In comparison to the first two novels in the Mercy Thompson series, I’m not sure how I feel about the third novel, Iron Kissed, by Patricia Briggs. In Moon Called and Blood Bound, Mercy is this strong independent woman who doesn’t let the other werewolves or vampires try to dominate her; however, in Iron Kissed, she becomes more soft. Maybe it’s been awhile since I read the first two novels, but I felt that Briggs deviated from Mercy’s original character. That her personality changed and she went from being dominate in her own mind to being another submissive.
Even the climax threw me for a loop. It almost seems like Briggs wanted the human villain to be monstrous. That just because humans are not equipped with super strength, sensitive hearing, or magic, that they can be just as horrific as the werewolves and fae. While this idea is great and is not often written, I think the execution was a bit off. Or it could be that I was just shocked at how the final confrontation was laid out. I didn’t expect something that awful to be in the book and the subsequent reactions are definitely leading us somewhere. We’ll have to wait for number four to see what that is.
Overall, I would definitely read this novel again. In fact, I’m going to right after I get my hands on the other two. In my mind, there is something definitely off and I think I missed something early on.
—-UPDATE—-
The more I think about this book, the more I keep going back to that garage scene. I guess I wasn’t expecting to find something that raw. Even though the genre tends to surround vampires, werewolves, and the supernatural, they tend to be written as more romantic figures than the classic horror monsters. After the incident in the garage, I can see how that would have changed Mercy and that her actions afterward would be stilted, submissive, and that’s why I’m not seeing the strong independent Mercy. She wouldn’t be after a violation like that and working through it, coming out stronger than ever, would so be in character for her. The raw terror of the situation was surprising and shocking. I can only think of two other novels that included something like this – LK Hamilton’s Narcissus in Chains and Cerulean Sins – and even then, the actions were only alluded to, never written in detail. Taking this into consideration, the novel really didn’t deviate from her character, it just dealt her a raw deal and she’s learning how to rebound from it.
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The more I think about this book, the more I keep going back to that garage scene. I guess I wasn’t expecting to find something that raw. Even though the genre tends to surround vampires, werewolves, and the supernatural, they tend to be written as more romantic figures than the classic horror monsters. After the incident in the garage, I can see how that would have changed Mercy and that her actions afterward would be stilted, submissive, and that’s why I’m not seeing the strong independent Mercy. She wouldn’t be after a violation like that and working through it, coming out stronger than ever, would so be in character for her. The raw terror of the situation was surprising and shocking. I can only think of two other novels that included something like this – LK Hamilton’s Narcissus in Chains and Cerulean Sins – and even then, the actions were only alluded to, never written in detail. Taking this into consideration, the novel really didn’t deviate from her character, it just dealt her a raw deal and she’s learning how to rebound from it.
1/07/2008 7:16 AM
I agree with your take on the ending – I think that if Mercy weren’t the strong, stubborn person she is, she would not have been able to move past the incident as well as she does at the end – which is admittedly a horrible struggle. I liked that she was doing her best to try to fool her friends into thinking she is okay – but then fails miserably. They know, she knows they know, but they stand by her and she just does her best to get through it. It is hard seeing a character you love go through something like that. :-( I also loved the insight into Ben’s character – what a powerful scene that was!