Alexandra Rowland - A Taste of Gold and Iron

One false coin could topple an empire.
Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, has no intention of wrestling for imperial control with his sister, the queen. Yet he remains at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court – the father of the queen’s new child. Then a hunting party goes terribly awry, and Kadou finds himself under suspicion of attempted murder.
To prove his loyalty to his sister and salvage his reputation, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds. He enlists the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. But what appears to be a straightforward crime spirals into a complex counterfeiting operation, with a powerful enemy at its heart.
In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy. The conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing – and bring about its ruin.

Comment: This book was well liked by many readers last year and I was curious enough to try it myself. I've finally had the opportunity this month.

In this fantasy world, prince Kadou is a young man who tries his best to help his sister, the sovereign of their kingdom. However, shyness, lack of confidence and the fear of causing problems makes him doubt his skills and when a misunderstanding leads to a situation his sister needs to solve, he feels even worse. As a consequence, he is given a new bodyguard, Evemer, someone who is known to be calm and disciplined, in the hopes that Kadou will have a good influence helping him. But Kadou believes part of the case which led to his current situation is more serious than what it seemed and he feels he needs to keep investigating the irregularities he finds. Evemer is, of course, helping his prince but will it be safe to go on when someone is clearly trying to stop them from discovering the truth?

I know my summary above seems confusing, but the plot of this book is actually not that complicated. The real strength of this book relies on the character development and in the interactions between the characters. I had a good time reading this novel but I confess I expected the story to be a bit more vibrant than what it was.

This is a fantasy story set in a fictional world where different kingdoms mean different cultures and politics. The goal was never to develop a story that was only set on how the rules worked, but as the characters went on with their tasks, we discover new information and learn new things just by the characters' actions or reactions. Not every author can convey information and evolution in this way, the "show, don't tell" tactic and for that I must applaud this author's skill.

The story is focused on character development, mostly the protagonists, but there are some secondary characters that, while not having a POV, also get to have characters growth and their roles become more important as things move along. I could see some having their own stories, if the author were to think that. Besides this, we also have an investigation going on, regarding a strange combination of events and some paperwork which is discovered to not have been processed properly. The story is the mix of these two main elements which allows interesting situations to be discussed.

I should say that some parts are a little dragging, but I think the author did a good job in making things seem urgent or less urgent as new information came to light. The fact so much relies on the main characters, their movements and choices, and inner thoughts means the plot feels as if it revolves mostly on them but it never felt to me they were the only important element. I liked them both individually, although it must certainly seem that Kadou, with so many situations where his insecurities are highlighted, is rather boring. I liked him because some traits are familiar to my own probably responses.

Evermer is a more stoic character but since we have his POV, I cared about him too. As for the romance, well it was slow paced, it was about them as people and about them as individuals from different classes and positions and how unlikely their relationship could be. Nothing is admitted by them, verbally, until close to the end, and I've felt the romance was sweet and full of longing, things I tend to enjoy in novels. 

I think the end of the book, however, was a massive letdown. The romance ends in a HFN situation and yes, I'd have preferred something more solid but that aside, to me the book felt something was missing at the very end. The last scene ends up in a way that felt very abrupt to me and I wondered if some pages were missing or something... I think the author could have wrapped up the story with the same intention but in a better way.

In terms of fantasy novels, perhaps this was not the very best for me, but it did fit many of the elements I usually prefer seeing in the genre. I also liked the romance but the end disappointed me a little.

Grade: 7/10