Review: Dead Iron - Devon Monk

Series: Age of Steam 1
Genre: Steampunk
Pages: 352
Published: July 5th 2011

Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and gears...  

In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was banished to walk this Earth.  In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit, Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all..

My thoughts:

Steampunk Western, could it be more fun, I think not ;) What other can I say than that steampunk fits really well there.

In this America we meet Cedar Hunt, he is cursed to become a wolf during the moon and then he hunts the Strange. Most folks do not believe in the Strange, but they are out there causing mischief.  They are those things you only have nightmares about and then try to forget, and they follow the railway across the land. Cedar is a very conflicted man who hates his curse and he does not spend a lot of time around other people. But then I always did like mysterious brooding men.

The book is about a missing child. A man who wants revenge and is willing to kill many for it. A mysterious device that has been turned dark. A witch looking for her husband. A young woman who is a bit strange. 3 brothers mining the mountains and dark things that go bump in the night. All these things and people are connected and form the story. And in the middle we have Cedar who just wants to lift his curse and mourn his brother. It turns into a great story but I shall not tell you all. Bit by bit things fall into place as we learn who the bad guy is and what he wants and why everyone is connected. It is like those matics they build in this world, piece by piece. It is a land of steam in the end. Steam and magic together even if most do not believe in the latter.

I like how she mixed all these things. Old magic, new technology pieced together and the Wild West. It just seems to come together so nicely and I do like my steampunk world with a bit of magic and beings from tales of old.

Conclusion:

A good start to this steampunk series. And it did make me wonder what is coming next. Now I can't go and spoil things for you so I will not say anything more. But I do wonder ;) I enjoyed it and I will be interested to see what she comes up with next for Cedar.

Rating:

Good

Cover. 

Cool

Source: Author