Iron Angel by Alan Campbell

PUBLISHED IN: 2008

PAGES: 400

EDITION: E-Book


BOOK #: 2 in the Deepgate Codex series



Description: (From goodreads.com)

After a destructive battle, the ancient swaying city of Deepgate has been overtaken. Most of the chains that suspend it have given way, toxic fumes are emanating from blazing structures, and the temple once inhabited by the ruling Presbyter now dangles upside down above the once-uncharted abyss. The victorious Spine have initiated martial law and are ruthlessly pursuing all who attempt to leave. Amid the turmoil, two captives are returned.



Arriving by ship are the young angel Dill, now toughened by war, and traitor assassin Rachel Hael. Incarcerated in the slowly crumbling temple, the two await their fate, while from the abyss beneath them ghosts rise--for the death of the god Ulcis has left open the gates to Hell.



But on orders from his divine brethren, Cospinol, the god of brine and fog, is traveling the world to Deepgate to seal this breach. His great skyship is being dragged through the air by the giant John Anchor, a monster of a man enslaved to pull the god's vessel, moving slowly, inevitably, toward the city.



As the city waits, teetering on the brink, myriad plans for vengeance are set in motion, from the continent of Pandemeria to Heaven itself. Among them is a ghostly archon sent to deliver a message to the gods on earth--using Dill as his vessel. Thrust from his body, Dill's own soul returns to Hell. When Dill and Rachel are attacked by Spine assassins, Rachel has no choice but to try to escape with the creature that calls itself Dill and to somehow find a way to restore her friend's soul before it's too late. For powerful forces are stirring, and in the coming battle between gods, it is the world of men that is at stake.



My review:

This is one of those books you start to readand realise that you should have invested in the first book before starting this one. I recall downloading this and being rather intrigued by the sound of the book, it had the elements that would usually interest me. But I struggled through this, because I didn't really have the foundation of the first book, and that is really key to series like these.



I did enjoy the book eventually, but I'm still not 100% sure on all the characters or the situations that happened.



There were some really weird but cool ideas that were woven into this story- the idea of the forest with all it's different colours being the different poisons and potions that had been tested out and laid there now for unsuspecting travellersthat painted such a vivid picture in my head, and it really made me wonder how someone could come up with that, and led to me wondering more and more about it. I think this author is rather brilliant, given the random things he has come up with, and I really want to explore the other books in this series, to see more of the things he's come up with.



Final review:

Iron Angel Rating: 6/10. Had I read the first book first, it'd be a solid 8+. But given I was floundering throughout most of the book, it has been pushed down to a 6, purely because it's not something that is easy to pick up as a standalone book, and I didn't really realise this when I started to read.

WOULD I RE-READ IT? I would like to give it another whirl, but after having read book 1 first! I really do think that having the first book behind me, I would have really enjoyed this story much more.

WHO WOULD I RECOMMEND IT TO? Hmmmit's a fantasy book for sure. It's not one of those usual romantic paranormal books I pick up, but an honest-to-jeebus sci-fi/fantasy novel- a strange world that is similar yet completely different from our own, bizarre names that are hard to pronounce, and wild ideas. So really, this suits people who enjoy fantasy novels.



Goodreads.com:

Amazon:

Googlebooks:



I discovered while googling this book that there was a speed metal band from Germany with this name, a tumblr dedicated to fitness baring this name, a movie from 1984 that appears to be about some war, and a site dedicated to biker chic wear. Moral of this googling: be more specific!
Full Post