Early Review & Giveaway: Dead Iron by Devon Monk

 

Dead Iron is the first book in The Age of Steam series by Devon Monk and a ROC Fantasy.

Book Blurb:

In Steam Age America, Men, Monsters, Machines, and Magic battle to claim the same scrap of Earth and Sky.  In this Chaos, one man must fight to hold on to what is left of his humanity....

Although the devisers have civilized the East with their contraptions, civilization hasn’t tamed the frontier that bounty hunter Cedar Hunter rides.  Cursed by lycanthropy and carrying the guilt of his brother’s death, he’s a hard man for hire.  

But when a trio of miners offers him the possibility that his brother may yet survive, Cedar isn’t going to haggle for payment.  All he has to do for them is find the Holder, a powerful device created by mad devisers from the realm of the Strange.

In a land shaped by magic, steam, and iron, where the only thing a man can count on is his guns, gears, and grit, Cedar will have to depend on all three if he’s going to save his brother and reclaim his soul once and for all.

My thoughts:
 
Cedar Hunt has wandered far and wide, drifting along aimlessly - trying to forget his past and the loss he’s suffered.

He’s been in Hallelujah, Oregon for a time and though he hasn’t been accepted by some of the  townspeople, he does his best to live and let live.

When the blacksmiths boy goes missing, Cedar offers to help search for him - knowing that his curse may lend him the extra ability to track and find the boy before it’s too late.  But what Cedar finds is that the boy has been taken by one of the Strange - and that bodes ill for all concerned.

With a trio of miners, a witch and a young woman who has secrets of her own - Cedar hopes to find the missing boy, his own long lost brother and maybe, break the curse that has plagued him for many moons.

And if he can, stop an ancient being from the Strange from using a powerful device called The Holder.  Because in the wrong hands, that device could be devastating...

Dead Iron is my first foray into the realm of Steampunk and I adored it.  

I give Dead Iron 4 out of 5 stars and can’t wait for more in this series.
 
   Product Details

    Paperback: 352 pages
    Publisher: Roc Trade (7-5-11)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 045146396X
    ISBN-13: 978-0451463968  

Thanks to Penguin, I have one (1) copy of Dead Iron available for giveaway.  This giveaway is open to all followers of this blog with a US mailing address.

Using Random dot Org, the winner will be chosen and announced on Tuesday 7-5-11.  Dead Iron will be mailed directly from the publisher.

Good Luck and Happy Reading!!