Aranthur is a student. He showed a little magical talent, is studying at the local academy, and is nothing particularly special. Others are smarter. Others are more talented. Others are quicker to pick up techniques. But none of them are with him when he breaks his journey home for the holidays in an inn. None of them step in to help when a young woman is thrown off a passing stage coach into the deep snow at the side of the road. And none of them are drawn into a fight to protect her.
One of the others might have realised she was manipulating him all along . . .
A powerful story about beginnings, coming of age, and the way choosing to take one step towards violence can lead to a slippery and dangerous slope, this is an accomplished fantasy series driven by strong characters and fast-paced action.

Firstly, a massive thank you to Gollancz for sending me an arc copy of this book for review.

I have never had the pleasure of reading any of Miles Cameron series The Traitor Son Cycle so when I was offered the opportunity to review his new book Cold Iron I jumped at the chance. I have always wanted to read his work and no better time than with a new series set in a completely new world.

Shortly after I started reading Cold Iron I was thoroughly engrossed and realised I was nearing the 30 page mark but had yet to see a new chapter so I flicked forward a bit and noticed that indeed Cold Iron didn’t have chapters in it. This shocked me slightly as I have not experienced this since I last read a Terry Pratchett book (which has been quite a number of years) and writing a fantasy book without chapters is no small feat. As I continued to read the book I became increasingly impressed because Miles Cameron has managed to create such a vivid and vast world with extraordinary flow and storytelling which on its own is something to behold but to do this without chapters in something else entirely.

The story Miles Cameron has crafted is something truly amazing as you experience many different cultures, weapons and character styles, you can tell he has been inspired by a number of countries, races and religions when writing Cold Iron. This made reading about each different character, their background and weapons was extremely interesting and intriguing. At times due to the depth put into the world and characters  I almost felt like I was reading a great historical fiction book and for me this was a breath of fresh air as I have never experienced this with a fantasy book.

One aspect of the story I thoroughly enjoyed reading was the sword fighting. Miles Cameron has created sword fighting scenes like nothing I have ever experienced. The way he writes them is so fluid and in depth that I found it very easy to vividly imagine a fight scene occur.

When I first read the synopsis for Cold Iron and realised that it was a coming of age fantasy book I had a set idea in my head of what I was going to experience due to the amount of these I have read over the years but was I experienced with Cold Iron was nothing like what I had expected. Miles Cameron has taken some of the typical tropes you would find in a coming of age fantasy and tweaked them into something brilliant. Our main character Aranthur is not a prophesied one, incredibly talented in everything he does or does he succeed at everything. He comes across like a very down to earth character that wants to succeed at what he does through hard work, determination and sometimes through sheer force of will. All the thrown in with his personality traits and attitude makes him extremely enjoyable to read about because you are always left wondering what he is going to do next and when he succeeds at something you find yourself cheering for him. What I did discover with Aranthur was that instead of being exceptional in one area he also seemed to be like a jack of many and the only area I think he maybe excelled at more was his swordsmanship but could have been due to a number of factors that I won’t spoil for you.

There are only a couple of coming of age fantasy books that I have loved as much as I did Cold Iron and this book is truly amazing in its own right without that factor. It is exceptional fantasy book that deserves to be read by everyone who enjoys fantasy and possibly historical fiction. I am extremely glad I read Cold Iron and I am really looking forward to see what Miles Cameron has planned for its sequel, in the mean time however I am going to make sure I pick up his Traitor Son Cycle series.

I am one of many taking part in the blog tour for the release of Cold Iron. I hope the other blogs enjoyed Cold Iron as much as I did and I look forward to seeing their reviews. Below is list of the other blogs taking part with the associated dates for the tour.