Joint Discussion: Gold for Steel

Hello all! Carole and I will be discussing "Gold for Steel" by Charles C. Dixon. I am  in blue and Carole in red.  

Author: Charles C. Dixon

Title: Gold for Steel (The Gates of Kastriel, #1)

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: ebook

Being Published: Sept 2017

Where I Got It: My Shelf (Netgalley)

After a major victory in battle, Dalvin, Marco, and Oremund are becoming local legends. With the growth of their names come a deadly contract with an equally impressive bounty. Though the job seems impossible, the reward for success is too great to turn down. Upon accepting the contract, the trio of sellswords find their loyalty and trust to one another tested and in some ways irreparable. 

Meanwhile, Iman, a foreign priestess is trying to keep herself and her companions safe as they are hunted by a deadly assassin. After crossing paths with the sellswords, she finds herself in desperate need of their help. The secret she and her companions carry may determine the fate for all of the realms. Hunted by a vicious orc, the priestess is unsure how many times she will be able to escape death's grasp. A lost treasure is set to alter the direction of humanity, and she is forced to protect it.

 So….I guess this is what I get when I try and pick a fantasy….lollll

Did you like it? I did not...ahem *coughs* *mutters something about skimming most of it*

I liked bits and pieces of it. There were some good parts...but the rest? SUPER meh.

I wondered since you liked it at first, while I was meh from page 1. I can see that some part could have been good, but it was just so generic. So MEH.

The beginning was really good. Okay - not really good, just good. It felt like there would be hope...but it fell apart about 30% or so. I skimmed a bit. Got intrigued again...did more skimming. A slimmer of hope popped up and then back to skimming until the epilogue. WHICH was the best part of the book

I agree, the epilogue i did not skim. It seemed interesting, but it all depends on how the author plays it. If he makes the next one dark...you know what, then nope, just nope. DO not go grimdark after this fluffy little meh book. That does not work. But I still certainly do not want to read more.

This was fluffy, but he seemed to try and make it not fluffy. I felt off while reading it. I don’t know how to explain it. But I want the next book  to be dark. That was a dark ending and how on Earth is the character (not spoiling) going to be saved? They don’t even know where this character is or that this character is even alive. Sooooooo….I feel like it should be dark at least for a little bit until OF COURSE they save this character from this crappy fate. We don’t even have to read the next one to know that all will end up well in the end. LOL

It’s like, hmm, show don’t tell? I felt like he wanted a lot so he tried in a few places to tell things, but they felt SO out of places that I just rolled my eyes at certain times. And he did not show us enough either, or made me care.

As for the dark bits, as long as he does not go too dark. Because I feel he would mess it up. After what I have reading this one. Using that thing if you know what I mean, as a mean of pushing a story forward, it can fail miserably.

True, true. Going THIS dark is a gamble and you have to do it right for it to work well. Which...he would have issues I feel. He did alright with the lighter bits. When it came to the darker points of the story it seemed like copy and paste from other stories and books.

I agree and sure hope he does not go there….

LOL, we are talking about the next one cos there is nothing to discuss here. Oh that is bad!

Ok ok, how did you like the characters?

We are discussing the next book and we will prolly never read it...ha! But the characters? I only liked Iman and that kid. I didn’t really LIKE them. I more so enjoyed their stories the best. I wanted to see if they could stay away from the evil assassin Orc.

Omg that Orc *eyeroll*

I did not care for Iman, that woman had zero personality. SHe was  pretty, that is all I know.

The kid was good.

As for the men….*blank stare* They killed a griffin, yup, oh and one had a tragic backstory and I would rather have read that book.

Really? I feel Iman had some personality. Not much but I feel there is hope for her. And yes, the men. I didn’t really care at all. I never connected with them. I think the biggest issue was that there was no time spent learning about the characters. We just jumped right into the world and into the story. There was zero build-up. I think that was the main issue.

I never even knew what the big deal was, I think we should have known that earlier for me to care. Do not be mysterious. Make us like them instead.

And sure maybe a smidge of personality, but mostly he just said she was pretty

I agree. The beginning had promise. I felt there was something stirring there, but then it just went flat. I just wanted them to kill that Orc and get where they had to go and be over with.

 This book took us nowhere! Oh and there is some war coming? No idea, did not care, skimmed past it. Something about a city *yawn* What was that even about? It felt like he wanted to tell another story

I can’t even remember much. There needed more time for us to understand the world and this possible war. Maybe more time on the importance of getting to the city. Why did they need to go there? Would the kid be safe? I felt confused.

Yeah, what was about with staying there when they needed to go somewhere else…*shakes head*

I am bummed I didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. It went well for me and then fell apart. Sighs.

I get the feeling

…….

OH MY GOODNESS. I thought you weren’t done with the sentence….hahahahaha

HaHa. Sorry I was done.  

Also, I had SO write it for me, trying to feed Baby S. I do not think he is getting the feel of me through

Hahaha too funny. But yes. A super bummer of a book. Maybe I should leave it to you to pick the next fantasy book we read. XD

Eeeek, but we suck at it! We should just read the new Pierce Brown book. As for fantasy, scaaary stuff

I do really want to read the next Pierce Brown book.

I have it from the library ;) Just no time to read it

No time either...IDK if it is at my library yet….hmmmmm

BUT anything else about this one? I have nothing else. Some good parts, but overshadowed by the bad parts for me. Read at your own peril.

LOL.  Yes read at your own peril

I will think of something for next month

Good luck m’am. HAHAHA

THE END

Super cranky baby tonight. Night!

THE END. Give baby hugs from me!!

About the Authors

Carole and Blodeuedd have been blogging a long while now. The last couple of years the epic duo have been discussing books, watching movies, and even wetting the pen and sharing their stories with the worldwide web. They both love cats, chocolate, and a good story.