"City of Iron and Dust" by J.P. Oakes presents a fascinating and fresh concept within the fantasy genre, where the typically almighty and powerful fae are portrayed as oppressed. This unique take on faerie folklore in a contemporary urban fantasy setting intrigued many readers. The world-building and premise impressed, offering a richly detailed backdrop.

However, while the novel's core idea had potential, some readers found the story overly crowded and unfocused. The book delves into a plethora of details and actions, narrated from multiple points of view, making it challenging to follow. The abundance of ideas, some of which didn't contribute to the main plot, left the narrative feeling cluttered.

Additionally, the characters themselves were seen as somewhat generic and lacking depth. The numerous perspectives made it challenging for readers to form a strong connection with any particular character. Simplifying the character roster might have allowed readers to invest more deeply in the ones that remained, creating a more significant impact.

The pace of the story did not suit everyone's taste, and the frequent timeline switches between different periods left some readers feeling confused. Despite the potential and the intriguing elements within the story, the overcrowded plot hindered its ability to truly stand out among debut works.

The novel's strong points included a well-constructed world that blended technology and magic effectively, a unique setting in a gritty urban landscape, and a well-maintained steampunky vibe. The dark secrets, mysteries, and the clash between technology and magic kept readers engaged and curious about the outcome.

Overall, "City of Iron and Dust" offers a fresh perspective within the fantasy genre but struggles with the execution of its multitude of ideas and characters. It's a book with potential but may require some refining to fully realize its strengths.

a society of oppressed Fae plot and attempt to overthrow their Goblin overlords,
this is a contemporary urban fantasy approach infused with faerie folklore, a gritty little story that was somewhat strangely paced. I found it captivating in parts and then struggled to keep my attention in others, but considering this is a debut author, I will forgive.
that being said, in the best parts it gave a richly detailed world, where the clash of technology and magic creates a unique backdrop, diverse characters with lives that twist into each others. I loved the city it was set in with its dirty grubby streets and alleyways.
The blend of technology and magic was well done, and the mysteries kept my wanting to find out what would be the outcome, together with the dark secrets awas a wonderful steampunky vibe.

Great concept and stellar world building. And ok goblins are my jam so points for that too. It’s a fast paced ensemble piece with lots to like. Unfortunately I just didn’t really gel with any of the characters. That said, it’s worth reading for the world building alone and I did still enjoy it.

I liked this book idea that the faes are oppressed when we always get stories they are ultimate races. As debut books this one have alot potential to become unique fantasy. Personally I love the worldbuilding and the premise so much.
But this book feel too busy, crowded in every aspects for me. The story is rich with details and actions, being told with multiple pov that make this story feel unfocused. Too much going on and overload with ideas that not contributed to the main plot. The characters is self seems generic and lack depth. Maybe keep it fewer will allow readers to invest their time more to connected with their favorite characters deeply without struggled to barely remember them all. The pace is not my favorite and the timeline often switching between periods kinda confusing. All the goodies in there but keep focus will make this book standout among debut.

Thank you Netgalley and Titan Books publishing for letting me enjoy this copy.

This book was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I was never bored.

The premise of this book is what intrigued me so much and oh boy, I was not disappointed. It was so clever to have the events of this book take place in just one day. It made the stakes incredibly high and made the book fast paced and super fun.

All of this worked so well, because of the amazing world-building and all of the information we got beforehand. We saw how the fae are being treated by the goblins after the goblins conquered the fae and how their mistreated of the fae slowly but surely built to this uprising.

The cast of characters were fantastic too. The author made sure to have at least one character from every side of the story that lead to having an incredibly nuanced story. And better yet, I enjoyed reading from every POV and that rarely happens.

The fact that this book is the authors debut is super impressive and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

No matter how many times I tried to read this book, I couldn't get into it. I had a hard time with the writing style that I found laborious with its numerous repetitions and its re-use of the names/pronouns just after writing them.
I felt, as a reader, that the author wanted to be so sure I would get his intentions thay he had to explain it to me... Plus, it was as though the author tried too hard to be witty. As a result, I wasn't interested in the characters and only felt detachment (and the protagonists are super important to me. They have to be well developed.)

It's a pity because the premise was original!

This was everything I was hoping for and so much more. I'm so glad I picked this up, and definitely one that I would recommend.

I don't know what it was about this book that didn't gel with me, but I just wasn't interested. I think there is definitely an audience out there for this book, but it wasn't a book that I enjoyed overall. The writing itself was really good and the characters were interesting but, yea... not sure why I didn't like it

The writing was engaging and witty. The world was intriguing. It has technology and magic at the same time!

Fast-paced, action-packed, and a plot that will unfold in one night?! Sign me up! Will definitely watch out for more books that J.P. Oakes will publish!

This book has a lot of things going for it. It's got a cool setting and an interesting premise. It’s got a very diverse set of characters, none of whom are really “good” or “evil” in the traditional sense (though certainly some are better people than others). It’s set over a short period of time - literally a single night - which is a thing I’ve come to realize I really love. I didn’t end up enjoying it quite as much as I expected I would, but it’s still a good, fun read.

The premise here is that, a generation prior to the book, the goblins conquered the fae after centuries of being subjugated by them. The fae are not *quite* slaves, but they only just miss the mark. Their lives are absolutely dominated by the goblins. The fae population all live in the Iron City, which the goblins built after their conquest. The entire city is surrounded by a thick wall of iron, keeping the fae trapped and cutting them off from the natural world and, by extension, their magic.

The book is about an uprising. It’s not the first by any stretch, though all the ones so far have been swiftly and brutally crushed by the goblins. There are a lot of elements at play here, though.

The center of the book is a narcotic known as Dust. When on Dust, the fae regain access to their magic. They can make flowers grow, healers can use their powers to fix injuries, and (of particular interest to the rebels) they can use their magic for war. Dust is, however, a narcotic; taking enough to do anything of significance has serious consequences, and the tenements of the Iron City are filled with junkies in search of that next magical high.

The rebellion hopes this uprising will be different, thanks to the massive amount of Dust they’ve smuggled into the city. Enough that, if a fae were willing to sacrifice themself, could be used to annihilate the goblins. This block of Dust is the center of the story: most of the action is driven by the efforts of all sides in the conflict to gain control of it.

The cast of POV characters include: a low-level Dust dealer who has seen his parents destroyed by their addiction; his artist brother, who hopes to inspire change in the Iron City through his work; assorted young revolutionaries, who reluctantly interrupt their arguments about theory to fight goblins; the organizers of the rebellion; a goblin princess, who sincerely wants to make things better for everyone; her half-goblin-half-fae bodyguard, who both sides see as alien; and the elderly dowager of one of the goblin houses, determined to return to the center of power.

This entire book has the feel of both a noir film and *Les Miserables*. The parallels of Dust to heroin (or other drug of choice) are obvious; several of the characters want it simply because that much pure Dust is worth a whole, whole lot of money. Oakes does a good job of telling out the story, gradually spinning out the layers and layers of the tale and gradually letting the reader find out all the intricacies of the assorted plots as they unfold. There’s violence, people die, and the ending is ultimately a satisfying one. It’s standalone, though the world has room for a sequel if Oakes wants to make one. Overall, though, I hope he resists that temptation; I’d rather leave things wrapped up where they are.

This is Oakes’ debut, and I’m interested to see what comes out next.

Thanks to NetGalley, Titan Books and the author for providing this ARC!

Ooh I was not sure what to expect with this book but I really loved it. A gritty, fast-paced story taking place over one dramatic night, this book was thick with tension and the stakes were sky high. The different POVs from both sides of the war being fought between fae and goblins were so cleverly done and the writing was smart and witty and the chapter titles were a bit of a highlight. The world-building was excellent, and the backstory of the Iron City was woven seamlessly into the story. It did take me a little while to keep up with all the characters and how they related to each other, but once I got them all straight in my mind this was a great read!

Short Version: A jam packed book that is more than just a Goblins V Fae story.

Long version:

The Plot: The plot of this book is fantastic, it crams so many elements in. We’ve got; evil oppressors, a rebellion of the oppressed, political shenanigans, a heist, betrayals, back stabbing, drugs, poverty, art and love. The author weaves all of these things together really well so it never feels like it’s too much and all the elements get the right amount of attention.

The very early scenes suggest a comedy farce with a package changing hands and constantly being lost but it settles very quickly into something quite serious and dark. While the plot is entertaining, and for me is what everything else hangs off, it does deal with some pretty dark elements. Even just looking at the poverty and addiction elements, for me they are depicted realistically and handled sensitively, being critical elements of the plot they are neither belaboured nor glamorised which is an impressive line to walk.

The Setting: The setting is as much a part of the story as the characters and the plot and I love that in a book. I think that having the fae physically unable to leave the city they are prisoners in (and that is killing them) is genius, it adds that little bit more complexity around decisions and reasoning.

The Characters: The characters throughout this book are brilliant, I fully expect Goblins to be petty and spiteful even if they are the ones in charge and that is exactly what JP gave me. Although I liked the fae characters, I liked the gobbos more. Their society set up and friction between different groups was superb.

The Prose: Nice flow with good rhythm.

The Pace: Faster and lighter than you would expect given the sheer volume of stuff and detail that is covered.

Who would love this? Anyone looking to dip their toes into Grimdark and anyone who likes their fantasy to be a little bit different will love this.

The blurb was appealing to me, yet I did not enjoy the book as much as I was expecting. Unpopular opinion but the story wasn't remotely page-turner or exciting. The introduction to all characters was brief and quick, made it hard for me to connect to the plot. which could highly likely be the reason I didn't enjoy the story altogether.

This was, sadly, not the right book for me. I loved the chapters' titles, they were funny and brilliant. And I enjoyed the writing. But I need to feel the characters, to be drawn by them, and this was not the case. Sil was an amazing character, she was a surprise, even if she suffered so much!! But all the others weren't the right one for me, even if in the beginning I quite enjoyed Granny Spreggan.
It was too dark, and too fragmented and nightamrish for my tastes, sadly!

2.5 stars

Most of the reviews for this book are 4 stars reviews, and I completely understand why. I do believe that this is a very good book, but it is not a book for me.

I will start by saying that the author’s writing style is a little different from what I’m used to, but I really liked it. I am not sure if I would categorize this as a fantasy or an urban fantasy... It does happen in a fictive world, but they do have cars, microwaves, and other modern technologies, so I am not really sure...

The idea that the faes are oppressed is already a fresh and new concept since we are used to faes being almighty, and super strong. 50 years ago, the goblins won the war and now the faes are forced to live in iron cities that cut off their magic. They are poor, work in mines or lines of construction, and their lifespan is shortened now that they can't access their magic and live in poverty. Many are addicted to Dust, a drug that gives them the impression to be in communion with nature again for a brief moment, and many are also becoming restless, and wish for a change.

The world-building is well done and the ideas are good, but I would still have liked to have more details about the two sides of the rebellion: their strengths, their beliefs, their struggles, their revendications… That kind of information.

I also have to say that I didn’t enjoy this story as much as I could have because of the characters. I honestly didn’t care about a single character in this book. We follow 8 “main characters” in this book, and each one of them has its own chapters. I find that they had no depth, and were not really likable (in their defense they were not un-likable too, they were just bland). The fact that everything happens over one single night does not give us much time to get to know the characters either, and there is obviously no real character development.

The plot is complex enough to be interesting, but at the same time, there were many things going on at the same time, some of them did not seem that necessary or useful to the plot. There is a fae uprising, some powerful goblin families are scheming against each other, and a drug dealer is trying to make one huge deal so he can start a new and better life… And those are only the main plotlines, there are also many smaller events happening to each set of characters. Because of these “extras” happening, it created moments where the pace dragged on a little, and sometimes it felt a little all over the place. That being said, it is still what I would describe as a medium/quick read.

Sadly, I did not enjoy this novel that much, but I can see why it has so many great reviews, and I do think that this was mostly a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”.

I was given a free copy of City of Iron and Dust by J.P. Oakes (author), Titan Books (publisher) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize City of Iron and Dust an urban fantasy featuring fae beings such as pixies, sprites, dryads, kobolds, and goblins.

The world building for this story is a strength. The story takes place over one night in a city that has a large iron gate surrounding the city and features a struggle between the subservient fae beings and goblins who are in positions of power and privilege. The story takes place in what appears to be modern times because the characters use guns, drive cars, and dance at nightclubs. The city is large and depicts parts to be very rundown and poor where the fae beings live and well-kept, secure, and orderly where the goblins live.

The backstory of City of Iron and Dust is there was a war between the goblins and fae beings a long time ago, and the goblins were the victors and spoils go to the victors. The goblins build a large iron gate around the city which had a negative impact on the fae beings and their access to magic. As a result, the fae beings suffer significant health problems.

During the night that this story takes place, a number of events happen including a fae uprising, goblin families are at war with each other, and a small-time crook is trying to make one last score so he could get out from under his tough and rough life to make a new start.

The beginning of the story captured my interest due to some of the characters and situations were introduced such as the small-time crook trying to make one last score and the goblin grandmother who is trying to take control of her family from her daughter by instigating a war with other goblin families.

My problem with this story started to appear after I realized that each chapter is comprised of short scenes featuring a few characters, but not a main character. It was difficult for me to get invested in this story because I thought the short scenes prevented me from really knowing and understanding the characters and their motivations. I think I would have preferred if Mr. Oakes would have featured less plot points and expanded and fleshed them out. I believe it would have meant less characters, but they would have been more developed and three-dimensional. While I read the story, I could not connect with any of the characters because they appeared to be two-dimensional and served the story as opposed to the story serving the characters.

I wanted to like City of Iron and Dust because it has an interesting premise and backstory, but I did not because I did not like the execution.

I read sixty-two percent of the story before I stopped because I was not engaged in the story or any of its characters.

I rate City of Iron and Dust 2 stars.

I would like to thank J.P. Oakes, Titan Books, and Netgalley for the free ARC.

I knew I'm gonna enjoy 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒖𝒔𝒕 by J.P Oakes upon reading the first chapter's title: "Three A******s Walk Into a Bar"

𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒖𝒔𝒕 is like a high fueled car, the action and fighting never stops! The writing was engaging and witty. The world was intriguing. It has technology and magic at the same time!

Fast-paced, action-packed, and a plot that will unfold in one night?! Sign me up! Will definitely watch out for more books that J.P. Oakes will publish 🤩

City of Iron and Dust by J.P. Oakes is a great dark and gritty fantasy debut. Although the blurb sounded cool, I didn't really have strong expectations for this either way so this was quite a pleasant surprise. It's a contemporary noir-ish fairytale with goblins and the fae in a modern urban setting with just the perfect dash of humor. This combination really worked for me as did the political intrigue, fast pace, the action, and multiple and distinct POVs. Overall, this is well worth your time, especially if you like The Carter Archives by Dan Stout. This debut deserves a lot of love and I can't wait to read more from J.P. Oakes in the future.

Allegories are fiddly things, to be useful the reader has to be able to decipher them, but to be narratively interesting they can't be too obvious. Equally an allegory can get so broad to be meaningless - I understand that the X-Men may be a substitute for all discriminated people but if you are - say - Jean Grey and can pass and have awesome superpowers too I am not sure how much that really resonates with the black communities of the American South. The City Of Iron And Dust presses its allegory accelerator to the floor in Chapter One and keeps it there happily through the book, but gets away with it mainly because of its breathless snapshot of a night. Oh, and this is a fantasy with no humans in it.

So we are in the City Of Iron (the Dust in question is a drug), which is ruled by Goblins. The city is full of other fae (a word that usually makes me run for the hills), Dryads, and Dyads, and Pixies and various mixes of them, and indeed Goblins, but any non-gob is is exploited and very much an underclass. There isn't really any magic any more, and the technological level is cars and fixed telephones - it felt quite sixties or seventies or even noir to me. And it rolls like a slice of life underworld crime novel, there is a power struggle between the ruling Houses, the rebellious heir of House Red is targeted for assassination and lost in the streets of the city with only her half pixie half sister bodyguard. At the same time a political demonstration turns into a riot and into a potential revolution and a big bag of the drug Dust (which can stimulate latent magic in fae) is bouncing around like a big old McGuffin. There were a few too many strands for my liking to start off with, and Oakes is not shy about picking up and dropping (and/or killing) viewpoint characters at will. But it does all come together and the combination of crime, politics, art and coming of age did end up working for me.

Its not perfect, the jokey chapter headings felt unnecessary, and I am not sure if the last plot reveal really worked for me. But i think the book plays a relatively straight bat with its allegory, the coming of age character Jag moves from idealistic and naive to idealistic and aware of her position in the systemic discrimination. Equally the revolutionary's own naivety and propensity to split felt well observed. It does use its fantasy but not really setting to dodge and elide real world questions which would complicate it, and whilst I don't think it quite reached the levels of The Goblin Emperor in worldbuilding political savvy, it does replace it with the chaos of a roots up revolution which I hadn't seen done before. So a little rough and ready in places, but it worked where it mattered and I would be interested to see more from this author (and whilst this felt appropriately self contained, maybe this world).

☆☆☆☆ /5

Ce roman était tout simplement époustouflant ! L’auteur m’a complètement emportée dans son récit sombre et épic.
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Iron City est une prison, un labyrinthe, un fléau industriel. C'est le résultat d'une guerre qui a vu les Gobelins broyer les Fae sous leurs talons de bottes collectifs. Et ce soir, c'est aussi une ville qui bouillonne de vie. Ce soir, un jeune fae essaie de faire fortune via des affaires de drogue ; une princesse gobelin cherche un chemin entre ses propres rêves et les attentes des autres ; son garde du corps décide qui tuer en premier ; un artiste cherche sa propre voix ; un vieux soldat commence une nouvelle révolution ; un jeune rebelle trouve de nouvelles façons de se battre ; et une vieille femme rêve de reprendre son pouvoir sur eux tous. Ce soir, toutes leurs histoires se confondent, enroulées autour d'un seul sac de Poussière -la seule drogue qui peut encore alimenter la magie des Faes- et leur destin changera Iron City pour toujours.
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Encore une fois, on reste dans un schéma plutôt classique du roman choral dans le genre de la fantasy. Et encore une fois, j’ai adoré. Lorsque les histoires regorgent de beaucoup de personnages, qui ont un fort potentiel d’évolution, ce sont dans les romans choraux qu’ils s’épanouissent et le lecteur avec.
En alternant les points de vue, on découvre vraiment des personnages haut en couleur. Entre la grand-mère qui a soif de pouvoir, la princesse gobelin qui se cherche, le jeune fae un peu naïf qui essaye de se faire de l’argent et bien d’autres… Je dois dire qu’ils m’ont fait ressentir la sensation d’un vent de fraîcheur et j’ai bien aimé apprendre à les connaître. Ils sont tous différents, n’ont pas le même passé, ni le même futur et pour leur destin à chacun est lié. Chacun de leurs gestes, de leurs actions, de leurs paroles vont influencer la vie à Iron City. L’effet n’est pas forcément immédiat mais en tout cas, rien n’est perdu. Tout a des conséquences.
L’auteur nous plonge dans un univers plutôt sombre entre guerre et oppression. Malgré cela, l’auteur allège son histoire en évoquant l’espoir, l’optimisme d’un monde meilleur. Je dois dire que j’ai beaucoup souri durant ma lecture, mais j’ai également senti mon cœur se déchirer lors des moments plus difficiles. Aussi, j’ai énormément aimé le fait qu’il y avait beaucoup de diversité au niveau des espèces. J’étais quelques fois perdus mais j’ai découvert des êtres différents autant dans leur race que dans leur personnalité.
D’ailleurs, en plus d’avoir apprécié le fond de ce texte, j’ai apprécié la forme aussi ! Je dois dire que les titres de chapitres m’ont parfois fait rire et l’auteur sait user de son humour. En tout cas, je recommande cette lecture pour ceux qui aiment la dark-fantasy et qui lisent en anglais !

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ENGLISH REVIEW:

This book was simply breathtaking! I really loved this dark and epic story!
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The Iron City is a prison, a maze, an industrial blight. It is the result of a war that saw the Goblins grind the Fae beneath their collective boot heels. And tonight, it is also a city that churns with life. Tonight, a young fae is trying to make his fortune one drug deal at a time; a goblin princess is searching for a path between her own dreams and others' expectations; her bodyguard is deciding who to kill first; an artist is hunting for his own voice; an old soldier is starting a new revolution; a young rebel is finding fresh ways to fight; and an old woman is dreaming of reclaiming her power over them all. Tonight, all their stories are twisting together, wrapped up around a single bag of Dust--the only drug that can still fuel Fae magic--and its fate and theirs will change the Iron City forever.
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Once again, we remain in a rather classic scheme of choral book in the genre of fantasy. And once again, I loved it. When the stories are filled with many characters, who have a great potential for evolution, it.s in choral books that they flourish and the reader along with them.
By alternating points of view, we really discover colorful characters. Between the grandmother who thirsts for power, the goblin princess who seeks herself, the young, and naive fae who tries to make money and many others… I must say that they made me feel the feeling of a breeze of freshness and I enjoyed getting to know them. They are all different, they don’t have the same past or the same future but their fates are linked. Each of their gestures, their actions, their words will influence life in Iron City. The effect isn’t necessarily immediate, but in any case, nothing is lost. Everything has consequences.
The author plunges us into a rather dark universe between war and oppression. Despite this, the author lightens his story by evoking hope, optimism for a better world. I have to say that I smiled a lot during my reading, but I also felt my heart tear during the more difficult times. Moreover, I really liked the fact that there was a lot of diversity at the species level. I was lost a few times but I discovered different people as much in their race as in their personality.
Besides, in addition to appreciating the content of this text, I liked the form too! I must say that the chapter titles have sometimes made me laugh and the author knows how to use his humor. In any case, I recommend this reading for those who like dark-fantasy!