his hand...he means business. Notice the trees in the background - there is a forest in the novel. I like the whole feel of the cover. However, looking at the cover, you'd get the impression that it's mainly about one man, when in fact there are quite a few important characters...it may start out with one man being the focus but I think that at least two other char More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Ami rated it:

3.5 stars
I have never been a fan of Western/Historical genre ... and truthfully, I need FOUR times to start reading this one. The first three attempts, I put it down before it even reached 15% on my Kindle. I should've admit defeat by 2nd attempt but I kept coming back because I love Devon Monk's other series.

Well, it turns out that 4th time is the charm. I'm able to push through the story and finish it. Probably because after several chapters, I feel the story becomes quite th More...

1 comment like

Sep 19, 2011

Allisyn rated it:

Dead Iron was a fun mix of Steampunk and Magic set in the middle of the Oregon Gold Rush. The story throws you right into the flow of things with a minimum of back story and explanations. The details of the world and the characters is revealed organically when the story itself depends on those details. The story begins at a slow burn and builds into a wild flurry of action.

Each of the characters is something that we've seen before: Evil Faerie trying to return home from Exile, Wit More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Jo rated it:

Probably really 3.5 stars, but I couldn't go 4 stars. DEAD IRON is an interesting mix of Urban Fantasy, Steampunk and a post-civil war Western. The world-building is rather fascinating. The story starts out slowly, jumping around amongst multiple points of view, setting up the plot and sub plots while acquainting us with the characters and their background – although some of the characters’ back story was a bit sparse for me (I’m hoping that will be filled in in the next book in the series). The More...

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Aug 20, 2011

Shomeret rated it:

I received this book as a giveaway from Devon Monk which she generously offered to the Urban Fantasy group which had selected Dead Iron as its book of the month.

I had expected this steampunk novel to have terrific characters and I was not disappointed. There were so many, but I especially liked the witch, Mae Lindson and the courageous Rose Small. The humanity of werewolf protagonist Cedar Hunt is hidden under a macho exterior, but it's definitely there.

The conceptulizati More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 13, 2011

Cornelia rated it:

I just finished Dead Iron one of the Age of Steam series by Devon Monk. It's a western steampunk set in a small town in Oregon shortly after the Civil War. It’s mixed with the paranormal of evil fey, witches, and werewolves in a unique way with ties to Native American and Welsh legends. The paranormal is written in a realistic way (the author has a realistic voice) and directly connected with Steampunk machinery. It also includes a multicultural relationship, the witch of the story is married t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Lois rated it:

This is really 4 1/2 stars. Generally I LOVED this book about witchcraft, werewolves and other interesting folks out in the Old West. Devon Monk is better known for her urban fantasy novels about magic in Portland, OR. DEAD IRON is a complete departure from this, and told in a very different voice. The characters are fascinating and compelling, and the situations and action make this a real page-turner. I stayed up late, late, late in order to keep reading. The story comes to a satisfying conclu More...

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Oct 08, 2011

Karen rated it:

Just a quick review... not a lot to surprise here if you've read much in the genre, but this was an enjoyable read-- I liked the melding of old-world myths and bogeymen with the new-world steampunk and the Old West, and the way that character's goals kept unknowingly intersecting. I liked the idea of "devising" as an almost-magical talent. The villain was precisely the sort of smug, casually cruel, seemingly all-powerful bastard I love to hate the most. I would've liked a little mor More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it:

Cedar was cursed long ago with lycanthropy. Whenever he changes, he is sent into a murderous rage that leaves a path of death and destruction behind him. When he wakes up to the carnage, he has no memory of what happened the night before. On his first change he killed his brother and has lived with that horror ever since. Many years later, a new hope has arisen, and his brother may still live. Cedar must accept a task to find the Holder, a device that could destroy everything. He just has to fig More...

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Oct 23, 2011

David rated it:

Devon Monk has done a great job with this work. It was a great book I got from Goodreads firstreads.
We all know how America was built... or do we Devon has done the job of letting the reader see the way some think it happened which well involves a little Magic, a little lore, and a lot of muscle and blood of many.

I would have to say that any one can read this and have a hard time not feeling at least a little for each of the main characters like Cedar Hunt, the Madder brothers, Ma More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Andreea rated it:

******Full Disclosure**** This was an ARC copy, that was received through the GoodReads Advance program. I am grateful for the chance to have read this novel, which I might not have purchased otherwise.
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6/2/11
Up until now it's been an enjoyable read, if maybe a bit simplistic and redundant (i.e., mentioning over and over Cedar's curse). I would recommend this novel mostly for young adults, and adults interested in raw action more than character development.
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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 09, 2011

Emma rated it:

Devon Monk is one of my favourite authors and anything she writes automatically goes on my to-buy list. Having said that, Dead Iron is quite different from her previous novels. I'm not a big fan of steampunk (& this novel sits unashamedly right in the middle of the steampunk genre), nor did I like how reminiscent Dead Iron was in some places of Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel (which I really liked). I was slow to start enjoying this although as it went along I started to get into it more & More...

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