Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 05, 2019 Midu Hadi rated it it was ok

Shelves: missing-shelf, read-in-2019, read-in-october, 300-400-pages, us-author, src-read, serial-killers-and-other-murderers, series, first-in-the-series, reviewed

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Soooooo, it had many things that I've come to expect from Ilona Andrews novels. Like love for family -- whether biological or otherwise -- and a sense of duty and generally all-around good guys as protagonists. You know the ones that you can root for. And homages to the magics and traditions of the world, including a Thai-Hindu pachyderm deity. The witty banter and the comical way by which both parties try to spy on each other while knowing the other is doing the same thing. All goooood.

But ther ...more

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Jun 27, 2018 Monadh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: magic, anti-hero, alphahole, pnr, redemption, warlord, warlock

From conflicted villain to anti-hero

The inception of this book shows the power/influence of us readers: On April Fools Day 2015 Ilona Andrews put up a cover and blurb for a book called “Warrior’s Prize”, which purported to be the story of Hugh d’Ambray, antagonist and conflicted villain of the Kate Daniels series, and how he falls in love with a powerful witch.
You can find the post here: April Fools day post
Most readers, though not all, quickly realized that it was cruel hoax, but almost unanim From conflicted villain to anti-hero

The inception of this book shows the power/influence of us readers: On April Fools Day 2015 Ilona Andrews put up a cover and blurb for a book called “Warrior’s Prize”, which purported to be the story of Hugh d’Ambray, antagonist and conflicted villain of the Kate Daniels series, and how he falls in love with a powerful witch.
You can find the post here: April Fools day post
Most readers, though not all, quickly realized that it was cruel hoax, but almost unanimously they went we-don’t-care-it-was-meant-as-a-joke-we-want-Hugh’s-story. There were of course also dissenting voices as some readers felt that Hugh was way beyond redemption after all the horrible things we saw him do, not the least of it was torturing Kate. But I like to imagine that the difficulty of the task she’d inadvertently set herself only spurred the author(s) on. And the book was well worth the wait: I absolutely loved it.

Quite by chance I stumbled across another blog post of Ilona Andrews’, where she lays out the characteristics of the alphahole hero stereotype: Alphahole Trope
Hugh actually fits the definition to a t: he is arrogant, cruel, dark (not only in looks) and ruthless. He is quite aware that he is not a good guy, he has no emotional attachments beyond those to his troops and he feels undeserving of love. As with most anti-heroes some of this is the result of trauma in his past: abandonment by his parents, growing up dirt poor, and abandonment by his trainer (Voron) and another father figure (Roland). We get some of his background in the prologue, but the story proper starts with Hugh having been excised by Roland and having fallen into a drunken stupor. Until some of his former soldiers search him out to ask him for help as they are being systematically slaughtered by one of Roland’s flunkies. When he learns that one of his childhood friends has been killed, too, Hugh is finally roused. But since everything he was and had depended on Roland, Hugh has no money and no resources beyond his skills. After assembling as many of his former troops as he can manage, he sends out his advisors to find them employment and a base, which turns out quite difficult as his reputation is less than stellar mostly because of the atrocities he committed in Roland’s name. His advisors find Elara and her band of outcasts, who happen to be looking for some mercenaries. As their reputation isn’t untarnished either they can’t be too choosy. To cement the alliance their advisors feel they should marry, although it’s to be a marriage in name only…

An alphahole hero needs a special kind of heroine as a counterbalance. Serendipitously Andrews has gone with a heroine who is powerful in her own right and whose personality is also somewhat abrasive (a trait especially pronounced whenever she is in the company of Hugh). Not unexpectedly this leads to quite a lot of delightful friction and banter between the two. Elara certainly can hold her own and gets the better of Hugh more often than not.

In order for the (mostly female) readership and the heroine to relate to an anti-hero he of course also needs some redeeming qualities. And Hugh has them: he is kind to children and animals, there are various instances throughout the story were this becomes evident again and again. Also, one of the incidents from his past that at the time appeared especially inexcusable is retold from his perspective and throws a completely different light on him. Above all, he is also a caretaker who uses his healing magic to help others, often to complete exhaustion. And he is beset with remorse for some of the things he has done, now that he is free of the mental influence of Roland. Of course present kindness and remorse don’t negate all the terrible things he has done in the past and I am glad Andrews did not go overboard with painting him good. There is still a lot of darkness in him (although I never saw him as truly evil), but that makes him all the more appealing.

Of course the redemption plot would not be complete without the “big gesture” towards the end. And Hugh does not disappoint: he throws himself into it without hesitation although he clearly does not expect to survive. But naturally Elara refuses to abandon him!

So, enough gushing! Go out and grab the book! I am so glad this was only the first book in The Iron Covenant trilogy. ...more

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Jul 26, 2018 Susan Jackson rated it it was amazing

Just finished a re-read of this after finishing Magic Tides. Still enjoyed this a lot and now to the great writing that turns a previous villain into someone I’m rooting for.

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