The Iron Duke

De: Meljean Brook

Narrado por: Faye Adele

First in an all-new series where seductive danger and steampunk adventure abound in the gritty world of the Iron Seas.

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

©2010 Meljean Brook (P)2011 Penguin

Great story

Love the characters and the story. The characters are so well drawn, I feel like I know them. Meljean at her best.

10/10 world building, 5/10 main characters

Like if someone suited to writing Lord of the Rings level fantasy decided to do alternative history streampunk instead but they have no idea how to write romance and defaulted to a shojo antihero stock character archetype who obsessively wants the main character on first sight and the relationship progression doesn’t make much sense.

Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone who likes steampunk more than they hate poorly written romance.

An incredibly well written story

Would you consider the audio edition of The Iron Duke to be better than the print version?

I did not read the book.

What other book might you compare The Iron Duke to and why?

There is really no comparison. The world building is incredible. The alternative history story line is so detailed and convincing. I was originally dismayed at the "romance" category. I like romance and lots of steam but usually it involves a naive girl who wants to be saved. There was plenty are grit and fight in the heroine and I loved it.

Great story, imaginative

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Heroine, def kick butt.

Have you listened to any of Faye Adele’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First Adele's book

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The storyline took me by surprise.

Any additional comments?

Good book, stick with it till the end.

a fascinating and dangerous world

I really enjoy the world that Brook sensei built. The characters of this book live in a fascinating and dangerous world. I mean there are nano bugs, zombies, air ships, lord and ladies, king, pirates and balls! What is NOT to like.

I also loved Mina, the tortured but strong and stubborn heroine. If I am not mistaken, she has Asian blood and thus ostracized by society. Heroine with Asian blood in that period is rare and I liked that. Rhys is also a memorable character but I was sort of put off by his serious lack of social understanding. From his past I can understand the reason why, but for a smart character I thought he had a real blind spot. My favorite character of all is the always drunk Scarsedale! He was a wonderful addition as well as members of the police, Yasmeen and Mina's wonderful family. The story itself revolving around the murder and mystery and eventually the conspiracy was also great.

Only complaint I have is that for me there were a bit too much sex scene with TMI. I admit they were hot and steamy but not for reading(listening) on the train... LOL

Good not great

Any additional comments?

A lot of detail and characters in this fictional England made it difficult to follow. The main characters are done well, their story is compelling but gets bogged down in describing detail. It is difficult to distinguish when characters are thinking or talking,the narrators voices are simular. Good story in the end, but not great.

Original Idea

If you could sum up The Iron Duke in three words, what would they be?

The plot was interesting. Easy to get into. I rated this 4 stars because the sex scenes derailed the story. Also, the Iron Duke was a jerk so his "you're in my bed whether you like it or not" didn't go well with me. I loved Mina. She was so cool...her heroism was just all in a day's work. I think the Kindle follow-on should have been part of the main story. I would have rated it higher.

What did you like best about this story?

The whole Steampunk world was very original. I liked the plot (s).

What about Faye Adele’s performance did you like?

I thought she was great and made the story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. I wanted to fast forward through the sex scenes because it took away from the story progression. One minute you have exciting action, the next you come to a screeching halt for the sex. I don't have a problem with sex scenes but they were overly wrought and significantly slowed the pace of the story.

Pretty good

I don’t usually get engrossed with most authors’ world-building. Not a lot can do a good job. This one is good. Romance is not bad either. Narrator does a decent job but it’s hard to track which character she’s doing. I had to keep replaying to go through some of the conversations. I should have bought the book so could follow along. Some of the scenes don’t have good transitions so I’m wondering if it’s the audio book or if it’s just written that way.

First steampunk book for me

This is the first steampunk book I've listened to. I like this one so much that I'm going to listen to others by this author. The story is well paced, and the characters are anything but predictable. The narrator is excellent. She is so good that sometimes I felt like I was watching a movie - she really makes the story come alive. Now onto the next one!

Grimdark steampunk espionage regency

Great big-picture concept with some clumsy execution and rather a lot of plots to follow. The story takes place in an alternate Victorian London newly freed from two hundred years of Horde subjugation that included a plague of nanobots which created crazed zombies out of people, caused bug-fever and death, or permitted controlling people to make them Frenzy. This is steampunk with dirigibles, Krakens (robotic octopuses), and mechanic enhanced people. It’s also a mystery thriller combined with romance between Inspector Mina and a duke (and former pirate captain) Rhys, who join forces to investigate a murder, search for a hijacked ship, and track down a dangerous weapon. And further, it’s a story full of prejudice and abuse, where people do all sorts of awful things to each other based on their appearance, gender, or simple vulnerability.

On the plus side, the world this author creates is unique and fascinating. I loved the concept of a post-nano-bug-apocalypse in regency London. It had the feel of Reign on Fire, but with bug-created zombies instead of dragons. I liked that there were strong women, including Mina, her mother, and Yasmeen (my favorite cutthroat captain who stars in book 2). And I like that the regency romance was edgier than the usual Julia Quinn-type fare (not that I don’t enjoy her books now and again, but I think broodier romance works with steampunk, and especially this kind of steampunk).

On the downside, there’s a frustrating imbalance of detail. Throughout the story we get a lot of detail about both MC’s tortured pasts while at the same time the Horde is described in only the broadest brushstrokes. Are the Horde human or beasts? How come we never meet a single one? What makes half Horde people easy to spot? I think maybe the Horde is like the Mongols and Ghengis Khan... which is why Mina’s black hair marks her... but I could be completely wrong because there’s so little detail. Downsides also include past sexu@l abuse of women and children, prejudice and vitriol (albeit mostly against Horde half-breeds), torture and PTSD. With all that dark, I feel like there needed to be more humor or livelier dialogue. Then there’s the awkward romance, which is mostly him being arrogant and controlling for half the book, until they are both drunk and he forces her to accept or@l (ch10), at which point they embark on several explicit scenes oddly lacking in chemistry (ch12, 13, 14, and 18). I’m not sure if it was the writing or the narrator than made the nooky very meh for me; I didn’t find the narrator’s male voices very sexy at all. Finally, the bad guys are largely one-note and absent until the scenes where they are revealed, captured and dealt with, making them not very interesting.

On the whole, especially getting this on sale, this was a solid enough book that I will listen again sometime. I liked book 2 even more as it has more fun, action and adventure as Tomb Raider goes zombie steampunk. Book 3 abandons all the characters of books 1&2 and is an on-the-run mystery adventure as an inexperienced pair seeks Amazons in Iceland- it’s a bit more sweet than I like and dwells too much on the prejudices against mechanically enhanced people and LGBTQ relationships, but still a unique and entertaining story. The prequel Here There Be Monsters is most like book 2 with a swashbuckling steampunk romance that benefits from the novella, get-right-to-the-fun-parts, length.

If you want more paranormal in your steampunk romance, try my favorite paranormal regency series Darkest London by Kristen Callihan.

If you’d prefer paranormal steampunk romance that’s lighter and cleaner, consider Soulless by Carriger, beginning a jaunty series that includes werewolves and vampires. That series ended up being too juvenile and silly for me.

If you liked the grimdark, insectoid adventure more than the steampunk or romance, consider the trilogy beginning with A Crown for Cold Silver.

If you want to go even more Sleepy Hollow, gothic steampunk mystery horror, and can handle a MM romance, try Magpie Lord. It’s darker, edgier, and bdsm-ier (is that a thing?)