RedEyedGhost Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 As I've said in the reading thread, this is my favorite book I've read so far this year. I'm also a big fan of her other two books, as she really writes characters that I enjoy. This one is quite different from her first two. They were urban fantasy set in Ireland during the Troubles, with a fae twist. This one is secondary world epic fantasy with a flintlock technology level. The book has three point of view characters, and they're all part of the Kingdom of Eledore - a very important part. Suvi and Nels are the twin princess and prince, and Ilta is the granddaughter, and expected successor, of the Silmaillia who is the strongest magic user in the kingdom. [spoiler]The preview chapter has an Acrasian character's POV, so there will definitely be some expansion in book two.[/spoiler] The kingdom of Eledore is on a continent with five other powerful dominions and a nation of Waterborn who pretty much live on their ships, both at sea and on the vast lakes that cover the continent. If I recall correctly (I read it extremely quickly because I enjoyed it so much), five of the other nations (Waterborn included) are all inhabited by kainen - a race with elf-like features, as they derogatorily call humans "round-ears" - while the last, the Acrasian Regnum, is inhabited by humans. Throughout the book we learn of the continents past and the history Eledore. It was formed by refugees from the other nations as they battled the Old Ones, demonish creatures that come through "cracks in the world" [spoiler]and do something with the dead - don't know if they can inhabit dead kainen, or if they just use them as we saw in Suvi's POV. But I do think the Old Ones have much more effect on the kainen than on humans both because of the kainen's name for them their extreme worry about blood.[/spoiler] The kainen are magic users that were able to seal the cracks and it's been more than 200 since they've been seen. The humans, are well, human, and have been easily controlled by Eledore because of their "Command" magic (which is exactly what you would think). But of late, and because of scheming in the royal family, they're getting much more ambitious in acting along the border. This is where the story begins. The POV characters: Nels - the first POV we encounter - he is the crown prince of Eledore, he's also terrified that he's a changeling (a "defective" kainen who has no magical ability) because he has not had any abilities manifest at age 16, and most do by 13. This is what makes him such a fascinating character for me, he has to go about things differently from the rest of the ruling family and the army's command structure. Suvi - Nels twin sister. I really liked her chapters too, especially the encounter with the Waterborn [spoiler]and the sea battles (that reminds me of the end of Goonies when the report asks Data what the scariest part was, "The octopus!" - which actually is in the deleted scenes, and is gloriously horrible, which is why it was cut)[/spoiler] While Nels has to do things differently from the status quo he still tries to go along with it, Suvi was more influenced by their mother who was "imported" from the Kingdom of Ytlain, and she thinks much more about, and is more interested in created change in Eledore. Ilta - she is an extremely powerful healer and seer, whose magic began manifested very early, her first vision was between ages 3 and 4. She was my least favorite character, partly because I'm not a big fan of prophecy in fantasties, and partly because of her clichéd relationship with Nels. I do like that she is a risk taker and is willing to try medical treatments that the lowly humans have developed instead of relying solely on magical ability, and her growth because of that [spoiler]seriously[spoiler]and I am a bit forgiving of her prophetic abilities because they are so infallible, and that that led to the kingdoms destruction. Had the magically mutated variola not decimated Jalokivi, Dylan's and Darius's blizzard would have broken the Acrasian army, and that would have given them time to regroup and secure more allies.[/spoiler][/spoiler] While the kainen have magic, it's not all powerful, and the use of it can be very taxing on the user. The humans in the story are much more advanced in technology (medicine and weapons) and battle techniques, but they are easily controlled by kainen with command magic. I don't recall if they came to the continent from somewhere else or why they only live in the one little corner of it (or if they live elsewhere on the continent as a servant/slave class and Acrasia is the only area they are free). Possibly we'll learn more about that as we learn more about the Old Ones. The story itself is supposed to be a "North American" fantasy, and this definitely feels like a settlement of America but from the Native Americans' view. If you can't already tell, I loved this book, and I think you should read it too. I cannot wait for book two, Blackthorne, to be released, and good news she turned in the first draft of it on June 22. Her blog even has it listed as a 2015 release date. Because I like to be fair, AncalagonTheBlack found the middle section to be slow, and found some infodumps that I blew right through without even noticing: REG,i'm surprised you liked this so much! I'm at the 66% mark and it's failing to hold my attention :frown5: .It started well enough,but the middle part is dragging.Does it improve later on ? I hate the romance between Nels and Ilta and the war story at the front is boring the hell out of me,i also skimmed/skipped the infodumps .I had high expectations from this,but sadly it's been pretty ordinary so far. :dunno: Spoilers for the end of the book and questions and thoughts about where book two will go. [spoiler]Wow, I did not see that ending coming! The second we find out Lucrosia Marcellus Domitia was inside the palace I knew he was going to see Nels and Suvi seal the crack at Keeper's Mountain (and strongly suspected it before hand), but I thought that would be enough to scare the Acrasian back away from Jalokivi while keeping all of the other territory captured under Acrasian rule. I'm really looking forward to reading about the nation without a home though, should be fantastic, and I can't recall reading anything like that recently. The Blackthorne preview chapter is an Acrasian POV, so I'm hopeful that we'll encounter Petron again. Was he really Lieutenant Lucrosla Marcellus Petreius? It seems likely. Where will the Old Ones break through? Because they definitely are going to. Ilta saw it happening "to the south." Will it be in Acrasia? They're already dealing with the Malorum, but do they come from there? Is there even one of the seven(?) cracks of the world in Acrasia? Will it be at the Waterborn's home island or somewhere else? Will the Acrasians have Nels and Suvi back in a year's time to keep them from breaking through? How much watersteel were they able to take from the city? Do the Acrasian even know about watersteel? Petron mentioned that silver is the only thing that can kill the Malorum.[/spoiler] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Nice write-up REG.I've finished 4 more chapters since my earlier comment and the pace has certainly picked up and things are finally moving into place.Hopefully it all ends with a bang. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasûrimbor Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 RedEyedGhost: great, detailed review. I'm a relatively new fan of Stina Leicht. Finished Of Blood and Honey last week, which I thought was excellent. Started Cold Iron a few days ago, and so far I would have to agree that this is yet another great title from her, even if the genre is seemingly a new one for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Thanks guys. I meant to include it initially, but forgot. Here's a nice guest post from Stina on SFSignal discussing the magic system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Cheers, Ghost. I loved her Fey and The Fallen books, and have been looking forward to this for a while now. My TBR pile is ridiculous right now, but this goes straight to the top of the heap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 Cheers, Ghost. I loved her Fey and The Fallen books, and have been looking forward to this for a while now. My TBR pile is ridiculous right now, but this goes straight to the top of the heap. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and if you liked her other books that much, I think you will :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I plan to start this after the new Hobb. So if it's bad I know who to blame at least. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Valkyrie Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm only a little ways in but I have to say I'm delighted to see all these Finnish names and landscapes in a secondary world fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 I plan to start this after the new Hobb. So if it's bad I know who to blame at least. :P I'm okay with that. I read it on my kindle, and because I liked it so much I ordered a hardback on Sunday. It's been out for less than a month and I got a second edition. That sucks ass, but I hope it means that the book is doing well. The dust jacket was a little dinged up, so I have a valid reason to send this filthy second edition back (seriously though, it's a good looking book - no preview chapter like the ebook has though) and get a proper first edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 IDK, I was pawing and fondling this at Barnes and Noble the other day. Looks pretty good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's on sale on Kindle US right now!Cold Iron (The Malorum Gates Book 1) by Stina Leicht - $1.99and Nook and Kobo as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Cover art for book two of the Malorum Gates, Black Thorne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restless Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Is it going to be released before year's end? :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 8, 2016 Author Share Posted November 8, 2016 I wish, but it's a 2017 release. Amazon has it listed for June 6th (and the kindle preorder price is stupid low at $7.99 - went ahead and pulled the trigger on that right now - I'll order a hardback too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 The sequel, Blackthorne,came out on Aug 8.Will get to it as soon as i finish my current read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 I'm reading it right now I was a little shocked to find out that the first three POVs are Acrasians, it's about 13% in before we get an Eledoran POV with one from a Waterborn in between. I'm only 16% in, but I'm definitely enjoying it so far. I really enjoy the way Leicht writes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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