Can we just take a second and appreciate the fact that I get to write a review for some books on a substack.  It’s pretty awesome that we have the power to put our work out there without worrying about the gatekeepers rejecting us.  The Ironage is pretty awesome.  Now, on to the review.

This book starts with a classic.  Action and confusion.  You find yourself following a young woman who has awoken suddenly to find herself being hunted by…something.  But don’t fret.  She finds herself a companion to help her escape….into more trouble.  Some kind of spirit in a lantern.  An intriguing character for sure.   

But who is this spirit? And is it really helping her or just using her?  Who is she anyway? Why is she here? All good questions that we’re going to have to wait for the next books to find out lol.  

Overall I found these books to be quite fun to read.  And they’re pretty short so they’re perfect for those who would like to read but don’t have the time for something like War and Peace.  The characters were fun, interesting and pretty easy to relate to.  The plot, what little I know of it so far, was intriguing enough to hold my interest.  And, speaking of, the mysteries do their jobs well, i.e. making you want to read more to get answers.  However, it does have a few problems.  

For one, the way the spirit “talks” takes some getting used to.  I could see how there could be some who wouldn’t care for it.  For another, these books need a good edit.  There were multiple places that I had to figure out what the author had meant to say because the online program he used to didn’t catch the issue.  Chalk one up for us human editors.  We’re still needed.  For these minor problems I’m going to mark it down a bit.    

So if you’re looking for a quick, fun read in the realm of fantasy and don’t mind a bit of unanswered questions, I know I don’t, then these books are perfect for you.  

3.8/5