The Iron Crown by L.L.MacRae
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Fenn’s first and only memory is finding himself in the middle of a forest, face to face with a dragon spirit mocking him, all knowledge gone apart from his own name.
Lost and confused, his only hope for answers is Calidra—a woman living on the edge of the world with her partner. Forced to return home when her father dies, Calidra has put off facing her estranged mother for seven years, and she begrudgingly helps Fenn, forging papers for him so he can avoid the Queen’s Inquisitors.
But her mother is the least of her worries when they discover an ancient enemy is rising again. It should be impossible with the Iron Crown in power—and Fenn is terrified he might unwittingly be playing a part in the war’s resurgence.
Surrounded by vengeful spirits and powerful magic, Fenn’s desperate attempt to find his way home might well alter the fate of Tassar, and every power in it.
The Iron Crown is L.L. MacRae’s latest fantasy adventure and I loved it just as much as her other books. This world has dragon spirits (completely on-brand for MacRae) who live off the power of certain natural landmarks. For example, there’s the spirit of the ocean, a massively powerful spirit, or the spirit of a specific piece of woodland which is less powerful. I loved the uniqueness of the dragon spirits, and how they interacted with the people of this world too.
There’s multiple POV chapters, all of which have distinct voices and story arcs to drive the book forwards. The character that starts off our story is Fenn, who finds himself with amnesia and no idea who he is (except his name). I loved him as a character as he’s slightly naive but wants to do what is right, even if he doesn’t know what right is for him.
Fenn is found by Calidra and Jisyel, who are a wonderfully supportive couple. Calidra has some family issues and has spent years running from her problems to end up with Jisyel. Jisyel is the perfect companion for Calidra as they make one another better, especially as Jisyel got cursed as a child to not be able to feel anything – meaning Calidra can help take care of her as Jisyel returns that care. I loved how their relationship wasn’t used to bring tension to the story, and how great they were together.
There’s also Apollo, an ex-thief who’s a late (but welcome) addition to the book, who ends up being pulled back into danger after he’s tried to settle down and be a good man. Varlot is an ex-soldier who holds a lot of bitterness and anger, and a badass priestess, Selys, who subverts all expectations of a shrine priestess to help Fenn and co out. The cast of characters are all very different as people, but work well together to show off what people are like in this world.
The Myr are an invisible evil threat throughout the book, as the war ended with them 5 years previously. There’s not a lot of information, but little hints are dropped by Jisyel and others for Fenn to learn more about them which captures your interest in them. The rising worries of them returning is what pushes the story a lot, and I’m intrigued to learn more of them in the next books.
On top of the Myr, there’s an inquisitor of The Iron Queen who is against many of our other characters, with his own POV chapters to learn why he is the way he is. MacRae is always good at including characters who aren’t always black and white, good and evil. She always manages to give depth to characters we’re not meant to like, and helps to expand on the world without dropping the pace of the story.
The ending does leave the story very open, which means that I will have to beg L.L. MacRae to send me a copy of the next book, The Shadow Gate, as soon as she’s finished writing it.
The Iron Crown by L.L. MacRae is one of the entrants for this year’s SPFBO competition too.
Positives of The Iron Crown
- Lovable and well developed characters
- Unique dragon spirits
Negatives of The Iron Crown
- Having to wait for the next book
I received The Iron Crown by L.L. MacRae from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review
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