A direct sequel to Tithe, Ironside picks up two months after Tithe left off. At Roiben's coronation as King of the Unseelie Court, Kaye, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself to Roiben, who in turn sends her on an impossible quest to prove her love to him. Meanwhile, Kaye decides to tell her mother that she is a changeling, and the Queen of the Seelie Court attacks Roiben, leading to a series of quests wherein Kaye must find her human double, find a way to save Roiben, and bring Roiben a faery that can lie before she can see or speak to him again. Continuing with the vibrant magical atmosphere and faery world of Tithe, Ironside is the work of a much more mature and accomplished author: the characters are more realistically flawed while still being sympathetic, and the writing style is skillful and polished. Meanwhile, the story is still otherworldy, emotional, and honestly confronts difficult subjects. This book is not perfect, but it is a magical and enjoyable read, and I do recommend it.I should note here that I have not read Valiant, which falls between Tithe and Ironside in the series. However, these two books do make sense without Valiant.After reading Tithe, I had high hopes for Ironside. I hoped that it would have the same intense and well-conceived since of magic, but that it would exhibit Black's increased experience as a writer, and have better characters and a more polished style. I'm glad to say that my hopes were fulfilled on all accounts: Ironside contains all of the good qualities from Tithe and avoids many of the pitfalls of that first novel. The characters return, and continue with many of respective flaws: they drink and shoplift, they have deadbeat parents, they are immature and over-emotional. Yet these flaws are more realistic and the characters have gained good qualities. They have GEDs, they have real problems behind their emotional complaints, and they have become affectionate and sometimes even thoughtful. These are now characters that, however unusual or even non-human they may be, the reader can identify with, and the text benefits for it. The text also benefits from an experienced and matured writing style: the plot flows at a smoother pace and the climax and conclusion are better crafted and more complete, the repetition of phrases and actions is largely absent, and the overall text reads smoother and exhibits better editing. This book is written by an experienced author, and it is a sympathetic, well-paced, skillful piece of work.Alongside these clear improvements, the magical and human aspects of Tithe remain in all of their glory. Black's faeries are vividly conceived and described, from the grotesque and violent Unseelie Court to the apple blossom-strewn Seelie Court. Even better: The Unseelie Court now has a sympathetic ruler, and the Seelie Queen is a villain, adding realistic complication and interest to the darks and lights of faery politics. Kaye's search for her human double explores new aspects of Black's faery life and culture, as does the journeys of the two human characters, one of which desires to be more than human, the other of which hates faeries. The multiple quests of the plot are a classic storytelling structure, and they create subtle but important character growth in all of the main characters. Black does not try to avoid mature subjects, but rather explores everything from homosexuality to love to death in a way that is respectful, honest, and still appropriate to a young adult audience (that is, there are no explicit sex scenes or exceptional gruesome deaths). Both magical and distinctly human, Ironside is at once enjoyable and avidly readable as well as meaningful and personally relevant.While Ironside is by no means a perfect book (the characters and plot points are cliche, the dark court remains pointlessly dark, and Kaye and her friends in their personalities and experiences are not entirely realistic or deeply explored; all in all, it is not the most skillful or most memorable text), it is a great improvement and an enjoyable read. I believe that it makes more sense and is more enjoyable if the reader has already read at least Tithe, so pick up that book first. But Ironside shows a true step forward in Black's work as an author as well as being magical, meaningful, honest, edgy, and an approachable and swift read. I was happy that I picked up this book, and I do recommend it.
Reviewed for TeensReadTooI have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished TITHE, and Holly Black most definitely does not disappoint. IRONSIDE picks up soon after the events in TITHE and VALIANT, and takes the reader on another breathless journey into the amazing and deadly world of Faerie.Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roiben's coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lord's consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.Kaye doesn't know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human child's life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellen's real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if there's no way she can complete Roiben's quest.But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she's willing do anything, including use Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roiben's not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.
What do You think about Ironside (2007)?
This is the sequel to Holly Black's impressive YA debut novel, Tithe, which chronicles Kaye's realisation that she is not, in fact, human as she had always thought, but a faery change-child, a green-skinned pixie who looks human only because of a faery glamour. In Tithe Kaye falls in love with Roiben and is instrumental in him winning the crown of the Unseelie (dark) Court, a grotesque and dangerous place, but perhaps no more so than the rival Seelie (light) Court which is ruled over by Roiben's cruel ex-lover (and queen) Silarial. Ironside picks up the story from Roiben's coronation and continues with Kaye coming to terms with her non-human heritage. Against Roiben's wishes Kaye declares her love for him in front of his court and according to the rules he sets her a task to prove her love. In this case it's an impossible one – which means – effectively – he is driving her away from the Unseelie Court, but that ban doesn't keep her out of trouble. As she says: does being under the protection of the Unseelie Court mean she no longer need protecting from it? As the truce ends and the rivalry between the Unseelie and the Seelie Court breaks out into war, Kaye is determined to win her lover and retrieve the human change-child, her feckless mother's real daughter, from the Seelie Court. Cruelties abound, the court of light being no less cruel than the court of dark, though maybe more subtle. Faeries cannot lie, but they can and do mislead.This is a dark and bloody book full of casual and calculated cruelty: there are few easy answers; wishes are turned on their heads and people die, but it is beautifully written. The language is poetic, though never flowery, and the imagery is apposite and vivid with the world of faery a million miles away from Disney and Tinkerbell. Highly recommended.
—Jacey
The sequel that is better than the original is a rare thing...but this one is. Ironside is primarily about the characters from Tithe, but several cameos from Valiant are present, too. Kaye is fiercer, Corny is...well...more pitiful and awesome at the same time. The plot is solid. The characters are believable and relatable despite the fact that we obviously can't have the same literal struggles they do (symbolism abounds here folks). And the prose is in-your-face-damnit-why-will-my-writing-never-rock-this-hard?! amazing.
—Marcy Jo
I liked this book and it does tie up the story very nicely, though I think I preferred the first two books over this one. The beginning dragged a little for me, but I was really into the story in the second half of the book - I wasn't sure how it was going to end and I liked that. A couple of minor things I guessed, but for the most part I was an on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen to everyone. There was also a couple of cameos from characters in Valiant here too (brief appearances from them with the exception of Luis, who plays a bigger part in Ironside). As usual I really liked the descriptions of the faerie world and how they continue to secretly survive amongst humans (who can't see them as they really are).There are some minor moments of disbelief - like I have a problem with Faye being a blond asian, but this wasn't brought up much in Ironside as much as it was in Tithe. This book also shifted focus a bit more onto other characters besides the main one (Kaye). We see some of the thoughts of Roiben, who is usually distant and hard to understand from Kaye's point of view, and we also see what's going on in Corny's head. Corny is an interesting character because he's become fragile and fearful after his experiences in Tithe. In Ironside, Corny goes very far to try to protect himself. Actually the theme of doing something that's not quite right because you want to protect something else is a reoccurring one in this book. Right and wrong gets murky, like life, and this is especially true in Roiben's case, who is responsible for his people and wants to protect those he loves, even when they think he doesn't care about them. More of my review - http://janicu.livejournal.com/40575.html
—Janice (Janicu)
