Smoke and Iron was suspenseful with nail-biting developments, new automations and great loss. We've got Jess, posing as Brendon, his twin, Morgan is back in the Dark Tower a place she swore she'd never return to and Wolfe being held prisoner in the dungeon. The rest of our crew is aboard a ship manned by Ani. All have a part to play in the game to undermine and remove the archivist from power. Ahhhh.... it was all so stressful!
The story moved from POV to POV, some Jess, some from Wolfe and others from Khalia. The ebb and flow keep me engaged. I tried to savior the story by setting it down and just digesting things for a day, but the last sixty percent I devoured in a single sitting.
Things I loved:
- Wolfe and Santi's relationship. (swoon)
- Dario who completely won me over.
- Thomas the brave.
- Khalia who continues to impress me. I see great things in her future.
- Jess who is clever, foolish, and inspires his friends to greatness even as they want to kill him. LOL
- When I close my eyes, these characters are the actors and actresses from the Harry Potter movies. Wolfe is Snape, Thomas is Neville, Dario is Malfoy, Jess is Harry, Morgan is Luna, and Khalia is Hermione. All have traits that from the beginning reminded me of Rowling's characters and while there are vast differences, I think readers will agree they come to care for these characters in much the same way.
Caine must have poured her soul into this installment. It had everything an epic fantasy needs. We saw fantastic battles, plot twists, and death. Now I've heard readers say this ended in a cliffhanger and while things are not completely resolved I felt differently. After a good cry, the ending left me satisfied and for once I didn't close the book while screaming.
If friendship, strong characters and epic world-building tickle your fancy I recommend you devour the Great Library series. The next and final book is yet to come. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer