Iron Duke, The (Novel of the Iron Seas) [Paperback]

My first encounter with the author Meljean Brook came about in the anthology Burning Up (Berkley Sensation) where I read the story written by her which placed characters in this alternative reality. I was definitely intrigued and planned to check out this particular novel once it was released. I'm glad I did.

This book takes place in such a different world that many readers will be like me and not have encountered it before. Nanoagents were introduced into the human body when the people ingested sugar or tea. Once infected the "bugs" were in place to allow the Horde to control most of the population. Many upper class Englishmen escaped to the New World, but now that the Horde control has been destroyed they are making their way back to an England populated by many different kinds of people. Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth was conceived when her mother was caught up in a Horde frenzy and thus Mina shows her obvious Horde lineage. Because of this she must try to do her job while being hated and persecuted because of the way she looks. Rhys Trahaearn is a scoundrel and pirate who has recently been made Duke of Anglesey as a reward for destroying the method the Horde was using to control the nanoagents. When the body of a partially frozen dead man is discovered on the steps of the Duke's home, police intervention is called for. Although certainly not by the Duke.

If you decide to read this book I would suggest that you pay very close attention to the first three or four chapters, since this is where so much of the explanation for this world is given. Not all of it, but an awful lot. Some of the information could perhaps have been made a little clearer, but I was able to figure it all out. This is a steam punk novel, people are equipped with mechanical body parts which make them stronger, faster or simply better able to perform specific jobs. Vehicles move with the aid of steam and are incredibly innovative in their design. Airships travel the skies with ease. And weapons are being designed which would allow one faction or another to rule as they see fit. All taking place in a world which at first glance seems to be during the Victorian time period. Woven within all of this technology is the love story of two characters who don't think they will ever find someone who can love them for what and who they are. So, basically, a love story with a bunch of steam. It took this couple 2/3 of the book to begin their passionate interludes, but once begun they seemed to happen constantly from then on. Maybe just a little too frequently for me, but that's just my opinion. It was very clever of this author to place Rhys and Mina in a situation where the almost constant liaisons could take place by having them up in an airship for long stretches of time. All of the characters in this story are very well developed and the writing is quite well done. Even without seeing it mentioned in the book description it was fairly obvious this will become a series of novels.

Meljean Brook's contribution to the anthology mentioned above was my first initiation into the steam punk sub-genre of fantasy fiction. Since then I've read two other novels, written by two other authors who are not writers of romantic fiction and I'm seeing a lot of the same technology described in all these novels. Don't misunderstand me, I think this author has created a really great reading experience with this book, but I now know enough about the sub-genre to wonder if I will want to continue reading steam punk novels. I absolutely enjoyed this one, even if I did have some slight quibbles. I simply think this might not be the genre that will hold my attention any longer. After three novels, it's beginning to be rather deja vu for me, only this time with a lot of sex involved.

Unlike the other two reviewers, I bought this book primarily for its steampunk credentials, a genre I am really beginning to get into at the moment, and was actually pleasantly surprised by how interesting the steampunk world was. At first glance, Meljean Brooks has created an alternate Victorianesque London, albeit without Victoria on the throne, but the backstory of her world is much more intriguing than that, and it is in the historical details that Brooks really shines, such as her inclusion of Marco Polo's trip to visit the lands of Kubilai Khan, something which happened in reality, only without nanoagents.

The Horde, recognisable, if you know your history, as the Mongolian Empire of the Khan's (only lasting a few more centuries) kidnapped a group of European scientists, centuries ago, and forced them to make war machines, including the nanoagents that many people are 'infected' with. These left British society under radio control, where religion, marriage, and many other conventions were completely dispensed with, creating a moral vacuum when Horde control was destroyed by Rhys Trevelyan, the eponymous 'Iron Duke', nearly a decade ago. The attempts of the people left behind to rebuild their society from the ground up are what makes this book so interesting for me, and will keep me reading the series in all probability.

The plot of this first 'Novel of the Iron Seas' begins with a body landing on the Iron Duke's doorstep, bringing the heroine, Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into Rhys's life. While it became almost inevitable that the two characters would end up together, I definitely found Mina's character much more compelling, and far more interesting, although I developed more sympathy for Rhys as his back-story was revealed and his motivations became a little clearer. Still, the characters that really shone for me were actually the supporting cast, characters that I am hoping are going to be developed more, and given their own stories, in later books.

The writer was also very good, especially for a genre novel, and Brooks has left plenty of scope for exploring the whys and wherefores of her world in later books, particularly the existence of the 'Black Guard', a shady organisation of slavers and men uninfected by bugs, determined to 'free' England from infected people, and the zombies, seemingly caused by malfunctioning nanoagents that are transmittable through bites.

All in all, then, although there isn't a lot that is groundbreaking, or even new, in Meljean Brooks's novel, it is a good story, and well-worth adding to either your steampunk, or romance, library.

SEt in a totally different world, sort of Victoriana on steroids. Steam is the only propulsion method as the internal combustion engine (ie petol/diesel) never made it. The Horde (eventually I worked out that they were Chinese/Oriental) invaded Europe and England several hundred years previously after infecting the westerners with nanoagents (bugs) via imported tea and coffee. Those who could afford to fled England for the USA to avoid the infection - but they still considered themselves English. Once enough people were infected, the Horde set up control towers that quashed resistance (and emotions, and could control people physically. The Horde also alter people surgically, giving them 'enhancements' so that they can do specific jobs (so miners have their hands replaced with mining tools, seamstresses with sewing tools etc etc - think Borg from Star Wars). Occasionally the Horde need more workers, so they use the control towers to instigate a Frenzy where random matings happen. THe children created like this get brought up by creches. Several hundred years later, Rhys, a pirate/privateer captain, storms the control tower in London, which leads to a revolt that drives the Horde from England and Europe. A few years after the Horde have been expelled from England, the 'English' in the USA start to return. True to form they are Puritanical and slightly evangelical in their beliefs about purity and what constitutes a human being. THey take back their ancestral seats (the aristocrats do, anyway) and they start to take up positions of authority too.
London can't be lived in without being infected by the nanoagents - this is because of the pollution. THe nanoagents may give the Horde control, but they also confer superior healing power and strength although there is a down side that serious injuries may cause the nanoagents to go into overdrive and cause death by 'bug fever'. Something that isn't quite explained is how the zombies came about, but they are somehow linked to the nanoagents.
Mina is the product of a Horde frenzy, her aristocratic mother and father kept her, but her Horde features give away her genetics, so she is badly treated. Despite being a detective inspector, she needs a body guard to walk around London. Mina and Rhys meet when Mina is called to investigate a dead body discovered in Rhys' mansion. He wants her, she doesn't feel she can have him (particularly due to the newspaper cartoons and flyers that go round when it's discovered that they know each other). As they solve the crime they fall in love - although neither of them care to admit it - and also discover that the crime is bound up with the Black Guard - a sort of Nazi/Evangelical movement devoted to purifying England by getting rid of all those infected with nanoagents. It all ends with the inevitable HEA, although it's nicely handled.

Now, what to say. I've already mentioned that the zombies aren't explained, and neither is Rhys' iron skeleton, nor is the importance that he is born with nanoagents and not infected by them. Apparently his nanoagents can't be controlled by a Horde device, which is how he manages to destroy the control tower, but you sort of have to work this out rather than have it explained. And this is the problem, minor tho' it is, with this book. IT's a great story, set in a great world, with great characterization and a good romance, but there are issues that just aren't explained quite enough. I am, however, intrigued enough with this instalment to be willing - if not quite eager - to read the next one. And I may even investigate the whole steam punk genre... maybe.