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The Iron Assassin
Hot pulp fiction: a steampunk Frankenstein is a weapon of death in an alternate 19th-century England
On an Earth that is not our own, Victoria never ascended the throne; the House of Hanover held England only briefly before being supplanted by the House of Harminster. It is a time of gaslamps and regularly scheduled airship flights, of trams and steam-driven clockwork with countless smoke-belching stacks. London, the capitol of the Empire of the Lion, is a filthy, crowded, fast-growing city where a series of shocking murders threatens the throne itself.
Energetic young inventor Jack Straker believes he has created a weapon to defend the Crown: a reanimated, clockwork-enhanced corpse he can control. He introduces “the Iron Assassin” to the highly placed Lords who will decide if Straker’s invention becomes a weapon of the Lion—or something to be destroyed.
It quickly becomes apparent that the Iron Assassin is more self-willed than Straker intended, and that the zombie’s past life is far more sinister than Straker thought. Has he created a runaway monster? Or the best guardian the Lion could ever hope for?
On an Earth that is not our own, Victoria never ascended the throne; the House of Hanover held England only briefly before being supplanted by the House of Harminster. It is a time of gaslamps and regularly scheduled airship flights, of trams and steam-driven clockwork with countless smoke-belching stacks. London, the capitol of the Empire of the Lion, is a filthy, crowded, fast-growing city where a series of shocking murders threatens the throne itself.
Energetic young inventor Jack Straker believes he has created a weapon to defend the Crown: a reanimated, clockwork-enhanced corpse he can control. He introduces “the Iron Assassin” to the highly placed Lords who will decide if Straker’s invention becomes a weapon of the Lion—or something to be destroyed.
It quickly becomes apparent that the Iron Assassin is more self-willed than Straker intended, and that the zombie’s past life is far more sinister than Straker thought. Has he created a runaway monster? Or the best guardian the Lion could ever hope for?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2015
25 people are currently reading
1403 people want to read
About the author
Ed Greenwood
364 books875 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
May 26, 2023
This is a tough one because I really wanted to like this book. I mean, it's not horrible, but did it ever leave the reader 'wanting'. I haven't read much in the 'Steam punk' genre and was hoping to 'get my punk on' with this book. I also enjoy Ed Greenwood's writing. He is a great world builder and can really create an atmosphere in the story. But with this one, I think he got a little ambitious and the story got away from him.
First of all, let's start with the 90+ characters (98 I believe) in this book. When you need to have a 'Character Index' at the beginning of the book to identify all of the folks throughout the story, maybe you have a few too many. I'm glad the reference was there because I kept getting lost with 'who is who'. But with all the names, the story got bogged down in the minutia of trying to sort them all out. I don't like to have to WORK thru my read.
Next, some of the gizmos and gadgets just didn't make sense to me as to what it was or why it was there. Some were pretty cool, like the Needle guns and the Airships, but the four barrelled shot guns? Come on, those things would disintegrate a person, not wound them. And the prostitute 'nipple twisting' gown? What the...?! I actually laughed thru this part because it was so unnecessary and didn't really add anything to the story.
The 'Assassin' creation that was roaming the city was GREAT, but so underutilized. I would have much rather read more about his encounters. But what was frustrating was how easy it was for folks to manipulate him (by changing out a 'chip' in his skull). This was a crazy strong killer, yet people managed to get behind him with no problem, open up his skull cap and swap out the 'command' chips that told him what to do. No, no no! That was disappointing.
The setting for the story was fantastic and several of the characters were well developed. I think Greenwood should have focused more on these developed characters and their escapades, rather than overwhelming the reader with way too many insignificant side characters. It was a fun read and would actually like to read more about Lord Tempest and Lady Harminster, but keep any future stories more simple. I give 'The Iron Assassin' 2.5 stars but round it up to 3 because I like Ed Greenwood. Just my 2 cents! :)
First of all, let's start with the 90+ characters (98 I believe) in this book. When you need to have a 'Character Index' at the beginning of the book to identify all of the folks throughout the story, maybe you have a few too many. I'm glad the reference was there because I kept getting lost with 'who is who'. But with all the names, the story got bogged down in the minutia of trying to sort them all out. I don't like to have to WORK thru my read.
Next, some of the gizmos and gadgets just didn't make sense to me as to what it was or why it was there. Some were pretty cool, like the Needle guns and the Airships, but the four barrelled shot guns? Come on, those things would disintegrate a person, not wound them. And the prostitute 'nipple twisting' gown? What the...?! I actually laughed thru this part because it was so unnecessary and didn't really add anything to the story.
The 'Assassin' creation that was roaming the city was GREAT, but so underutilized. I would have much rather read more about his encounters. But what was frustrating was how easy it was for folks to manipulate him (by changing out a 'chip' in his skull). This was a crazy strong killer, yet people managed to get behind him with no problem, open up his skull cap and swap out the 'command' chips that told him what to do. No, no no! That was disappointing.
The setting for the story was fantastic and several of the characters were well developed. I think Greenwood should have focused more on these developed characters and their escapades, rather than overwhelming the reader with way too many insignificant side characters. It was a fun read and would actually like to read more about Lord Tempest and Lady Harminster, but keep any future stories more simple. I give 'The Iron Assassin' 2.5 stars but round it up to 3 because I like Ed Greenwood. Just my 2 cents! :)
November 26, 2018
I just started reading Steampunk books a few years ago and so far have really enjoyed this sub-genre of SiFi. I was surprised how many writers have a book or two out there. Ed Greenwood is vary familiar to me for his fantasy books in the D&D Forgotten Realms setting so I was interested to see how e handled a very different setting. Man was I very presently surprised. Great action and adventure throughout just like his fantasy books. Very good read. Very recommended
July 8, 2015
Ed Greenwood seems to be quite good at writing Forgotten Realms stories. Sadly, when it comes to steampunk he's more of an Ed Wood.
OK, there's a setting, and a plot, and a workable main idea. We get airships and steam and inventors and plucky women. A couple of the characters are actually quite interesting and could have been the basis of a good book.
But you start in a hole when you get a list of characters that runs 11 pages and 98 people
This book is weak on editing:
* spelling (cinammon)
* word selection/spelling (peddling for pedalling),
* singular/plural ("the dump door and its chain was" and again: ("each of them has been reared to believe they are my son" - singular they is one thing, but we know they are all boys and this needs "he is")
* pronoun use ("her deeds are making we ... more prominent")
* names (surely Cramner and Ffloukes should have been Cranmer and Ffoulkes)
The Duchess, a Hanoverian, appears with a truly appalling attempt at dialect, the kind that makes writing coaches say, "Don't write in dialect."
We have murderous scuttling hands, not an unusual thing in a magic story, But this isn't a magical world.
How do they move? How does their master give them orders? Everything else is explained by acceptable handwaving about expert artisans and inventors; this is outright magic and we can't just take it for granted.
If we can do that, why are there no fireballs and levitating wizards and invisibility cloaks?
And then we get to the slaughter. Here are the pages on which someone dies.
Parentheses indicate multiple deaths on that page. The story starts on page 21.
23 (34) 42 (61) 78 (85) 94 96 101 127 150 (180) 184 195 200 (204) 205
(209) (210) (211) 239 248-9 256 (257) 263 (264) 266 (269) 270 (272) 280
(282) (296) (301) 303 (305) 306 (312) 314 315 (318)
Now we know why we had to introduce 98 characters. By the end there are about as many left as there are at the end of Hamlet. I suspect someone's been writing too many stories about dark elves slaughtering orcs. I grant you that Greenwood did establish that the Order has been killing a lot of people. But there's no need to scythe down most of the people that appear in the book.
This author might do well to stick to what he's good at. Or work with a co-author, because as I said this could have been a quite good book.
OK, there's a setting, and a plot, and a workable main idea. We get airships and steam and inventors and plucky women. A couple of the characters are actually quite interesting and could have been the basis of a good book.
But you start in a hole when you get a list of characters that runs 11 pages and 98 people
This book is weak on editing:
* spelling (cinammon)
* word selection/spelling (peddling for pedalling),
* singular/plural ("the dump door and its chain was" and again: ("each of them has been reared to believe they are my son" - singular they is one thing, but we know they are all boys and this needs "he is")
* pronoun use ("her deeds are making we ... more prominent")
* names (surely Cramner and Ffloukes should have been Cranmer and Ffoulkes)
The Duchess, a Hanoverian, appears with a truly appalling attempt at dialect, the kind that makes writing coaches say, "Don't write in dialect."
We have murderous scuttling hands, not an unusual thing in a magic story, But this isn't a magical world.
How do they move? How does their master give them orders? Everything else is explained by acceptable handwaving about expert artisans and inventors; this is outright magic and we can't just take it for granted.
If we can do that, why are there no fireballs and levitating wizards and invisibility cloaks?
And then we get to the slaughter. Here are the pages on which someone dies.
Parentheses indicate multiple deaths on that page. The story starts on page 21.
23 (34) 42 (61) 78 (85) 94 96 101 127 150 (180) 184 195 200 (204) 205
(209) (210) (211) 239 248-9 256 (257) 263 (264) 266 (269) 270 (272) 280
(282) (296) (301) 303 (305) 306 (312) 314 315 (318)
Now we know why we had to introduce 98 characters. By the end there are about as many left as there are at the end of Hamlet. I suspect someone's been writing too many stories about dark elves slaughtering orcs. I grant you that Greenwood did establish that the Order has been killing a lot of people. But there's no need to scythe down most of the people that appear in the book.
This author might do well to stick to what he's good at. Or work with a co-author, because as I said this could have been a quite good book.
November 22, 2017
See my other reviews at Never Enough Books
London is a city of gas-lamps and clockwork. Of airship flights and a rapidly growing city sprouting countless smoke belching stacks. It is filthy and crowded and to many, home.
The young inventor Jack Straker believes he has created a weapon to defend Crown and country; a reanimated, clockwork-enhanced corpse that he can control. He introduces “the Iron Assassin” to the highly placed Lords who will decide if Straker’s invention becomes a weapon of the Lion-or if it is to be destroyed. However, Straker and the Lords find that the Iron Assassin has a will of his own and his past isn’t all that it seems. Is this mechanical man a monster?
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Touted as a kind of modern Prometheus – a la Frankenstein, a personal favorite – I was hoping it would be something a kin to that. A man brought back to life, struggling to find his place in a world that is not ready, nor does it want him. This however, was not that.
One of the things that made this book so difficult to enjoy was how it jumped around constantly. There were too many different plot lines going on at the same time and the number of characters to try and keep track of was personally quite daunting. While the prose itself was strong, the action and dialogue were well written; the inability for the story line to say in one place for very long weakened the overall appeal.
Ed Greenwood is better known for the Forgotten Realms series. I haven’t read any of this particular series yet but they seem to get good reviews on Amazon. Those who are familiar with him and enjoy his writing might enjoy this addition. Those who are not familiar with him, take caution and maybe get this one from your library if you want to read it.
London is a city of gas-lamps and clockwork. Of airship flights and a rapidly growing city sprouting countless smoke belching stacks. It is filthy and crowded and to many, home.
The young inventor Jack Straker believes he has created a weapon to defend Crown and country; a reanimated, clockwork-enhanced corpse that he can control. He introduces “the Iron Assassin” to the highly placed Lords who will decide if Straker’s invention becomes a weapon of the Lion-or if it is to be destroyed. However, Straker and the Lords find that the Iron Assassin has a will of his own and his past isn’t all that it seems. Is this mechanical man a monster?
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Touted as a kind of modern Prometheus – a la Frankenstein, a personal favorite – I was hoping it would be something a kin to that. A man brought back to life, struggling to find his place in a world that is not ready, nor does it want him. This however, was not that.
One of the things that made this book so difficult to enjoy was how it jumped around constantly. There were too many different plot lines going on at the same time and the number of characters to try and keep track of was personally quite daunting. While the prose itself was strong, the action and dialogue were well written; the inability for the story line to say in one place for very long weakened the overall appeal.
Ed Greenwood is better known for the Forgotten Realms series. I haven’t read any of this particular series yet but they seem to get good reviews on Amazon. Those who are familiar with him and enjoy his writing might enjoy this addition. Those who are not familiar with him, take caution and maybe get this one from your library if you want to read it.
December 10, 2015
Breathless pace with no character development and poor plotting. Three different factions with too many characters insufficiently explored. Many good ideas and hanging threads of characterizations, looks like could be made into an ongoing series if anyone can care about any of these cardboard characters. Promising, but disappointing as a result. Not my cup of tea.
September 1, 2015
Really liked this one, especially the plots-within-plots of the villains. At first, I was a little put off by the 7 pages of characters listed at the front of the book. But towards the end I found it was invaluable for keeping track of who was who. Can't wait for the sequel!
November 3, 2015
Much, much better than the other reviews might have you believe. I thought it was pretty cool and very fun. Very inventive and fast paced.
August 30, 2019
The Iron Assassin was an enjoyable romp-mainly because this steampunk fantasy managed to overcome a lot of bad plotting and dangling unresolved story elements to become a fun tale. The end result is better than the sum of its' parts, as it were.
July 31, 2015
Mon avis en Français
English review
I fell totally in love with the cover when I saw it and I admit that the summary also helped a lot. I was also curious to see what the author would present us for this first volume. Have I said that I love everything related to the steampunk genre? So how not to be intrigued by this new novel?
The idea of the book is really interesting, we have an alternative London where the crown is threatened by creatures that no one really manages to defeat. Jack Stracker therefore creates a weapon that he thinks necessary from a dead corpse and shows him to everyone. But this creation is not so simple, especially when he has his own desires and does not submit to every decision made for him. We therefore follow particularly these two characters and their history but also some others evolving in parallel with their lives. It was quite interesting I confess to see how everything would be developped but I admit that I was confused a lot of time on the story level. We pass quickly from a character to another and from one event to another without really going into the details. Besides, I’m not convinced that I have understood everything perfectly in the end, the novel was interesting and I still had a good time with the whole.
Another detail is noted making this volume beautiful and this is related to the pages of the book. Indeed, we do not have blank pages as we’re used to but beautiful gray pages that give us immediately want to immerse ourselves in the novel and to discover what is happening.
To conclude, it was an interesting novel although I think that I needed more to understand what was happening.
English review
I fell totally in love with the cover when I saw it and I admit that the summary also helped a lot. I was also curious to see what the author would present us for this first volume. Have I said that I love everything related to the steampunk genre? So how not to be intrigued by this new novel?
The idea of the book is really interesting, we have an alternative London where the crown is threatened by creatures that no one really manages to defeat. Jack Stracker therefore creates a weapon that he thinks necessary from a dead corpse and shows him to everyone. But this creation is not so simple, especially when he has his own desires and does not submit to every decision made for him. We therefore follow particularly these two characters and their history but also some others evolving in parallel with their lives. It was quite interesting I confess to see how everything would be developped but I admit that I was confused a lot of time on the story level. We pass quickly from a character to another and from one event to another without really going into the details. Besides, I’m not convinced that I have understood everything perfectly in the end, the novel was interesting and I still had a good time with the whole.
Another detail is noted making this volume beautiful and this is related to the pages of the book. Indeed, we do not have blank pages as we’re used to but beautiful gray pages that give us immediately want to immerse ourselves in the novel and to discover what is happening.
To conclude, it was an interesting novel although I think that I needed more to understand what was happening.
December 14, 2015
DNF at 25%. The story sounds interesting, but is so jumbled and impenetrable that I just couldn't get intrigued. The story zigzags between groups and individuals constantly, with little, if any, rhyme or reason. Characters just seem to pop up and start being important, without any explanation of why they're there, what they're doing, or why they should matter. Mysterious, but not interesting or captivating. Serious events are glossed over (for instance, the titular assassin apparently runs away from his master, with no explanation or seemingly any real concern). At least one explanation (the state of the Queen) is given almost exactly the same way twice in a dozen pages, even though the characters involved are well aware, and the reader is too. Perhaps a massive dose of good editing could have saved this one, but as is, give it a pass. For steampunk, try The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato, or The Mechanical by Ian Tregellis.
September 10, 2015
The book started out well. The first chapter was captivating and got me interested in the world. I think the world in which the story takes place, a steam punk version of Victorian England, was the best feature of the book. Unfortunately as the story went along I found myself getting confused by all the characters (many with similar names and some with two different names). The narrative kept shifting between characters but the splits between one character and another weren't very well done. I often found myself confused as to which character was now telling the story. Also the story started to drag about halfway through the book and it felt like the story had become circular, that it wasn't progressive but instead was going around and around the same issue. These features of the book caused me to lose interested and I didn't even bother to finish it.
September 21, 2015
I won this book from Goodreads First Reads.
I have to say I had hopes for this one. Great cover and something new to try. But I'm giving up on it for now after 128 pages. The story seems to jump around everywhere without much progress or sense to it. I was a bit concerned with the several pages at the start listing a ton of characters and after reading as much as I have I seemed to be right in thinking there isn't much character development in the actual story. Jumps from one thing to another and gets too much to keep track of for my taste. I may return and give it another try someday and would revise my review if I change my mind but for now this is disappointment to me.
I have to say I had hopes for this one. Great cover and something new to try. But I'm giving up on it for now after 128 pages. The story seems to jump around everywhere without much progress or sense to it. I was a bit concerned with the several pages at the start listing a ton of characters and after reading as much as I have I seemed to be right in thinking there isn't much character development in the actual story. Jumps from one thing to another and gets too much to keep track of for my taste. I may return and give it another try someday and would revise my review if I change my mind but for now this is disappointment to me.
gave-up
June 29, 2015Cool premise, cool cover, and after 6 or 7 bewildering chapters I surrendered and moved on. My first clue of trouble ahead was a nine page list of characters at the front of the book, and I think most of them were introduced in the first four chapters. As difficult as it was keeping the characters straight, mid-chapter there were incomprehensible scene changes introducing more characters for equally incomprehensible reasons. I wanted a fun summer read, but this just felt like a reading assignment.
April 16, 2019
This book is bloody awful.
Spoiler alerts ahead.
The dozen pages and 100 list of characters was completely unnecessary. Methinks someone is jealous of George R R Martin.
Jack Straker, our intrepid hero, animates a corpse with the magical power of steam (enter The Iron Assassin) that can smell out (literally) the enemies of the Crown. How this was accomplished is never explained and never again revisited. But wait, someone comes in and exclaims that they shouldn't have used that corpse as he has a horrible secret. But before he can reveal the truth of the man, the Assassin kills him, in front of everyone and nobody blinks a friggin' eye. Seriously. Nobody even objects to what just happened. Laughable. The character development of the Assassin is non-existent. He has a wife and daughter who he wants to know what happened to them and upon finding out, goes to some other woman for a booty call who he had an affair with. Just awful.
How is it that another tinkerer who hasn't seen this creation before is suddenly able to build a machine with a massive, mobile generator that is able to control it? Serious plot hole here. Add in that Jack (who was compared by the author to Sherlock Holmes) just meekly gives up that there's nothing he can do. He just built what is shown in the book as essentially The Terminator (as he's shot well over a dozen times and all those steampunkian gears aren't damaged enough to make him slow down in the least) and puts no failsafe in other than they have to get the key out of his skull?
Speaking of The Terminator, there are 2 individuals whose names escape me who are members of The Tentacles (the bad guys) who with single shot guns are able to kill over 2 dozen soldiers and fend off our heroes in hand to hand combat all in a chaotic, poorly described fight scene. Essentially Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone from their '80s movie days jumped into the book and killed everyone without so much as a scratch. I actually lol'd at this point for how ridiculous things were getting.
In a dramatic scene, there's an airship chase. Our hero is going to use a mail-laden airship to chase down the evil lady whose airship is full of explosives. Her plan is to ram the location where the Queen and the Prince are and blow them up. On the way, the Iron Assassin gets on the ship with Jack and for some inexplicable reason, wants to save the man who created him who he also hates for bringing him back to life. I mean, he almost kills Jack a time or two during the book. But now he wants to sacrifice himself by ramming the ship for Jack and out of the blue, thanks him.
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
But wait, it gets better! When the ships collide, the mail-laden airship explodes in a giant fireball. Because mail is soooo explosive. Whereas the explosive laden ship of the big, bad, evil villainess is barely damaged. Seriously? Come on now, I know there's supposed to be a suspension of disbelief when reading sci-fi, but this lazy. The lazy '80s movies once again make their appearance with something that explodes that has no business exploding.
In conclusion, don't waste your time with this book. It's dreadful.
Spoiler alerts ahead.
The dozen pages and 100 list of characters was completely unnecessary. Methinks someone is jealous of George R R Martin.
Jack Straker, our intrepid hero, animates a corpse with the magical power of steam (enter The Iron Assassin) that can smell out (literally) the enemies of the Crown. How this was accomplished is never explained and never again revisited. But wait, someone comes in and exclaims that they shouldn't have used that corpse as he has a horrible secret. But before he can reveal the truth of the man, the Assassin kills him, in front of everyone and nobody blinks a friggin' eye. Seriously. Nobody even objects to what just happened. Laughable. The character development of the Assassin is non-existent. He has a wife and daughter who he wants to know what happened to them and upon finding out, goes to some other woman for a booty call who he had an affair with. Just awful.
How is it that another tinkerer who hasn't seen this creation before is suddenly able to build a machine with a massive, mobile generator that is able to control it? Serious plot hole here. Add in that Jack (who was compared by the author to Sherlock Holmes) just meekly gives up that there's nothing he can do. He just built what is shown in the book as essentially The Terminator (as he's shot well over a dozen times and all those steampunkian gears aren't damaged enough to make him slow down in the least) and puts no failsafe in other than they have to get the key out of his skull?
Speaking of The Terminator, there are 2 individuals whose names escape me who are members of The Tentacles (the bad guys) who with single shot guns are able to kill over 2 dozen soldiers and fend off our heroes in hand to hand combat all in a chaotic, poorly described fight scene. Essentially Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone from their '80s movie days jumped into the book and killed everyone without so much as a scratch. I actually lol'd at this point for how ridiculous things were getting.
In a dramatic scene, there's an airship chase. Our hero is going to use a mail-laden airship to chase down the evil lady whose airship is full of explosives. Her plan is to ram the location where the Queen and the Prince are and blow them up. On the way, the Iron Assassin gets on the ship with Jack and for some inexplicable reason, wants to save the man who created him who he also hates for bringing him back to life. I mean, he almost kills Jack a time or two during the book. But now he wants to sacrifice himself by ramming the ship for Jack and out of the blue, thanks him.
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
But wait, it gets better! When the ships collide, the mail-laden airship explodes in a giant fireball. Because mail is soooo explosive. Whereas the explosive laden ship of the big, bad, evil villainess is barely damaged. Seriously? Come on now, I know there's supposed to be a suspension of disbelief when reading sci-fi, but this lazy. The lazy '80s movies once again make their appearance with something that explodes that has no business exploding.
In conclusion, don't waste your time with this book. It's dreadful.
October 14, 2017
Had so much hope for this book but after the first chapter, in which we meet the titular Iron Assassin, the plot dries up and the writing gets very clunky.
Throughout the book the character development of the myriad of named participants is very poor and I was getting increasingly confused as to who was fighting whom. It didn’t help that the author chose to set the work in the higher echelons of Victorian Society thus you had Lord’s and Ladies fighting Lord’s and Ladies. When foreign characters are introduced he writes their dialogue in cringing faux pidgin English, and they feel very much an aside rather than part of the plot although, apparently, they are key to the end game.
The female characters are treated woefully throughout. As one would imagine in a Victorian set novel Queen Victoria does appear but really as an afterthought and poorly conceived as the character presented is feeble and seems implausible as the Empress of India. Younger female characters, of which I recall three in total, are introduced as fluff. They are the objects of poorly written gratuitous sex scenes that do not really advance the plot but obviously fill the desires of the authors fancy. Even the main female character is denigrated by involving her in his sexual fantasies.
As to the Iron Assassin. After being introduced he barely appears as anything more than a human tank which passes between the two sides in the conflict almost in a whim. There is no development of who he is nor the reasoning behind his conversion to a steampunk cyborg.
Overall a poorly conceived, written and presented book that is obviously trying to cash in on the steampunk genre.
Throughout the book the character development of the myriad of named participants is very poor and I was getting increasingly confused as to who was fighting whom. It didn’t help that the author chose to set the work in the higher echelons of Victorian Society thus you had Lord’s and Ladies fighting Lord’s and Ladies. When foreign characters are introduced he writes their dialogue in cringing faux pidgin English, and they feel very much an aside rather than part of the plot although, apparently, they are key to the end game.
The female characters are treated woefully throughout. As one would imagine in a Victorian set novel Queen Victoria does appear but really as an afterthought and poorly conceived as the character presented is feeble and seems implausible as the Empress of India. Younger female characters, of which I recall three in total, are introduced as fluff. They are the objects of poorly written gratuitous sex scenes that do not really advance the plot but obviously fill the desires of the authors fancy. Even the main female character is denigrated by involving her in his sexual fantasies.
As to the Iron Assassin. After being introduced he barely appears as anything more than a human tank which passes between the two sides in the conflict almost in a whim. There is no development of who he is nor the reasoning behind his conversion to a steampunk cyborg.
Overall a poorly conceived, written and presented book that is obviously trying to cash in on the steampunk genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2023
All of that potential!
I mean despite a few issues, this book really should have done numbers. I'm about to go knock on some doors in an attempt to spread the "good word" on the "Iron assassin".... wait wait wait don't slam the door in my face. Hear me out.
So what's to like?
1. I love the very Steampunk essence that Ed Greenwood brings to this universe. His chief Tinkerer is Lord Tempest Straker.
2. The Iron Assassin, Bently Steelforce is my kind of weirdo assassin.
3. The overarching conspiracy had meaty potential
**********************************************************************
Plot/Storyline: -1 Should have just stuck to the overarching conspiracy - the threat to Lord Lion. Everything that can possible happen in this story happens. Too many subplots
Characters: -1 I started to lose interest in the ever growing list of new characters showing up. It feels like Greenwood was setting up for a series but never followed through so what we have is an over saturation of characters.
Favorite scene: the conversation between Lord Straker and Lady whatsherface in the shed moments after the Iron Assassin barged in and petrified the poor spy-wannabe Lady. It was a very clever tete-a-tete.
Favorite Quote/Concept: Every man needs a confidant - even those sworn to secrecy (Hardcastle on his Bromance with Jack Straker / LordTempest)
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Punk Fantasy Books
I mean despite a few issues, this book really should have done numbers. I'm about to go knock on some doors in an attempt to spread the "good word" on the "Iron assassin".... wait wait wait don't slam the door in my face. Hear me out.
So what's to like?
1. I love the very Steampunk essence that Ed Greenwood brings to this universe. His chief Tinkerer is Lord Tempest Straker.
2. The Iron Assassin, Bently Steelforce is my kind of weirdo assassin.
3. The overarching conspiracy had meaty potential
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Plot/Storyline: -1 Should have just stuck to the overarching conspiracy - the threat to Lord Lion. Everything that can possible happen in this story happens. Too many subplots
Characters: -1 I started to lose interest in the ever growing list of new characters showing up. It feels like Greenwood was setting up for a series but never followed through so what we have is an over saturation of characters.
Favorite scene: the conversation between Lord Straker and Lady whatsherface in the shed moments after the Iron Assassin barged in and petrified the poor spy-wannabe Lady. It was a very clever tete-a-tete.
Favorite Quote/Concept: Every man needs a confidant - even those sworn to secrecy (Hardcastle on his Bromance with Jack Straker / LordTempest)
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Punk Fantasy Books
January 30, 2019
It's a bit of a worry when the 13 page, 98 character Dramatis Personae that precedes the story itself, often has more detail about the characters than the story itself. The story meanders from scene to scene in what seems to be an attempt to pad out the plot. My overall impression is that the author was trying to be whimsical, but it comes across as heavy handed pastiche. I say pastiche because we clearly have a Holmes and Watson analogue in the characters of Jack Straker (Lord Tempest) and Bleys Hardcastle. Straker seems more a steampunk Tony Stark however, in that the his main problem is caused by his own creation the "Iron Assassin", the title character of the story.
Not that we see that much of poor Bentley Steelforce, who is reanimated from the dead and mostly appears at random throughout the story, like a clockwork deus ex machina . In fact with so many characters it's hard exactly just who the main characters are. In truth it may not have one. I read this in the middle of high summer and the heat and humidity here may have been one reason I fell asleep several times while doing so. At leeast I hope so, but in truth I found this to be a heavy handed and deadly dull read.
Not that we see that much of poor Bentley Steelforce, who is reanimated from the dead and mostly appears at random throughout the story, like a clockwork deus ex machina . In fact with so many characters it's hard exactly just who the main characters are. In truth it may not have one. I read this in the middle of high summer and the heat and humidity here may have been one reason I fell asleep several times while doing so. At leeast I hope so, but in truth I found this to be a heavy handed and deadly dull read.
April 16, 2020
This could have potentially been an interesting world but the execution was poor: there are three main factions of evil guys (the Tentacles), with different schemes within the group, the connection between the plots are never made very clear, and we spend most of our time focusing on the good guys.
Of the good guys, there are a few different characters - and then there's also the "neutral" guys i.e. the system / bureaucracy that they operate in. Thankfully, the neutral guys stay out of most of it.
In terms of good guys: we've got the tinker (Jack Straker), his good friend Hardcastle, and Lady Rose Harminster (the stereotypical action woman). The plot itself was simple: there is a plan to kill the ruling family (the Queen and her son). In the meantime, Jack Straker has come up with an "iron man" to root out the Tentacles. There's a lot of cannon fodder (beagles / police) that are killed protecting the nobles, which I felt was also a waste of life.
I did like some of the turn of phrase - e.g. "Halworthy Burton wheeled an all-too-familiar- verbal cannon into position and let fly" but it was ultimately a tiresome book.
1/5 stars
Of the good guys, there are a few different characters - and then there's also the "neutral" guys i.e. the system / bureaucracy that they operate in. Thankfully, the neutral guys stay out of most of it.
In terms of good guys: we've got the tinker (Jack Straker), his good friend Hardcastle, and Lady Rose Harminster (the stereotypical action woman). The plot itself was simple: there is a plan to kill the ruling family (the Queen and her son). In the meantime, Jack Straker has come up with an "iron man" to root out the Tentacles. There's a lot of cannon fodder (beagles / police) that are killed protecting the nobles, which I felt was also a waste of life.
I did like some of the turn of phrase - e.g. "Halworthy Burton wheeled an all-too-familiar- verbal cannon into position and let fly" but it was ultimately a tiresome book.
1/5 stars
February 16, 2017
The plot was interesting. In London, different reality where steampunk is prevalent, a Lord and inventor reanimates a dead man using a metal exoskeleton. This dead man is strong and nearly impervious. He is controlled by a key in the back of his head.....unfortunately, the Lord's creation is stolen and the key is hijacked so the assassin is no longer controlled by the good side. Many adventures ensue. The plot is interesting. BUT, the reader changes POV constantly and not just between 3 or 4 characters. It felt like every few pages, the reader was jumping into someone elses mind, half of them unimportant characters. The character list was so long it required a list of their names and a brief description before the book started. It was so hard to follow who was who even using the character list.
January 5, 2017
Having read a few of the other reviews of this, I wholeheartedly agree with what others have said- 11 pages of character names when you open the book never bodes well. A lot of the book I spent confused as to whom was who- multiple characters are referred to by multiple names; first name, surname, or perhaps a lordly name as well! Much too much. The Iron Assassin I expected to take centre stage spent most of the time running around backstage, and the main protagonists didn't even seem to feature quite that much, or have much discernible personality. A bit of a shame, as I was excited by the blurb and cover.
March 10, 2021
One of the first books I’ve finished in close to a year, if not longer. I don’t regret reading the book because it wasn’t terrible. it also wasn’t great either. I remember reading Mr. Greenwood a number of years ago, which is why I gave this a shot. The writing reminds me of an action movie. Light on plot, lots of fight scenes, very little character development in my humble opinion. The main characters are interesting enough that I will check after this review to see if there’s a sequel. Not every book has to be a masterpiece, but this feels like it could have been much more.
March 22, 2017
I'm a fan of Ed Greenwood. I played a lot of D&D when I was younger, and was totally enamored with his Forgotten Realms campaign setting. It was inventive, mysterious, and fun. Several Elminster books later, I was still a fan. So when I saw that he had written a steampunk novel about a clockwork assassin, I was totally game. This is my jam!
Instead I found a dreadfully dull, uninspired read. This book went through all the motions with no heart or feelings. This felt like a steampunk "paint by numbers" book, just checking off lists of tropes used in the genre. I expect more from Greenwood. When I couldn't figure out whether I liked the book or not 100p in, that should have been a tip off.
Instead I found a dreadfully dull, uninspired read. This book went through all the motions with no heart or feelings. This felt like a steampunk "paint by numbers" book, just checking off lists of tropes used in the genre. I expect more from Greenwood. When I couldn't figure out whether I liked the book or not 100p in, that should have been a tip off.
February 21, 2019
DNF: had to sit the book down when I got to the part about Rose's weird,,, pleasure dress,,,, /thing/. The storyline was stale, hard to follow and filled with pages of purple prose that you had to sift through to get to the actual plot. I understand the writing style was meant to convey the setting and time oerios, but it was impossible to stay invested in these characters because of how detached from them I felt.
June 20, 2018
Way to many characters with similar names an titels... Lady Rose, Lady Harminster and Rose Gordhammond are one and the same. Now imagine it with 11 pages of character intoduction and you need a graph to follow it all.
The story is quite nice even though some events like two airships colliding is described in two sentences and an ancient ritual that fails in two pages.
The story is quite nice even though some events like two airships colliding is described in two sentences and an ancient ritual that fails in two pages.
August 10, 2025
While the worldbuilding here is interesting, the story doesn't lead to any fulfilling conclusion. There are too many characters to keep track of (mostly to remember their names) but only a handful are crucial to the plot and funnily, the titular Iron Assassin is not the main character or even the primary focus of the story!
Read
January 24, 2017First chapter was intriguing. Neat concept, but overwhelmingly bland one dimensional characters. I would rate this a one star, however, I left this book incomplete, therefore will not officially post this rating. I did not have any reason to continue.
October 27, 2021
This isn't a bad book. The characters and storylines are sort of all over the place and the author has a tendency to write in sentence fragments, but overall this story was fine. Not too bad for a random pick off the library shelf.
Read
July 21, 2025Dnf’d at 45% so I will not be eating this one. It is simply too confusing and there are too many characters to keep any of them straight but the plot and writing themselves were well thought out, and the gadgets and world were really fun I really wanted to like it ☹️
May 20, 2017
I wish I had read the reviews before I bought this book
April 13, 2018
I was lost after the second chapter
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