Dead Iron-Devon Monk

Dead Iron
Devon Monk
Roc, Jul 5 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451463968

The residents of previously dying Hallelujah, Oregon are euphoric that railroad tycoon Shard Lefel is bringing his train to the town. However, Shard wonders how many residents would shower accolades on him if they knew he is a nonhuman Strange.

The townsfolk are unsure why though they allude to his eyes, but most feel uneasy when near hunter Cedar Hunt. Perhaps the only residents who feel okay around Hunt are the mining lunatic Madder brothers, who have a penchant for finding silver even when intoxicated, which is most of the time. While Hunt is overwhelmed with guilt over his brother’s death, Rose the foundling was raised like an indentured servant senses Hunt and the siblings are different than the rest of the town, but she is unsure how. When Hunt learns his sibling is alive, he wants to find him as he sees a chance for redemption; to do so he must locate the Holder possessed by a Strange exiled to Earth.

The first Age of Steam is a super old western fantasy as the good, the bad and the dead collide in Oregon in a town in which the human locals are ignorant to what walks amongst them. The Monk realm avoids the steampunk trap of too much scientific babble to create the world; instead the author makes the world feel real even with the dead reanimated, magical thingamajig nightmares, witches, the cursed, and the dead. They provide a stirring time for sub-genre fans in Hallelujah.

Harriet Klausner