Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews Narrator: Steve West
Length: 12 hrs 51 mins
Series: Iron Covenant #1
Published by Nancy Yoast Literary Agency on June 26, 2018
Genres: Paranormal Romance
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.
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I have to admit, my feelings towards Hugh were changing in the last few Kate Daniels books. I felt he wasn’t really a character acting on his own, that he was like a puppet for Roland and therefore not entirely responsible for his actions. I also got the feeling that he was doing Roland’s bidding but his heart wasn’t in it. I know he did a lot of bad things, but I was convinced there was more to him which is what made me so excited to see that the Andrews decided to do a spin off with him!
We start out with Hugh and his devastation at being exiled from Roland and losing his place as Roland’s warlord. This is a great starting point as we see how Hugh pulls himself up for his Iron Dogs and begins to put a life together.
Hugh really meets his match with Elara! The two are great at verbally sparring and their head butting was so fun to read. The barbs and comebacks between the two would remind you of a tennis match. They apparently totally hate each other, but there is that fine line between love and hate. Not that we completely get there in this book.
Hugh interacting with the people that Elara does business with was so fun. He put on such a great “good ole boy” act that you couldn’t believe it was the same Hugh D’Ambray. It annoyed Elara to no end, but it was so funny at the same time. Hugh is a great actor and knows just how to play his cards with others to get his way. I don’t think he would have achieved all that he had if he didn’t know how to play people. The tough one is trying to get Elara to follow his lead. She is pretty stubborn and they clash so much! There is a pretty sinister predator at play and Hugh must persuade Elara to his side on how things should be handled. One thing I was puzzled about was the connection between the other villages and Nez’s plans to attack Elara and Hugh. Was it a build up? Is there going to be more about those creatures?
I had a great time watching Hugh create a new life for himself. I look forward to seeing it continue to build as well as the direction Hugh and Elara’s relationship is going to go.
This was a great listen. I really enjoyed the narration. Steve West was a great choice for this series (hopefully he does the whole series) and he has definitely made my list of favorite narrators!
About Ilona Andrews
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. author2sm“Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
