The Iron Children by Rebecca Fraimow

TL;DR: Mud on my face, I wasn’t sure about this and put it off but I really enjoyed it!
Source: Netgalley, Thank you to the publisher!!

Plot: A group of Dedicates is left in the hands of young initiate who has never lead before, while a traitor is in their midst. I liked this one.
Characters: For such a short story there were a few of them, but they felt fairly distinct.
Setting: I liked the setting, it was fairly easy as this is mostly a journey book but it did it well.
Science Fiction: This is much more on the Science Fantasy side. It’s got the set dressing of SF but is very fantastical

Thoughts:

I feel a bit silly having sat on this book for so long and it being so good. The Iron Children follows a young woman in training who is shoved into a command role to escort a group of Dedicates (armored soldiers) to the next encampment during wartime. That’s all fine and dandy except they’re traveling over an icey, unstable mountain and there is a traitor in their midst.

This one teases a fascinating world with some mirrors to our real one of divided but similar peoples. The characters as well felt fleshed out and I loved the narration style in which we hopped heads and for half the story had no idea who the traitor was even though we were in their head. The setting felt dire, the stakes were pretty high, and overall this was a solid book!

My only complaint is that I just feel like it could have been so much more. There could have easily been another 100 pages and I would have devoured it. It ended up feeling a little complete, a little lacking for that reason. Otherwise it was fantastic, I highly recommend this and can’t wait for more from the author.