Product Description

When pixie Kaye declares herself to Roiben on the day of his coronation, he is forced to send her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now Kaye is forbidden to see or speak to him unless she can find the one thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie. Miserable and convinced she belongs nowhere, Kaye makes a rash decision to reveal the truth to her mother - that she is a changeling left in place of a human child. Her mother's shock reaction sends Kaye running back to the Faerie realm in search of her human counterpart in a bid to return her to Ironside. But Kaye once again finds herself a pawn in the games of the Seelie Court. Queen Silarial wants Roiben's throne and she will use any means necessary to get it! In this twisted game of wits and power can a pixie outplay a queen?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20829 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
Holly Black spent her early years in a decaying Victorian mansion where her mother fed her a steady diet of ghost stories and faerie tales. An avid collector of rare folklore volumes, spooky dolls, and crazy hats, she lives in West Long Branch, New Jersey, with her husband, Theo. Together with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, she is the creator of the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles series of children's books. For more information, visit www.blackholly.com.

Customer Reviews

An improvement on the previous books, yet still not satisfying
I enjoyed this more than I did the previous books in this trilogy (TITHE and VALIANT) and yet, still did not find it a satisfying read.

The good news is that there's more story to this. The impossible quest is interesting (albeit you can guess how it's going to play out pretty much the moment it's set) and you get more of a sense of the politics between the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court. Luis and Dave make a reappearance from VALIANT, which I thought was well handled, especially because of the way it built on Luis's role as a fixer whilst further developing the relationship between the two brothers.

The best parts of the book though are those that focus on Corny. The character is a like a walking open wound - still grieving the death of his sister and recovering from his own experiences at the hands of the Unseelie Court, he's terrified by faeries and by his own vulnerability to them and that makes him determined to never give them power over him. In many ways, Corny is the most dynamic character in the book, he's the only one who is actively trying to take control of his own destiny and whilst he sometimes gets infected with Stupid Decision For Stupid Reasons Syndrome. When Corny brings a powerful curse down on himself at the hands of a faerie, it's a twisted blessing in disguise as it finally gives him the means to hit back at the faeries who would torment him and I think that Black does well to handle the exultation and despair that the curse brings him, even if I would question the means by which Corny and his friends try to deal with it as being slightly too contrived.

Unfortunately, the big problem remains Kaye. Just as in TITHE she is a reactive and passive character, always being tricked or manipulated by others so when you get to the scene where she finally stands up for herself, you really don't believe it. The scene where she confesses to her mother about her being a changeling should have been powerful and yet because you can guess how it's going to play out (not least because Kaye already knows how it's going to play out), it lacks the punch it needs. I also found that I just couldn't believe in the relationship between her and Roiben. Whilst I can see what she sees in him (in that whilst he remains underveloped and two-dimensional, he at least has a certain enigmatic quality), I couldn't see what he saw in her, which ruined the true love element that supposedly exists between them.

There are some powerful scenes in the book, notably the attack on the Unseelie Court, which I thought was well handled. I also continue to admire Black's skill in creating sensual and lyrical images - particularly where she describes the effect of the city on faerie folk. Unfortunately, the downside of this is to reinforce how superficial the story ultimately is and I was left wanting to see more expansion on themes and especially on the politics between the courts and the rivalries that drive it. Given the cruelty displayed by Silariel at almost every opportunity, why are her courtiers so loyal to her? Ethine would have been the perfect character to explore this, given that she's used as a pawn just as much as Roiben, and yet she remains unquestioning throughout, which I found frustrating.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
I have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished TITHE, and Holly Black most definitely does not disappoint. IRONSIDE picks up soon after the events in TITHE and VALIANT, and takes the reader on another breathless journey into the amazing and deadly world of Faerie.

Things have been uneasy ever since Roiben assumed the throne of the Unseelie Court, and with the threat of war in the air and Roiben's coronation drawing near, everyone is on edge. Changeling Kaye Fierch knows that she loves Roiben, but she feels increasingly unwelcome and out of place in the Unseelie Court. So the night of the coronation, determined to prove herself to Roiben and the rest of the court, she makes a formal declaration and pledges herself to him as his consort. However, faerie custom demands that a quest be undertaken before anyone can sit as the Lord's consort, and Roiben grants Kaye an impossible task: to find a fairy who can tell an untruth. Now she is forbidden from seeing or speaking to him until she completes something she knows cannot be done.

Kaye doesn't know where to go, because she has been feeling uncomfortable at home as well, knowing that she stole a human child's life. In a moment of desperation, she tells her mother the truth: that she is a changeling that was switched with Ellen's real daughter, the real Kaye, and she vows to retrieve her from the Seelie Court and return her to Ellen. She feels that this, at least, is something she can do, even if there's no way she can complete Roiben's quest.

But with all the tension between the courts there is nowhere safe, and in venturing into the Seelie Court to find her human counterpart, Kaye puts herself within reach of Lady Silarial. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she's willing to do anything, including using Kaye, to get it. Once again Kaye finds herself in the middle of Faerie politics, but this time Roiben's not there to save her, and she may not have a way out.

In my personal experience it is rare that a sequel ever lives up to the first book, but IRONSIDE does just that. Full of court rivalry, deception and betrayal, sword fights and murder, faerie curses, new romances, and even characters from VALIANT, IRONSIDE is another wonderful foray into the dark, gritty world of Faerie and will not leave readers disappointed. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you pound your pillow in frustration and clap your hands in delight. My one and only complaint is that this is the last book set in this amazing world.

Reviewed by: Andie Z.

great book
Ironside starts off a few months after the events of Tithe and Kaye has been feeling lost as she doesn't know where she belongs, so she drunkenly declares herself to Roiben, and he sends her on an impossible quest.
Meanwhile Queen Silarial is still trying to kill Roiben, so Kaye also has to prevent her, though they don't know what she's planning.
She is joined on her quest by Corny, and also someone from Valiant(I wont give away who) which I was pleased with because i had not really seen Valiant as a sequel but more of a companion book.
I have to agree with the previous reviewer that Ironside completely lives up to it's prequels. It is a great book that will not disappoint.