SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine: https://t.co/zAZdLW9wU1
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 17, 2020
Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3
Short Review (cont): The 4th Great Library novel switches things up by showing us the whole cast's point of view as Jess and his friends return to Alexandria for a final confrontation with the corrupt Archivist...or is it? A really great expansion of the story.
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 17, 2020
2/3
Smoke and Iron is the 4th and penultimate novel in Rachel Caine's "The Great Library" Alternate History Fantasy series. I don't need to say any more here in these reviews how much I've loved these books, and book 3, Ash and Quill (Reviewed Here), was a new highlight....and ended on the most dramatic cliffhanger yet. Our hero, Jess, and his friends are somehow in their greatest peril yet, and well: I could barely wait to pick up this fourth novel, to the point where I read the first 1/3 in audiobook and then couldn't stop myself from finishing the rest in ebook form over the weekend instead of waiting for the workweek to come. Oops.
So yeah, you shouldn't be surprised that this book is once again really strong, but what is surprising is how much it departs from the structure of the prior three books. Caine used this new structure to give a greater picture of things as they go on, and the result is a more complete book that showcases more than usual the growth each of these characters has made over the course of the series. So yeah, I'll be starting book 5 in audiobook this coming week, and we'll see if I can resist finishing it in print early.
------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
Jess Brightwell has began the final plan to take down the Archivist and Artifex. Of course that plan required him to betray his friends - consigning Morgan to the Iron Tower once more and Wolfe to the prison cells in Alexandria, and the rest of his friends to the forces of the smuggler Red Ibrahim. All to get himself back to Alexandria in the guise of his brother, to get close to the Archivist...where one wrong step, one wrong statement, could give himself away and get himself killed...and make it all worth nothing.
But Jess isn't the only one with a part to play in this plan. Morgan's prior imprisonment in the Iron Tower was when it was ruled by Wolfe's mother - and now the cruel place is ruled by an equally cruel master in Gregory, who is determined to do anything to break her. To lead a rebellion against him, Morgan will need to convince the most powerful Obscurist ever to join her from his self-imposed deadly exile - and if she fails, the whole plan will too. Meanwhile Khalila and the rest need to ensure they're not delivered straight into the hands of the Archivist by the smugglers, which will require her to take a role that she's never considered before: leadership.
One wrong move by any of them will cause their deaths, and the deaths of any of their friends. And the Archivist is not a foe to be underestimated, and he still has a few tricks up his sleeves....which could cause even the most careful plan to go awry.....
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The Great Library books have always taken place from the perspective of Jess Brightwell, even while other characters - most notably Morgan - have been off somewhere else having different experiences. In a surprise, Smoke and Iron changes that - with the book now split into smaller chapters making up small parts that are each told from the point of view of a different character - first Jess, then Khalila, then Morgan, and finally Wolfe, until the final part, in which each chapter is told from a different character's point of view. It's a change that makes a big difference as we get to see the feelings and character development of our side characters - now really co-protagonists in full - full on.
And Caine makes that count. Jess remains his usual crafty self, playing a high stakes game with the lives of those of his friends and more as he tries to maintain the guise of his brother long enough to get in close enough to the Archivist to do some good at taking him down. Jess has emerged as a really crafty and strong character over the past three books, and none of that changes here, although one tactic he pulls off here results in one really potentially icky interaction the book thankfully never goes through with. But it's the rest of those characters who really shine with the greater light we now have on them - for example, we get to see the bright Khalila, more willing to get dirty than the others think, take up a leadership role without her noticing. We get to see Wolfe struggle against his demons to do what he thinks he can. We get to see especially Morgan in the horror of the Iron Tower, as she braves it all to try and find a way to lead a rebellion against its sinister leader. No longer are these characters' activities happening off page, and so they feel all the more real as they develop, and I loved them even more for it, even as their situations grow even darker still here.
For this is again a dark book, as the more desperate Archivist takes some truly horrific actions in what he begins to think might be a last stand. His obscurist ally Gregory is once again truly sinister, with some horrific actions demonstrated here (although Caine thankfully doesn't give him time to enact anything as horrific as he might intend to Morgan - this is not that type of book). And so each of the subplots of each character, up until they unite at the end, keeps the reader tremendously one edge as these characters we've really gotten to know finally come face to face with their ultimate enemy in what seems like will be one final confrontation.
Again, it's not perfect - Jess' subplot oddly winds up being kind of pointless honestly and Morgan ends her subplot with some internal questions about whether she truly loves Jess that seem to come out of nowhere (and seems to be setting up some plot questions for the next book, now that I've started reading it) which are a little distracting. Still, it's mostly an excellent penultimate book, setting up a finale which could honestly go any which way and that has me already listening to it this week. Caine certainly switches up how she tells the story in Smoke and Iron, but it is still excellent and I can't wait for book 5, whether it switches things up again or not.
The Great Library books have always taken place from the perspective of Jess Brightwell, even while other characters - most notably Morgan - have been off somewhere else having different experiences. In a surprise, Smoke and Iron changes that - with the book now split into smaller chapters making up small parts that are each told from the point of view of a different character - first Jess, then Khalila, then Morgan, and finally Wolfe, until the final part, in which each chapter is told from a different character's point of view. It's a change that makes a big difference as we get to see the feelings and character development of our side characters - now really co-protagonists in full - full on.
And Caine makes that count. Jess remains his usual crafty self, playing a high stakes game with the lives of those of his friends and more as he tries to maintain the guise of his brother long enough to get in close enough to the Archivist to do some good at taking him down. Jess has emerged as a really crafty and strong character over the past three books, and none of that changes here, although one tactic he pulls off here results in one really potentially icky interaction the book thankfully never goes through with. But it's the rest of those characters who really shine with the greater light we now have on them - for example, we get to see the bright Khalila, more willing to get dirty than the others think, take up a leadership role without her noticing. We get to see Wolfe struggle against his demons to do what he thinks he can. We get to see especially Morgan in the horror of the Iron Tower, as she braves it all to try and find a way to lead a rebellion against its sinister leader. No longer are these characters' activities happening off page, and so they feel all the more real as they develop, and I loved them even more for it, even as their situations grow even darker still here.
For this is again a dark book, as the more desperate Archivist takes some truly horrific actions in what he begins to think might be a last stand. His obscurist ally Gregory is once again truly sinister, with some horrific actions demonstrated here (although Caine thankfully doesn't give him time to enact anything as horrific as he might intend to Morgan - this is not that type of book). And so each of the subplots of each character, up until they unite at the end, keeps the reader tremendously one edge as these characters we've really gotten to know finally come face to face with their ultimate enemy in what seems like will be one final confrontation.
Again, it's not perfect - Jess' subplot oddly winds up being kind of pointless honestly and Morgan ends her subplot with some internal questions about whether she truly loves Jess that seem to come out of nowhere (and seems to be setting up some plot questions for the next book, now that I've started reading it) which are a little distracting. Still, it's mostly an excellent penultimate book, setting up a finale which could honestly go any which way and that has me already listening to it this week. Caine certainly switches up how she tells the story in Smoke and Iron, but it is still excellent and I can't wait for book 5, whether it switches things up again or not.
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