Read Indie – Find Gems! Book Review: IronBlood by C. H. Knyght

One of the best things about being an indie author is becoming a part of an indie author community. Not only do you meet like-minded souls, make friends for life, and learn to develop your craft and art, but occasionally you come across gems that other members of that community produce.

This is one of those gems.

IronBlood is set in a steampunk fantasy world were we follow Hezekiel, an orphan and mechanical prodigy, who works in his foster father’s workshop, repairing and tinkering with things. It’s hard, but honest work and his biggest ambition is that his own private project, a tunneling machine called ‘the Crawler‘ will be noticed by the city’s elite in the upcoming expo. Hezekiel is convinced it could revolutionize the local mining industry. But there’s a darkness descending over the city, skittering around in the streets, leaving the corpses of its victims in a horrifying state. Where is this evil coming from, and what can be done to stop it from spreading?

IronBlood gripped me from the beginning. The world is vivid and fascinating – it reminded me a lot of the video game series ‘Fable’, and I loved being wrapped up in it – and the thrilling mystery of the unknown dangers that spread through it kept me hooked until the very end.

The world building was excellent. Convincing, but never overwhelming; steady and with the promise of a bigger, wider world for future installments. It’s the kind of series I can imagine going on for book after book, and keeping readers enthralled for years. I am, unfortunately, notoriously bad with sticking with a series, mostly because I get distracted and want to move on to something new all the time. I tend to end up reading lots of ‘Book One’ of a thing, and then never returning. But this is truly a gem. I’ll try to remember to keep my eye out for the next book.

And the writing is fun. It doesn’t drone on for too long, doesn’t over-explain, but keeps a steady pace and delivers a powerful story. I like Knyght’s style.

If you’re into fantasy mysteries set in wondrous steampunk worlds, with intriguing magical races, terrible creatures, and histories of conflicts going on behind the scenes, then this is definitely a book for you. It’s like reading your next favorite video game.