Book Review: The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa

Image (c) Harlequin Teen

The Iron Legends (The Iron Fey #1.5, 3.5, 4.5) by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Book Format: Library Book
Rating: Three Stars

Summer, Winter, Iron.
Together at last.

Dangerous faeries. Heartbreaking romance. Thrilling action and limitless adventure. The world of the fey has never been so powerful. This collection includes three novellas set in the world of The Iron Fey plus the expanded Guide to the Nevernever and exclusive information about Julie Kagawa's unforgettable world of Faery.

Winter's Passage
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....

Summer's Crossing 
A Midsummer's Nightmare? Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Summer Court prankster, King Oberon's right hand, bane of many a faery queen's existence—and secret friend to Prince Ash of the Winter Court. Until one girl's death came between them, and another girl stole both their hearts.

Now Ash has granted one favor too many and someone's come to collect, forcing the prince to a place he cannot go without Puck's help—into the heart of the Summer Court. And Puck faces the ultimate choice—betray Ash and possibly win the girl they both love, or help his former friend turned bitter enemy pull off a deception that no true faery prankster could possibly resist.

Iron's Prophecy
Meghan Chase is finally getting used to being the Iron Queen, ruler of the Iron Fey. Her life may be strange, but with former Winter prince Ash by her side at last, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

But when they travel to the Summer and Winter courts’ gathering for Elysium, the oracle from Meghan’s past returns with a dire prophecy: “What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them.” Now Meghan faces a devastating choice that may determine the future of all fey—and her and Ash’s unborn child…

Since this is a book with three novellas, I'll rate them separately and then average the score out.

Winter's Passage-
In this short story, we follow Meghan Chase as she goes through the promise that she made back with Ash in the first story of the series. On the way, they find themselves being followed by something... but they know it isn't anything good.

I have to admit, this didn't stick in my mind all that much. That, added up with some of it being material already taken from an already published book, makes me feel a little cheated. I can understand why- most likely so the reader can read from the first book, to the novella, and then jump right into the second book- but I just didn't like it. Still, it's nice if the reader's really that curious what happened about that deal and such.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

Summer's Crossing-
This story is in the viewpoint of Puck. He follows Ash as he takes himself on the path to becoming human. They go to Leanansidhe for help but, before she can, she requests for one of her favors from Ash to be returned- rescue her violin from the one person that Puck never cared for: his own Summer Queen, Titania.

There has been some repetition in some of the words here in this novella as well, but not as much compared to the previous one. Puck being... well, Puck, made things a bit more entertaining. I enjoyed this story and the twist at the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Iron's Prophecy-
We return back to Meghan Chase's point of view. There was a prophecy spoken to her a while back and it returns back to bite her. As she goes, as queen, to meet with the Summer and the Winter court, the Oracle returns to her to inform her of her first born... and, for help, she should find her. Being the stubborn person, Meghan does just that and, once again, finds herself in a whole lot of trouble.

Now this one I found myself enjoying, mostly because none of it wasn't taken from another book. But, overall, it was interesting to see how she handle the new prophecy of her to-be-born child. Honestly, it has potential to become a longer story. I didn't like the ending and could have been better, but it was still a nice calming read.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Overall, it was a good light read and I enjoyed myself.

Originally posted and shared on December 18th, 2013