Synopsis
The Ebon Warden is about to execute the wrong goblin.
The Ebon Warden has sentenced Captain William Blair to hang for another goblin’s crime. Thankfully, he’s got his sharp wits, his loyal crew, and a long history of dubious behaviour on his side. When the man who’s supposed to hang next to Wil offers his help, however, the crew of the Iron Rose is unexpectedly drawn into local politics. Soon, the stakes are far higher than any one goblin… and the only way out of a dreadful disaster is to steal from the Ebon Warden herself.
Review
This was a highly anticipated read for me because a) I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Olivia Atwater in the past and b) I heard it involved airships, steampunk elements and faeries, and that’s pretty much all I needed to hit the “back” button on the Kickstarter for Book 1.
The protagonist is the delightfully witty goblin captain Wil Blair, who tells the starts off the novella awaiting his execution for a crime he never committed. He then befriends his fellow prisoner on the way to the gallows and they team up to plan their escape, which leads to Wil’s crew being entangled in another rescue mission. Wil’s first-person narration is engaging and the whole cast is comprised of vivid characters who leap off the pages from the outset. Even though we meet quite a few of the crew members early on (and we have a comparatively short page count to get to know them), they each had a distinct personality and were easy to tell apart. I instantly loved Mary, a young pickpocket who specifically steals books, and the Evie and Little, a married couple who have very different personalities. I also appreciated the diversity among the crew, with queer, disabled and older characters all having a place in this unconventional found family dynamic.
The plot is pacy and the writing tight. We’re thrown straight into the action and yet so much of the world comes through via the characters and plot that I never felt lost or confused. As it’s a novella, there’s no room to linger on details but it doesn’t skimp on character or world either. We know so much about the attitude towards goblins in the setup alone (that the protagonist has been sentenced to death because the authorities couldn’t tell him apart from another goblin). I also found the concept of the Oaths intriguing – the captain fought for an empire that lost its leader and dissolved, leading to him essentially carrying this broken Oath around with him as an almost physical presence. I’m also very intrigued by the role of the Tuath De and the fairies and I have a feeling they’ll be major players in the series in the future.
I knew from the first sentence of this novella that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. The fluid narration, immersive action and distinctive characters kept me engaged from beginning to end. This is easily one of the best indie fantasy novellas I’ve read for a while, both as a self-contained story in its own right and an introduction to the series, too. (And on that note, I’m off to read Book 1!)
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