The Broken God

The world of the Black Iron Legacy is one of the biggest strengths of this series. The faintly cthulhuonic overtures, the mad gods and twisted realities create a truly mind bending world, added to the steampunk/gaslamp fantasy setting just gives something hugely different and refreshing. The creatures and monsters borrow from the Lovecraftian mythos as much as classical fantasy. The whole thing is at the apex of modern fantasy for me, taking a novel and new approach rather than retreading tired worldbuilding tropes.

In this third entry in the series we get to explore a bit more of the world, expand our horizons to some of the other parts of the world that have been ravaged by the godswar. Seeing how a vestige of humanity continues to survive in these places twisted by the conflict between mad gods is fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

The expanded world is both the greatest strength and also one of the weaknesses of the book. The problem with these type of sprawling fantasies is that as a world grows the plot can become less focused. Splitting our attention between Guerdon and Cari's adventures kind of gives a certain disjointedness to the story. I am also a bit torn on my feeling towards the Ghierdana. Yes, dragons are cool, but they somehow seem a bit incongruous in this story, particularly with their ‘mafia' stylings. I can appreciate the concept - it is cool - but I am not sure it fully works for me. But ymmv.

I love the Black Iron Legacy books. This is my least favourite so far, but it is still a brilliant book, really pushing at the boundaries of modern fantasy. I am looking forward to seeing more in this world in the future.