DEAD IRON is set in a world grown out of the American
frontier where the iron rails creep westward but instead of
commerce and new residents they bring a potential for danger
beyond imagination. The Strange need only one small chink in
the door to come over in their thousands. They will stream
through in full hunger mode ready to lay waste to those who
stand in their way. Their shadowy presence has been noted
but any signs and portents have been relegated to fireside
tales and not given credence by God-fearing folk. That time
of disbelief is set to end.
Cedar Hunt and his brother wandered onto Pawnee land where
their god sat up and took notice and seized the opportunity
to put a hunter or two in the way of the darkness to come.
Cursed with the form of a wolf at full moon time, Hunt has
fulfilled the blood-urge to destroy any Strange he comes
across, even though the curse has already cost him his
brother. Desolate, he has given up hope of a life beyond the
hunt when the impossible happens. The scent of his brother,
injured but alive tracks to the head of the railroad, Shard
LeFel.
Monk has crafted a brilliant and gritty world rife with
elements drawn from Steam Punk, blended with dark fantasy
and a glint of glamor. She draws back the dusty curtains of
a typical 1800's western town to reveal the secrets hidden
behind the faces of its residents and enmeshes the reader in
a fantasy adventure that keeps them on the edge of the seat,
up all night unable to sleep until the fates of the main
characters are determined.
Already known for her Allie Beckstrom urban fantasy series,
Devon Monk has made a strong foray into steam punk-based
fantasy with DEAD IRON, the first in her Age of Steam
series. She is currently working on the second and I can't
wait to read it.
Welcome to a new America that is built on blood, sweat, and
gears...
In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic
battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos,
bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and
carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's offered
hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has to do is
find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad
devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was
banished to walk this Earth.
In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only
things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit,
Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to save
his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all...
In steam age America, men, monsters, machines, and magic
battle for the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos,
bounty hunter Cedar Hunt rides, cursed by lycanthropy and
carrying the guilt of his brother's death. Then he's
offered hope that his brother may yet survive. All he has
to do is find the Holder: a powerful device created by mad
devisers-and now in the hands of an ancient Strange who was
banished to walk this Earth.
In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only
things a man can count on are his guns, gears, and grit,
Cedar will have to depend on all three if he's going to
save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all...