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A review by silquesoleil
Steelhands by Jaida Jones
4.0
As a huge fan of the authors and their books and newbie member of the Thremedon fandom, I'm a bit biased when it comes to this and I may tend to ignore some of the flaws of this work. Expect this review to be enthusiastic and just a bit analyzing.
One of the main complaints about the books – not just this one – has been that they lack plot. I won't deny that, but here's a thing: there are more aspects of a book than just the plot. Plot, character development, mood, and pacing are the main aspects and as one can see from the four POV writing style, “Steelhands” as well as its previous novels are character- and mood-driven, so it's only natural that plot and pace fall a bit short. But they work, because these authors know exactly what they are doing. The writing style of every character differs, based on his or her personality and upbringing or current environment and that's what makes these books so interesting.
At least one of the authors had their origins I writing fanfiction (but as all the good fanfic writers, they only make money with their original fiction because they have honor and talent), and they have the power of fan service. I read these books because I fell in love with the characters right away. Two of them are old acquaintances, two of them became new friends. So... why don't we start with them?
Owen Adamo
The Ex-Chief Sergeant of the Dragon Corps had me since “Havemercy” when he told his boys, his fellow airmen to stop calling Margrave Royston “the Mary Margrave”. Backing up for his gay friend in front of an ill-mannered horde of dragon riders? He was my hero. Adamo is grumpy, a hulk of a man and yet a mother-hen. He refers to the airmen as 'his boys'. He and Royston couldn't be more different which makes their friendship very interesting and well, this book examines the relationship of the two men a bit closer.
At the beginning of the book, he has a position as a professor at the 'Versity, teaching young students about battle techniques in a very unique way. And because I mentioned fan service earlier – there is a lot of talk about Adamo's pants. It's not important but please do consider that most readers of this books like male/male romance stories and talking about a man's pants – be they on fire or not – is a lot of fun.
Balfour Vallet
Another ex-member of the Dragon Corps. It is impossible not to like Balfour – he is kind, actually has some decent manners and in “Havemercy” he stood out because he was the only one who was actually nice to poor Thom (and it's nice to know that they are still sending each other letters). Also, his hands are made of steel. I admit, I'm a sucker for metallic prosthetics in any shape or form, because... they are steampunk and steampunk is sexy?
After the end of the war he became a diplomat, which is a profession that suits his character quite well (if one can ignore that he has to talk to Arlemagne people most of the time and we all know that the relationship between the Arlemagne and the airmen is not the best ever since Rook mistook that diplomat's wife for a prostitute and slapped her rear end in public. Ah, the good old times!)
Laurence & Toverre
The engaged young couple from the country. Like many other young men and few women (misogynist society, deal with it!) they are allowed to study at the 'Versity because the Esar thought it would be a nice gesture and he should do something for the education of his subjects. Well, not really. But this man's true motivation is something that the book will dwell upon, so I'm not going to explain it here.
Laurence, or Laure, is one of those girls who got a boy's name because her father wanted to have a son. She's fierce, she's a redhead, she's busty and very unafraid to speak her mind. Torrence is... not like her at all. A twiggy young man, gay, with unrealistic romantic expectations and obsessed with fashion. His worst enemies are dirt and germs. Their engagement was arranged but they are another pair of unusual friends.
The story:
Well, as I have probably already mentioned, not much happens plot-wise. Adamo gets a letter from Thom in which the reader gets a summary of the outcome of the previous book and he's not quite happy because the knowledge of the events is a bit dangerous, especially when you're living under the reign of the Esar, who gets more and more paranoid and who suspects treason behind every corner. He asks Royston to have an ear open for rumors at the Basquiat.
Balfour has troubles with his prosthetic hands and goes to see the Margrave who is in charge of inspecting them, but the lady is not to be found.
Laure and Toverre make a friend, try to get used to the city life and attend their courses. But strange things happen at the 'Versity. Students are struck by fever, very few of them even die. People disappear. The four protagonists hold several puzzle pieces to solve the mystery of this book but it takes a while until they all come together to put some of the pieces together.
Then of course, there are also slight romantic subplots, lots of fun with Luvander, who is fabulous and got more than just five lines in this book.
It's not so much the story that matters. It's the characters, their relationship to each other, their daily struggle with things that most of the readers could relate to. Adamo and Balfour try to find a new place in life, now that the Dragon Corps is no longer and to make it all worse, Adamo is struggling to accept Royton's new boyfriend because Roy has a shit taste in men and it's always Adamo who has to pick up the pieces when Roy gets left.
Toverre is struggling with, um, dirt and Laure has to fight prejudices.
In the end, I rated the book four stars because though I have been entertained a lot, I got the impression that some of the foreshadowing wasn't as subtle as it was supposed to be, so during the big revelation at the end, I was only half-surprised. So, I liked the book a lot, it made me giddy with glee but it's not quite enough to be considered “awesome”. Hence, only four stars.
But I do hope there will be another one.
One of the main complaints about the books – not just this one – has been that they lack plot. I won't deny that, but here's a thing: there are more aspects of a book than just the plot. Plot, character development, mood, and pacing are the main aspects and as one can see from the four POV writing style, “Steelhands” as well as its previous novels are character- and mood-driven, so it's only natural that plot and pace fall a bit short. But they work, because these authors know exactly what they are doing. The writing style of every character differs, based on his or her personality and upbringing or current environment and that's what makes these books so interesting.
At least one of the authors had their origins I writing fanfiction (but as all the good fanfic writers, they only make money with their original fiction because they have honor and talent), and they have the power of fan service. I read these books because I fell in love with the characters right away. Two of them are old acquaintances, two of them became new friends. So... why don't we start with them?
Owen Adamo
The Ex-Chief Sergeant of the Dragon Corps had me since “Havemercy” when he told his boys, his fellow airmen to stop calling Margrave Royston “the Mary Margrave”. Backing up for his gay friend in front of an ill-mannered horde of dragon riders? He was my hero. Adamo is grumpy, a hulk of a man and yet a mother-hen. He refers to the airmen as 'his boys'. He and Royston couldn't be more different which makes their friendship very interesting and well, this book examines the relationship of the two men a bit closer.
At the beginning of the book, he has a position as a professor at the 'Versity, teaching young students about battle techniques in a very unique way. And because I mentioned fan service earlier – there is a lot of talk about Adamo's pants. It's not important but please do consider that most readers of this books like male/male romance stories and talking about a man's pants – be they on fire or not – is a lot of fun.
Balfour Vallet
Another ex-member of the Dragon Corps. It is impossible not to like Balfour – he is kind, actually has some decent manners and in “Havemercy” he stood out because he was the only one who was actually nice to poor Thom (and it's nice to know that they are still sending each other letters). Also, his hands are made of steel. I admit, I'm a sucker for metallic prosthetics in any shape or form, because... they are steampunk and steampunk is sexy?
After the end of the war he became a diplomat, which is a profession that suits his character quite well (if one can ignore that he has to talk to Arlemagne people most of the time and we all know that the relationship between the Arlemagne and the airmen is not the best ever since Rook mistook that diplomat's wife for a prostitute and slapped her rear end in public. Ah, the good old times!)
Laurence & Toverre
The engaged young couple from the country. Like many other young men and few women (misogynist society, deal with it!) they are allowed to study at the 'Versity because the Esar thought it would be a nice gesture and he should do something for the education of his subjects. Well, not really. But this man's true motivation is something that the book will dwell upon, so I'm not going to explain it here.
Laurence, or Laure, is one of those girls who got a boy's name because her father wanted to have a son. She's fierce, she's a redhead, she's busty and very unafraid to speak her mind. Torrence is... not like her at all. A twiggy young man, gay, with unrealistic romantic expectations and obsessed with fashion. His worst enemies are dirt and germs. Their engagement was arranged but they are another pair of unusual friends.
The story:
Well, as I have probably already mentioned, not much happens plot-wise. Adamo gets a letter from Thom in which the reader gets a summary of the outcome of the previous book and he's not quite happy because the knowledge of the events is a bit dangerous, especially when you're living under the reign of the Esar, who gets more and more paranoid and who suspects treason behind every corner. He asks Royston to have an ear open for rumors at the Basquiat.
Balfour has troubles with his prosthetic hands and goes to see the Margrave who is in charge of inspecting them, but the lady is not to be found.
Laure and Toverre make a friend, try to get used to the city life and attend their courses. But strange things happen at the 'Versity. Students are struck by fever, very few of them even die. People disappear. The four protagonists hold several puzzle pieces to solve the mystery of this book but it takes a while until they all come together to put some of the pieces together.
Then of course, there are also slight romantic subplots, lots of fun with Luvander, who is fabulous and got more than just five lines in this book.
It's not so much the story that matters. It's the characters, their relationship to each other, their daily struggle with things that most of the readers could relate to. Adamo and Balfour try to find a new place in life, now that the Dragon Corps is no longer and to make it all worse, Adamo is struggling to accept Royton's new boyfriend because Roy has a shit taste in men and it's always Adamo who has to pick up the pieces when Roy gets left.
Toverre is struggling with, um, dirt and Laure has to fight prejudices.
In the end, I rated the book four stars because though I have been entertained a lot, I got the impression that some of the foreshadowing wasn't as subtle as it was supposed to be, so during the big revelation at the end, I was only half-surprised. So, I liked the book a lot, it made me giddy with glee but it's not quite enough to be considered “awesome”. Hence, only four stars.
But I do hope there will be another one.