I found this hard to get into, with a detail-rich style, teetering omniscience and oblique approach to actual plot that made the story skitter out from under my grasp. Familiarity with it made things easier (i.e. it got easier as I read) but to be honest, I could've still used a little more direct, explicit punch on the finale notes. I was never, throughout the book, sure how much of what seemed obvious to me should seem obvious, how much was my knowledge that the characters didn't have and how much I was just misremembering from thirty pages ago because in between I'd be intimately introduced to the wardrobe style of three new characters. But by the end, I am generally satisfied with the overall piece, and I think I'll read on in the series, because I think this style might be more suited to an Elizabethan narrative. ( )

bet not read without having read the proceeding volume first! It's very confusing world with a non-obvious mix of devils and angels, fae and magicians, all of whom have previous relationships to each other that are not explained (presumably having been delineated in the previous volume). There are also a lot of points of view which makes it very confusing in keeping track of all the relationships to each other. A plethora of nick-names only adds to the confusion.

This book seems to have been set seven years after the first. As far as I can gather magic, mortal and fae lived happily more or less apart from each other, but a fae power grab spilled into New York which the magicians opposed. This resulted in a dragon n Times Square and various magicians suffering as they contained it. A mortal woman became queen of the Summer fae, and gave her soul/name to one of the fae as she couldn't have both. This was Whiskey a kelpie (ie from the scottish celtic traditions, and hence would absolutely have been Whisky (no e!) - this basic error annoyed me throughout). Whisky had dominion over the waters (although it's a bit of a reach to make that worldwide) but ensouled, he now has moral agency and chooses not to enact deaths. This dereliction of duty disturbs other unseelie folk of the waters, such as the Bunyip (and the dragon Mist's power comes from Water) who are now plotting unrest to try and restore the status quo. Meanwhile devils cavort with mortals and magicians and one of the previous heros? spends most of his time bemoaning his lack of control and celibacy.

It was very confusing. And very long. But did more or less make sense as it went along. The mortal teenagers had the most engagement with the reader, but sadly only passing points of view, and as such were difficult to properly understand. That fae politics are murky is much more comprehensible. I've no idea what the side plots with the devils and poets had to do with anything. It felt like wrapping up events form the previous book, but I'm not sure.

The writing however was generally great, once I'd got to grips with the general plot and characters. I'm not sure the sex needed to be that explicit, but there wasn't vast amounts of it. I will probably go back and read the first book at some stage, because I think I enjoy the world it's set in, and maybe everything will make more sense then. ( )

Ce volume étant dans la lignée direct du précédent, je peux donc faire simple, et reprendre mon avis sur Blood Iron pour l’utiliser ici. Je ne crois pas avoir l’envie de lire le 3e volume de la série.

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L’histoire est difficile à prendre en main, car les personnages ne sont pas introduits; il faut péniblement construire qui est qui au fil de la lecture,c e qui rend les premiers chapitres très lourds à lire.

Les personnages du roman sont des résonances de grands mythes féériques, celtiques, arthuriens, et païens. Sans une certaine connaissance de leurs protagonistes et de leurs généalogies, il est très compliqué de comprendre ce qui se passe, et pourquoi. Surtout quand sont utilisés les noms gaéliques.

Les personnages sont attachants, mais parfois délicats à appréhender, à cause justement de leurs encrages folkloriques. ( )

http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2014/04/15/whiskey-and-water-elizabeth-bear ( )

This series is so messed up. The first two books published were the last two books written and take place in modern day. The last two books published take place in Elizabethan times. The Elizabethan books are really good. The modern-day books are kind of eh, although there are a couple of characters who have a lot of potential, given some age and experience. ( )