Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant #1) by Ilona Andrews Publication date: June 26th 2018
Publisher: NYLA
My rating: 5 Stars
Pages: 406
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No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.
Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.
Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.
Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?
As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”
Hugh and Elara may do both.
My Thoughts:
As the description points out, Hugh was Roland’s warrior,
but has been cast out, cut off from Roland’s magic and when we first meet Hugh here,
he’s in bad shape. Hurting as he was Hugh
didn’t fully grasp his Iron Dogs were loyal to him, not Roland. Now that they’re being hunted down, and
murdered Hugh must get himself together, get his Iron Dogs back in fighting
shape to meet the threat.
Elara and Hugh have things each other need to survive, Elara
has a castle, food, and supplies Hugh’s Iron Dogs’ desperately need, and Elara
needs protection for the people in her keep.
To make their alliance believable they decide to marry. They hate each
other on sight, Elara has already heard the rumors of Hugh and expects him to be
a terrible man, and Hugh views Elara a cold harpy. This is a marriage of convenience, but of
course I was hoping for it to turn into more! Love-to-hate relationships are so much fun and loved every verbal sparring
match between these two! Really made
things heat up!
Hugh was quite a despicable character in the previous books,
so when I first heard there would be a book centering on him I wondered if I
could ever view him as the “hero” or like him.
Shouldn’t have worried because Ilona Andrews pulled it off splendidly! You
don’t have to do this because there’s enough information to get the picture,
but I did go back and skim through some of the events in Magic
Rises (book 6) and Magic Breaks
(book 7) to remember exactly what happened with Hugh, Kate, The Pack, and
Roland. Some of his actions seemed unforgivable,
but we were only looking at them through Kate’s eyes. Here we get Hugh’s motivations, and some important
insight about Roland’s influence on Hugh here in Iron and Magic. It made ALL
the difference in my opinion of Hugh and I ended up rooting for the guy!
Elara is likeable right off the bat, she’s completely loyal and
protective of her people, strong and intelligent in her actions. Elara is also a person (?) of powerful magic, but she’s a mystery and
I look forward to finding out more about her in the coming books.
The fight/battle scenes were exciting, full of danger, and
action, and easy to follow. I was
surprised and thrilled by what’s revealed about Hugh, his skills and powers. Elara
is a bit of an enigma, not sure what she is yet, but I have some ideas. When she steps into a fight you take notice,
and I was stunned by a certain villain’s reaction to her in the end!
Iron and Magic
was fast paced and riveting! We get Ilona
Andrews at their best, and what they’re known for as writers: exciting action, multi-faceted,
compelling characters, interesting mythology, and of course my favorite: romance! I can’t wait to get my hands on the next
book!
Connect with Ilona Andrews:
I'm giving away a Hardcover Copy of Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels #7) by Ilona Andrews which features Hugh quite prominently. The giveaway is open to US Residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.
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7 comments:
I'm so glad you loved this! I can't wait to get more of Hugh's story!
I have been meaning to read Ilona Andrews forever. I really need to start a series from them. Glad this was another winner!
With nicknames like "Preceptor of the Iron Dogs" and "Abomination," it sounds like this couple did not have the happy childhoods they deserved!
I hope you love it! :)
Everyone seems to love this one even if they started out doubtful of Hugh.
i need to catch up on the main series so I can read this.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
Oh, I'd love to be able to binge read Kate Daniels! Hope you get caught up soon, Karen! :)
Ohh, five stars :D So glad you loved this book so much lovely. <3 And yay for the hero actually being amazing, when you had feared he wouldn't be :D That is the best. <3
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