Narrated by Gary Furlong
I’m always a bit daunted when it comes to writing reviews for the books in Hailey Turner’s Soulbound series, because I want to give an accurate flavour of the story without giving too much away – and there’s always a lot going on. That’s not to say the stories are cluttered or overstuffed; Ms. Turner is a master plotter and handles the reins of her various storylines with great skill, but one does need to pay fairly close attention and it’s pretty much essential to have read or listened to the previous books in the series. (Be warned – this review contains spoilers for the previous books).
At the end of All Souls Near & Nigh, Special Agent Patrick Collins was asked by his former commander to join forces with members of his old Mage Corps Special Forces unit in order to retrieve the Morrígan’s Staff, a mysterious and ancient artefact that was stolen from Area 51 some three years earlier. Nobody knows who has it, or what it actually does – although legend has it that the staff has the ability to raise the dead – and it must be returned before it can fall into the wrong hands.
A Crown of Iron & Silver picks up not long after this, and when the book opens, Patrick and Jono are looking forward to spending Christmas together and having a bit of a break before the arrival of Patrick’s former comrades. But nothing ever goes to plan for these two, and just as he’s arrived home exhausted after his latest case, Patrick is assigned to investigate the disappearance of the child of a prominent witch family, a ten-month-old girl who is believed to have been kidnapped and replaced by a changeling. He’s partway through his preliminary interviews when the house is attacked by the Sluagh (Sloo-ah), spirits of the restless dead and allies of the Unseelie Court, clearly intent on taking the baby. Patrick – aided by the magical protection surrounding the home – is able to send the Sluagh packing, but isn’t able to answer the question as to why they wanted the child.
A few days later, Patrick and Jono are approached by the fae lord Tiarnán, who tells them that the Summer Lady was abducted from the Seelie Court by Dominion Sect mercenaries two weeks earlier, and asks for their help in rescuing her. He also tells them that he initially approached the New York godpack for help and was refused; and Jono seizes the opportunity to strike a bargain with the Seelie fae. They will recognise his pack as the rightful godpack to New York City in return for his and Patrick’s help in returning the Summer Lady to the Court, a bargain to which Tiarnán agrees. It soon becomes clear that their missions – to find the staff and the Summer Lady – are intertwined and that in order to fulfil their undertakings, Patrick, Jono and their comrades must venture beyond the veil, to the Otherworld. This puts them at risk from both fae courts and leads to the forging of another bargain – this one with the Queen of Air and Darkness – which may cost Patrick his freedom, if not his life.
One of the things I’m particularly enjoying in these novels is the way in which the author is focusing on the deities/myths/legends of different cultures and parts of the world. We encountered figures from the Greco-Roman and Norse pantheons in A Ferry of Bones & Gold; in All Souls Near & Nigh she incorporated South American and Native American gods, and in this latest instalment, it’s the turn of the fae and various creatures from Celtic myth, most from Irish and Scottish folklore with a little bit of Welsh thrown in. She clearly knows her stuff and her world-building is careful and intricate as she incorporates the various personae and legends into her story, and I love the way the universe she’s creating is gradually opening up into the overarching storyline (which is, surely going to end with the mother of all showdowns between Patrick and Jono, and Ethan). I did, at times however, find the relentless pace of the action just a little bit overwhelming and would have liked just a little more downtime for everyone, especially Patrick, who goes through a lot in each book and barely has time to process it before he’s thrown into the next mess. Jono always has his back 100%, and his relationship with Patrick is shaping up very well; even amidst the chaos, the author manages to show, time and again, just how good they are for each other and what they mean to one another. I liked seeing Jono coming into his own and preparing to take over as godpack alpha, and finally embracing his co-existence with Fenrir, the god who inhabits his soul, and using that to protect those he loves. Jono and Patrick make a great team, and are more solid than ever – which I’m sure they’re going to need to be for whatever Hailey Turner throws at them next!
As is the case with all the books in this series, there’s a large secondary cast, some of whom we’ve met before, some of whom are new, and I will admit that sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of them all. I do enjoy the found family aspect of the stories; Patrick and Jono’s inner circle has expanded since we first met them, and when this book opens they’re acting as surrogate parents to the moody eating-machine that is an eighteen-year-old fire dragon named Wade, who steals pretty much every scene in which he appears!
Gary Furlong does an amazing job with the narration and continues to impress with the breadth of his characterisations and his facility with a wide variety of accents. His voice is easy on the ear and once I’ve got used to his American accent (sorry – I know he’s not American and I always experience a few moments of disconnect between what my ears hear and my brain knows!) I know I can settle back and enjoy the story without having to worry his accents are going to wobble or he’s going to trip over any awkward pronunciations – and the author does throw quite a few of those his way! The large number of fae characters in the story provides the opportunity for him to use a number of different regional Irish accents, which of course he does very well; and he differentiates between the large cast of characters – male and female, human and supernatural – with great skill. There are perhaps a couple of characters who sound similar, but they never appear in the same scene, so there’s no danger of confusion on that score. I continue to enjoy Mr. Furlong’s interpretations of Patrick and Jono; Jono’s cheery blokeiness and Patrick’s more world-weary snark both have nicely-judged undercurrents of “don’t-fuck-with-me”, and I adored his portrayal of Wade, who is all teenaged surliness and cheek, clearly feeling more secure and safe than he ever has, but nonetheless hiding his affection for his new family behind several layers of attitude.
A Crown of Iron & Silver is a complex, densely plotted story and I take my hat off to Hailey Turner for creating such an imaginative and (obviously) well researched tale. Gary Furlong takes it to the next level with his excellent narration, and I’m really looking forward to the next instalment.
Caz
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