Age of Iron (Iron Age, #1)

by Angus Watson

LEGENDS AREN'T BORN. THEY'RE FORGED. Dug Sealskinner is a down-on-his-luck mercenary travelling south to join up with King Zadar's army. But he keeps rescuing the wrong people. First, Spring, a child he finds scavenging on the battlefield, and then Lowa, one of Zadar's most fearsome warriors, who's vowed revenge on the king for her sister's execution. Now Dug's on the wrong side of that thousands-strong army he hoped to join -- and worse, Zadar has bloodthirsty druid magic on his side. All Dug has is his war hammer, one rescued child and one unpredictable, highly-trained warrior with a lust for revenge that's going to get them all killed ...It's a glorious day to die. Look out now for YOU DIE WHEN YOU DIE - first in a new series from Angus Watson. 'Watson's tale is gore soaked and profanity laden - full of visceral combat and earthy humor, and laced with subtle magic. The blend of historical accuracy and authorial liberties suggests an old-school sword-and-sorcery epic, though with some modern sensibilities thrown in for good measure!' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'Would I read the next one? Yes, absolutely. Bring me my hammer, bring my beer, bring it on.'
SF CROWSNEST 'Watson has created a brilliant and confident debut ...If you like your fantasy packed with hammer-wielding heroes, bloodthirsty druids, strong female leads, action, intrigue, betrayal, and a brilliantly conceived world then AGE OF IRON is for you.' THE BOOK BEARD 'Thoroughly entertaining from the get go ...I really got a kick out of the AGE OF IRON' THE ELOQUENT PAGE

• ISBN10: 0356502619
• ISBN13: 9780356502618
• Publish Date: 2 September 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

[elysium]

I really wanted to love this but I didn’t. I like fantasy and I like history so this should be perfect book for me, right?
I think the biggest problem was that I thought this was a fantasy book. But it was in Britain, Romans are coming and Germany was also mentioned. Just because you add pagan gods and add few druids and their magic doesn’t make it proper fantasy book for me. If I think it as a historical book then the too modern language would bother me. At some point I wanted to start counting how many times shagging was mentioned but that would have meant too much commitment.

I didn’t mind the blood, gore or mentions of rape but that could be a problem for someone. I’m pretty sure that every time new female character was introduced we’re told how her face, hair, boobs and ass looks. And it got tiresome after awhile.

Aithne was big-boned, big-arsed, busty and tall with hair the colour of piss-soaked stable straw, while Lowa was average height, slender, with hair so blonde it was almost white. Admittedly she was on the stocky side of slender. Riding and archery had built muscle, and a keen observer would have seen that her right shoulder and arm were bigger than her left from drawing the longbow, but she was slim-waisted and supple, with a bottom that lobbed slingstones would have bounced off. Aithne had the small-featured, freckled face of a milkmaid. Lowa had the pale skin and high cheekbones of a fairy princess. Aithne had dark, bovine eyes with long, heavy lashes. Lowa's eyes were blue, pale-lashed and slanted like a wildcat's. Aithne was gregarious while Lowa watched from the edges. Aithne was confused and idealistic where Lowa was logical and pragmatic. Aithne was a glutton for food and booze, often to be found vomiting before bed, while Lowa never overate and had never been sick after drinking. Aithne was two years older, but Lowa had been the leader as long as she could remember. (pg.53)

I couldn’t care less about the characters and I was so bored that I had to force myself to open the book. The writing wasn’t bad but unfortunately that’s not enough to make this good. But I liked that there is strong women who went to battles, and fought well, so that is a bonus and earned higher rating.

This definitely wasn’t for me but everyone else seems to love this so don’t take my word for this.

[celinenyx]

We barely know anything about the Iron age in Britain - all the information we have we got from archaeological finds. This shows us what people wore and how their day to day life looked like, but we don't know anything about their culture or what motivated them. We know even less about the Roman invasion, except for the diaries of Julius Caesar. Age of Iron tells a story of what could have been in this rather dark age, wrapped in a nice fantasy package.

Dug is an old warrior, and he hopes for a comfortable life in the army of Zadar, a growing power in Britain. Lowa is a fighter in Zadar's army, until she is betrayed. Together with the mysterious little girl, Spring, these three get caught in wars bigger than their personal grudges.

The biggest strength of Age of Iron is that it's just so easy to get into. There are no big info-dumps, no complex world building sequences or dozens of families to get used to (I am looking at you, Mr Martin). It drops you in the action, and shows you the ropes of the setting through the eyes of a handful of characters, without losing the momentum. Age of Iron is one of the most accessible fantasy books I've ever seen, and I can tell Mr Watson is a fan of Joe Abercrombie, has a similar approach to world-building.

I really liked the characters, especially the girl, Spring. I think she's the most interesting one, maybe also because we rarely see through her eyes. In many ways she reminded me of Arya, from the Song of Ice and Fire series. She's just as feisty and stubborn, and yet is still a kid. The other characters weren't as fleshed out as I would have liked them to be - Dug, the warrior from the north, was a great guy but a little shallow. Lowa had had very little emotions, which is understandable for someone that has killed as much as she has, but she still felt empty.

One of the reasons that Age of Iron is so readable is that the characters speak in a very modern way. In a sense I think this is fine, we don't know how people back then spoke anyway, so there is no reason to act like they speak like 19th century aristocracy. At times though, the speech became way too modern or even contradictory. Coins and money are a new invention, brought to Britain by the Romans. Yet, when Dug sees a rich looking woman, he thinks to himself that she looks like "old money". How would he ever think this expression when they've only been using coins for a few months? EVERYONE is new money. I felt like some of these glitches were jokes meant for the modern reader, but for me they were jarring.

This book should come with a few warnings. First of all, they're not very dainty concerning sex - there are plenty of rapings (though not on-page), whores, and even the main characters are all very casual about humping here or there. Although I quite liked that the heroine for once isn't a cleanly virgin, but someone that just has sex when she feels like it, it might be a bit much for other people. The sex scenes aren't explicit by the way, it's just mentioned a lot. Secondly, there is quite some gore. At one point a man is forced to eat pieces of his wife. A strong stomach is recommended for this story.

The world of Age of Iron is pretty brutal, and it's a very entertaining and engaging story.