Iron Night

Iron Night (2014) M.L. Brennan

This is the sequel to Generation V, and finds Fort (short for Fortitude (his mother is centuries old, so you’ll have to forgive his name)) working with his brother Chivalry (see aforementioned comment about their mother) checking up on the various creatures and beings who owe fealty to the Scott family.

While he’s still trying to hold down a shitty job and live on his own. And also get in shape and learn the basics of defending himself. (He did get the crap beat out of him in the last book, so he had plenty of motivation for the physical changes he is choosing to make.)

His sister Prudence (his mother chose poorly in naming her, seeing as how she seems to lack all Prudence) still seems to hate him, and doesn’t understand Fort at all–or why his mother has chosen to raise him as she has. (This is actually fascinating–how vampire babies are made.)

The dialog was sharp and enjoyable.

“They are very good at hiding, not unintelligent, and are good at disposing of bodies without leaving much evidence behind. It’s a fact of the world that those qualities can be very useful.”

I mean, this is wonderfully self-aware and snide:

“Being a waiter is not a career choice; it is a job-hunt default.”

And I continue to adore Suzume.

“Are you always hungry ?” Hosting Suzume was already proving to be a drain on my wallet, and I winced.
“I’m a fox, Fort. We’re opportunistic predators.”

I mean, really adore Suzume:

She lasted halfway through the movie (admittedly only that long because of the presence of both Sigourney Weaver and the badass female helicopter pilot) before changing into her fox form and spending the remainder of the film playing with a balled-up piece of paper.

Yeah, I totally have a crush on yet another trickster. Go figure.

Additionally, there are tons and TONS of nods to many different flavors of geekery.

For one awkward second, I realized that the only way Suzume could possibly look hotter to me was if she had a tattoo of the TARDIS on the middle of her lower back. I was profoundly grateful in that moment that the kitsune were unable to read minds.

The story is well done, the mystery is interesting, and I am fascinating by the changes Fort is going through, as he continues to become a full vampire.

All in all, good fun. (And it gets an extra half point for multiple Firefly references.)
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Roc

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