The Iron Ship grabs your attention from the prologue’s first paragraph. The descriptions of a barren land of buried roads, volcanic glass obelisks, rustless metal ruins, and undiscovered artifacts tantalizing. When a lone woman treks across this Red Expanse to a hidden temple where her forgotten god and his sacred rites are revealed, the anticipation of ominous, wonderful things to come only grows. Even when the priestess gives way to a Guider named Aarin Kressid making his way along the Paths of the Dead in Karsa City, the story loses none of its charm, as the vision of a world ruled by the Great Tide, islands of floatstone riding upon its crest, and a “priest” raising dead spirits seamlessly assumes the spotlight.

 

At this point, the novel seemed to be a dream come true for a fantasy fan like me who was craving something familiar, yet wonderfully different. This world a grand fusion of primitive sorcery and magic-powered science, ancient history and modern mysteries, medieval upper class and growing bourgeois that was amazingly addictive. But then something happened: Nothing.

 

“Nothing.” It is an ominous word when used to describe certain things. When a person asks how much money they have in their bank account and the answer is “nothing” that is definitely a bad thing. Similarly, when speaking of the story line in a book, the idea that “nothing” happens with the plot is not a good thing. And, unfortunately, in The Iron Ship, nothing much happens after that amazing beginning; an occurrence that is terribly disappointing.

 

Now, to be fair, some things do happen in the book. I mean, it doesn’t spin its wheels for hundreds of pages, after all. And K.M. McKinley does nurture a few story elements into very interesting epic fantasy faire.

 

One of those is the cast of memorable characters; the majority of which are the Kressid siblings. There is the already mentioned Aarid Kressid, who guides spirits to the afterworld; Trassan Kressid, an engineer of immense skill who is building the iron ship herself; Guis Kressid, a playwright haunted by dark magic and personal mental illness; Rel Kressid, a roguish soldier banished to the edge of civilization for impropriety; Katriona Kressid, a brilliant woman trying to use her business skills in a male-dominated society; and Garten Kressid, the dedicated family man and bureaucrat. Joining them are others, such as the living god of wine, Elturion, the Hag of Mogawn, and her loyal servant Mansanio. All of them taking their turns as the central focus of the narrative; their personal struggles adding layer upon layer to this story of a magical world going through the birthing pains of an industrial revolution.

 

The other is that amazing world, which I’ve just mentioned. Modern and ancient, magic and science co-existing side by side. A vast land dominated by the Great Tide, but not solely about it. Culture after culture mentioned in passing. Social change and class upheaval clearly suggested, as brewing problems lying right below the surface. And numerous mentions of past civilizations that have disappeared, must now be rediscovered, and which might hold the keys to unlocking a growing mystery.

 

No matter those stellar elements, however, The Iron Ship was a very frustrating novel for me. Every single story line, every character’s personal plot reading like foreshadowing of future events. The book quickly turning into one long prologue, one huge buildup to the next book of the series. Not that I expected the story to be wrapped up in a single volume (This isn’t a standalone novel.), but it would have been nice if something, anything had been resolved. Nothing was, however, and that disappointed me immensely.

 

Does that mean I won’t read the next book of the series?

 

No, it doesn’t. Actually, I fully intend to pick it up. The foundations of this world and its cast of colorful characters have too much potential for me to cast aside The Gates of the World series that easily. But K.M. McKinley definitely needs to reward my perseverance with more resolutions and less foreshadowing in book two.

 

This book was provided to me by Rebellion and Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. The above review is my personal opinions of this novel and was not influenced by anyone else.

I think it is good that I didn't get to read book 1 before I read the other books. I think if I read this book before the others, I wouldn't have continued with the series.

Tom is still Tom in this book, but he is way more annoying and more of a bully than in the other books. He was also pretty horrendous with school. In the other books he is also drawing a lot, but he also does a bit more work.

I know he is already bullying (since that is what I would call it) that classmate of his, but in this book he does quite a few more things. Sure that classmate is annoying, but that is no excuse to draw things that he is an idiot, publicly humiliate him, and some other things.

Then we have his sister. Sure she is grumpy, doesn't always do the right things, but to sing a rude song about her, to invite a dog, while you know she is allergic... No. Allergies are serious, I have allergies and I can tell you it is no fun. A few hairs or a few other things of the animal I am allergic to, and I will be sneezing, coughing and my skin starts doing funny things. In the later books he is also pestering his sister, but for some reason it isn't as bad as it is here.

I can imagine Amy (who seems stuck-up) not liking Tom that much.

Otherwise, the book is still fun, the illustrations really add to the book and the story.

I am glad to see that Tom does change in the later books. Becomes more of a student, and grows up a bit.

I still need to read book 2, if I ever can find it. I already had to get this book from another library I am member of (and this was the only one they had in English), and the other library I got the rest from didn't have 1 and 2. :( I hope one day to find it. Since while I think this book is good, I wouldn't buy them.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

This is quite an interesting story. A story that deals with something not often tackled with in fantasy, that of the price of magic. Lauren Dane is dealing with the sudden loss of her husband, a small child and moving back to her childhood home, in Cat Creek, North Carolina. She's not dealing well with her husband - Brian's - death but Jake, her son, is helping to keep her sane. But there's a mirror in the house that is making her uneasy, she's seeing things in it, is it her imagination or something else? When she finds herself on the other side of the mirror in a different world she begins to wonder about life. That trip sends up alarms with some other people in her first world. Meanwhile, in Cat Creek, another woman has gone missing - Molly McColl - she finds herself in another realm and finds that she can heal. However everything has a consequence and nothing is always as it seems. It's an interesting story and kept me reading, I wonder what will happen with this story and really want to read the next installment.

It turns out that this is a sequel - and a copy of the predecessor is in a warehouse along with the vast majority of my other books. So that is mildly irritating but not the book's fault...

Reading this book I was quickly and persistently reminded of [b:The Great Book of Amber|5367|The Great Book of Amber (Chronicles of Amber, #1-10)|Roger Zelazny|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348965047s/5367.jpg|8810]. I haven't checked which series started first but the correspondences are manifold: murderous family plots and feuding; protagonist who spent much time on Earth; ability to create whole universes; gates/trumps between places.

The Amber stories are better than this, however. Better world building, better characterisation. Better prose. This is my first encounter with [a:Philip José Farmer|10089|Philip José Farmer|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234714074p2/10089.jpg] and I can't say I'm positively impressed.

http://pro-libertate.net/20110111/149-read-gates-creation