A Darkness Forged in Fire (The Iron Elves) [Kindle Edition]

Chris Evans' debut "A Darkness Forged in Fire" is a rather interesting book. Unlike much of what is out there in the fantasy market nowadays, this book has some innovative ideas, decent, if not completely surprising, twists and a different atmosphere when compared to your average fantasy book. Though there is much room for improvement, the book still left me feeling as if I had liked it, though it is hard for me to pinpoint the exact cause of that. As far as characters go, with the exception of the dwarf Yimt they are all a little cliched. This does not stop the story from being enjoyable, but there is much that could have been done with them which is left unexplored. In the end it may come down to whether you appreciate or not the military atmosphere of the novel and the narrative style.
All around, the book is good, but not amazingly so, and the series has potential.
P.S. My final rating would actually be 3,5 stars, but Amazon does not allow it, and the book does most definitely not deserve 3 stars.

I picked this up as one of my 'looks interesting' experiments.

This is extremely 'samey' and does not deliver a fantastic story as the proglogue would lead you to believe.

I found the characters one dimensions and not that genuine - the much maligned and not so bad, black sheep elf who has an on going difference of opinion with his dad, the do good all perachy hippy elf who happens to agree with his dad has the obvious character flaw she quite 'likes' the black sheep. There is the chap who is bearing a grudge against our black sheep who predictably tries his luck. The bumbling prince who has been put in charge of the reformed iron elves and makes them wear impractical uniforms because they look good and marches off in the wrong direction, so that is new and interesting how? The wicked sorceress on the mountain (who let it all transpire just like that)and her hench men on the ground are predictable. Everyone rocks around the countryside and has a battle or two to set the scene for the next novel.

There are glimmers of hope in there, the battle scenes were well written and did not spare the horror of hacking at things with a sword while not requiring an 18 certificate. The character of the reporter and her lizard/ dragon pidgeon equivalents is a breath of fresh air and humour as it the dwarf with the attitude and his comedy side kick newbie soldier adding much needed relief. The irony that there is only one elf left in the iron elves is not lost on me however irony can only get you so far it needed far more plot development.

Not one for me I am afraid...this might not be the most helpful of reviews but it does reflect my opinion and in it's defense does not contain any spoilers.

This is the first book in Chris Evans' 'Iron Elves' series.

A red star hurling across the sky has heralded the return of evil times for the Calarhian Empire. To counter this threat to her empire the queen, along with her incompetent son, Prince Tykkin, have deemed it necessary to re-establish the Iron Elves corp (the original group having been disbanded in disgrace some time ago). This 'new' Iron Elves regiment is a group of thrown together misfits, consisting of thieves, murderers and convicts, but is lead by the more than capable warrior elf, Major Konowa.

And for reasons that are a surprise to no one, it has been decided that the best place to fend off this new threat, would be at site far removed from the capital, that being at the remote fort of Luuguth Jor. However the 'journey' to Luuguth Jor leads to the gradual realization that there is more to this old fort than was initially apparent. The book describes the trial and tribulations of the Iron Elves as they proceed on this dangerous trek.

I really liked this story. It is not all non-stop action, as a lot of fantasy/adventure novel seem to be lately (although there were some intense and visceral hotspots). What I found just as entertaining as description of the battles, was the dialogue that occurred not only during skirmishes, but also during relative quiet times while traversing to their destination. Evans has developed an interesting group of characters for his story; characters that I found easy to like and identify with. Even the 'bad guys' were intriguing to follow along.

In addition there is a map. And although it covers the area involved, the writing on the map is small and bunched together, making it difficult to read.

Conclusion:
An enjoyable fantasy read; well written, making good use of interesting characters within an intriguing adventure. A book I looked forward finding time to come back to continue reading. Maybe a ½ star off for the map (if your going to the trouble to include one, make it readable). Otherwise, 5 Stars.

Ray Nicholson