Winter’s Passage by Julie Kagawa
Iron Fey # 1.5
Publisher: Harlequin
Number of pages: 59
My copy: free ebook from Kindle store
Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl…until she discovered that she is really a faery princess. After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash. But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck–Meghan’s best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon–who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey.
Yet Meghan and Ash’s detour does not go unnoticed. They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter–a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat…
* * *
Winter’s Passage is a novella released for The Iron King fans to satiate their hunger for more Iron Fey goodness until the second book, The Iron Daughter, comes out. I’ve had this ebook in my e-reader for ages, because I was never one to say no to getting free ebooks, but I never read it because obviously, I never read The Iron King until now.
If you haven’t read The Iron King yet, spoiler warning for that book starts here.
The novella starts immediately where The Iron King left off, where Ash picks up Meghan from her house to fulfill her promise to him after helping her bring back her brother Ethan to the mortal world. Meghan knew she had to fulfill her promise, so she joins Ash, but asks for a favor to go see her best friend Puck, who was sleeping under the dryad’s care after he was wounded in the first book. As they traveled through wyldwood, they felt someone was following them, which made Ash, the dryads, and a returning Grimalkin (heeee!) very worried.
This is a very short novella that’s pretty easy and quick to read, especially if you’re already familiar with the faery world that Julie Kagawa created. It’s action-packed and mysterious, with just the right amounts of romance to tickle the fancy of Iron Fey fans. The action was my favorite part in this ebook. I liked how there was this big pressing sense of urgency for Ash and Meghan to get to Tir Na Nog before the hunter finds them — the fear was very palpable, and the chase scene was believable. I liked that there were new characters introduced in the novella, and although they were just minor ones, it goes to show how much world building has been made for this series. The fight scenes against the hunter was well-written too, consistent with how The Iron King‘s actions scenes were done.
However, I felt that the reveal was a teensy bit anticlimactic and almost…well, cheesy. Like I said, the action scenes and the chase was very satisfying, but the reason why the hunter was hunting them felt like a downer especially with how the hunter was described in the book’s blurb.
I honestly think that all the dystopian and other fantasy books I have read has made my expectations for mysteries, hunters, mysterious hunters and anything similar to that a little bit higher than it used to be. Based from most of the reviews I have read for this novella, everyone loved this book. I still liked it, but I just felt underwhelmed by the reveal. Perhaps if I read this earlier while waiting for The Iron Daughter, I would feel different, but now that I have the next book and the third book in my TBR, it did not have the same effect on me.
But again, that’s just me. *shrug* Winter’s Passage is a good addition to the Iron Fey series and read it if you just want to have a quick dose of Meghan and Ash (and Grimalkin!). And the cover is gorgeous too — too bad it’s not available in print. I will still read the rest of the Iron Fey novels, because I still want to know what happens next (and Puck, I want to see you back!).
Rating: [rating=3]
2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 101 out of 100 for 2010
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