Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

It took me a month but I finally finished The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. It is a dramatic and imaginative fantasy set in both modern times and in the Nevernever, a faery realm. Meghan is a child of both, being half faery and half human, thus it is up to her to not only save her brother but also the whole faery kingdom from sure annihilation at the hands of the Iron King. Along the way she meets friends that were thought to be imaginary characters from books and is faced with horrible dilemmas which require promises/oaths for some event in the future. All of these promises are not fulfilled in this book. Now the reader must pick up the other books in the series to find out what adventures await Meghan and her friends.

It took me awhile, obviously, to get in to the story. I liked Meghan but was never quite sure about the cast of characters around her.  Were they friends or were they foes?  Perhaps they were both. Magical things happened, battles broke out, faeries appeared/disappeared, friends were hurt then healed. Typical stuff of fantasy writing. Then I perked up. The plot tilted to the right when technology entered the storyline. I found this bit to be very imaginative and almost comical, certainly not what I was expecting.  In the end the book proved to be very satisfying and I admit that I do want to read the sequel, The Iron Daughter.

This whole series has been a steady favorite in my library for the past two years. It is also a strong contender as an addition for my Nifty-Fifty Cart, which I stuff with 50 tried-and-true good books. The cart is getting a make-over this summer with about half the titles being swapped out. First books in series are popular additions because they keep readers coming back for more!

If you have read The Iron King and other books in this series I'd love to hear from you. Do you think I should add this to my nifty-fifty cart?  How are the other books in the series in comparison to this one?