Master of Iron (Bladesmith #2)

 

Publication date: July 26, 2022

My Thoughts:

This book follows Blade of Secrets which came out in May 2021 and is probably a really good action/adventure/romance/girl power fantasy. I do not say this because I read the first book. I probably missed it when it came out on NetGalley. I have so many books in my queue that the publishers probably hate that I ask for their books, but lucky for me, they give it any way. 

No, the reason why I know that Blade was a good book is that I trust this author, Tricia Levenseller. I have her review of Warrior of the Wild here and it was a fabulous one and done read. She is another of the female fantasy writers that write from a female "bad ass" perspective for YA readers. I gobble this stuff up. Also, in Master, the author gives enough hints about the first book to know that it was a good read. Unfortunately, since I know that the characters made it out of the first book (because they are in the second book), I do not want to read it. However, if you have not read Blade of Secrets, please do before July 26, 2022 when this book comes out. Readers who do not want to commit to the three or more fantasy series like Sarah J. Maas' fabulous Throne of Glass series will enjoy these new one and dones or duology fantasy books. I appreciate that these authors are also pushing the envelope in diversity such that white, heteronormative is not the automatic go to in YA fantasy. There is a shift coming, yes? 

In this duology, although the 4 main characters are cisgender whites, there are LGBTQIA side characters and the society of this book does not balk. The main character also suffers from social anxiety, but a lot of this book is about Ziva, the main character, gathering the mental health tools she needs amidst war, trauma, romance and magic-ing. Her love interest, the mercenary Kellyn, also is able to help her prioritize love, family and hope, which is a nice shift. 

I was going to put more ladders (next books to give voracious readers) here, but I read a lot of fantasy, so just look here for recommendations. This book followed a book that I had to abandon because I just could not accept the premise, so I was looking for a devour worthy fantasy to recenter myself. Despite not reading the first book, these characters grabbed me and I could read this book without reading the first one. Consider me re-centered and ready to go. 

From the Publisher:

In Master of Iron, the conclusion to Tricia Levenseller’s exciting Bladesmith YA fantasy duology, a magically gifted blacksmith with social anxiety must race against the clock to save her beloved sister and stop a devastating war.

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.