Early Review – Master of Iron (Bladesmith, Book 2) by Tricia Levenseller (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: July 26, 2022
ASIN : B098M98CHV
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Bladesmith Duology
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars
“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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd (and final) book in the Bladesmith duology. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: This was a wonderful read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The world is fun, the magic well done, the story is fast-paced and the characters are fantastic.
We start out this book with Ziva and crew racing to get her sister, Temra, help. From there Ziva, Kellyn, Temra, and Petrik are quickly drawn into what could quickly turn into a war. Ziva must decide if she will use her magic to make weapons to support the war. She is strongly against creating more weapons for killing and is struggling with the worth of her magic. Ziva is also struggling with her anxiety disorder and with learning how to trust others.
There is some romance here and it was very well done but not the main point of the story. The story is more about Ziva growing in her magic use, learning to deal with her anxiety, and figuring out how to contribute to the defense of the country in a way she is comfortable with (without creating weapons to kill people).
The writing flows well, this is very entertaining and easy to read. The story is fast-paced and I enjoyed every minute of it!
My Summary (5/5): Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this. This was an incredible story with a lot of magic, great characters and a wonderful world. It wrapped up the duology beautifully and I am eager to see what Levenseller writes next. So far all of her fantasy books have been fantastic and I am dying to read more!
