Iron and Magic - Ilona Andrews

Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant #1) – Ilona Andrews

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 Review of Iron and Magic

Oh Ilona Andrews… The hubby and wife magic-writing duo who can never do wrong! I keep forgetting how much I love their books. I have had this on my to-read list for so long and I have no idea why I kept putting it off, I should have known that I would love it!

Perfect for fans of the Kate Daniel’s series, because this one is a spin-off of one of the major bad guys in that series, Hugh d’Ambray. Did you like to hate him in the Kate Daniels series? Well prepare to have your opinion turned in this one! Or, are you new to Ilona Andrews? Fear not, you don’t need to have read ANYTHING else to start here. However some of the references may be a little lost on you, and personally I preferred Kate Daniels. Just because, well its Kate Daniels – and that series is awesome! But there was absolutely nothing wrong with this one!

Hugh is back, but this time he is the good guy? HUH? What is in store for Hugh in his story? Pushed out by his father-figure mentor Roland, Hugh and his army has to fend for themselves as they are getting murdered. A stroke of luck comes when he makes a deal to marry Elara, the White Lady. Caretaker of a castle that is right in the path of destruction. Sure, they can’t stand each other from the get-go, but they are married now, and Hugh is about to find his new wife isn’t exactly what he thought she was. ie HUMAN??

Ilona Andrews are king and queen of the slow burning AWESOME romances. Romances are never better than when two characters hate the living crap out of each other and they love to keep the fireworks crackling!

Loved to read this side of Hugh. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but I really like him!

The story was awesome, the characters were superb and funny as hell, the setting and atmosphere were awesome and I liked the little cameos for fans of KD.

What did I think of the audio version?

I loved the male narrator, Steve West. I am already a fan of his after he narrated Strange the Dreamer and did such an amazing job at that! There was something about his voice in this one that was Hugh to a T! I thought he was great. This was a fantastic book on audio, I tend to really enjoy fantasy on audio for some reason.

Would I recommend Iron and Magic?

YES it was great! Loved it and can’t wait for the next one. HOWEVER you will probably get more out of this one if you read a few of the Kate Daniels series first.

(4 / 5)