I recently picked up For Steam and Country, the first in a series of young-adult (YA) novels, “The Adventures of Baron von Monocle” by Jon Del Arroz. I enjoyed it and have decided to move on to the second and third novels, and also read the short stories that fit in between that were included in the fifth volume.
This is a popular YA/steampunk series, which is a genre I didn’t know existed. It is also part of a loose group of works being called “Iron Age,” similar to the platinum, gold, silver, and bronze age of comics. I don’t know a lot about this Iron Age movement, but many of the works I’ve seen overlap, in my opinion, with New Pulp. I see sword-and-sorcery works, traditional action/adventure stories, and the like.
The series is set on an alternate world whose highest tech is steam. This means they have steam-powered horseless carriages and steam-powered airships, these being heavier-than-air vehicles with large rotating turbines that somehow are able to fly. Weapons are mainly swords, guns (I think at best semi-automatics), and cannons.
I had wished there was a map included in the books. Though there is one in the third one, it’s hard to read, as these help me place in my mind the world we are in. There is a website of this world with maps and further info that helped me better understand and appreciate things, as I really don’t want the characters to do a huge data dump on us in the story.
We learn that most of the action is on the continent of Areth, more precisely the Rislandian peninsula, which is divided by two nations. One is the “good guy” nation of the Rislandian Kingdom, under the fair rule of King Malaky XVI. The other is the expansionist Wyranth Empire, under the rule of the mysterious Iron Emperor, who are our bad guys.
We learn that Rislandia was founded by people who left the Areth Empire to the north of them, and there is a connection between the two rival nations. As these are young adult works, there should be no problem with politics being simple like this.
For these works, based on the chronology we get, I read them in this suggested order:
- For Steam and Country (novel #1)
- “Knight Training” (in volume #5, as The Steam Knight)
- The Blood of Giants (novel #2)
- The Fight for Rislandia (novel #3)
- “Guard Training” (in volume #5)
- “Hazing” (in volume #5)
- “Spy Training” (in volume #5)
After that, I’ll move on to novel #4, which is Iron Wedding. Later I’ll get novel #5, which is volume #6, The Crystal Conspiracy.
We were introduced to many of these characters in the first novel. Our main heroine is Baron Zaira von Monacle, who owns and commands the airship Liliana. Yes, she is now a baron (properly a baroness). Her father and new stepmom are around. There is also James Gentry, Zaira’s childhood friend and now a Knight (in training). Sadly, his family was killed in the first novel.
Other characters include the crewmen of the Liliana, the other Knights of the Crystal Spire, the rulers of Rislandia and Wyranth, all of whom we learn more about in these stories.
“Knight Training” focuses on James and his training as an apprentice knight. As he has shown such promise in the prior novel, this has led to jealousy of the other apprentices. He works to prepare himself for a tournament, only to get involved with the matter of a spy within the capital, one of whom may be a knight. Along the way, he is injured and isn’t able to compete, but is able to be involved with stopping the spy. We get to better learn who James is here and see that he’s not invulnerable or infallible.
The Kingdom of Rislandia is dealing with incursions from Wyranth in The Blood of Giants. And Zaira is slowly getting used to now being the captain of her own airship as well. She also learns that the incursions are due to a drug the Wyranths have been using on their soldiers. The source is no more, as seen in the first novel, and it’s affecting them. But the only possible source for a cure would be to cross the ocean to the continent of Zenway where the legendary giants came from. Her father had traveled there before she was born. Can Zaira lead a successful expedition there while her people defend themselves from Wyranth? What will she find on that faraway land? And what will she find when she does return?
Each chapter is headed with an excerpt from the first Baron’s trip as Zaira and her crew meet a village in the jungle that the Baron helped, crash in the vast desert, meet a wizard, and fight and deal with a strange race called Nightmen. All before they return.
The ongoing invasion of Rislandia is the focus of The Fight for Rislandia after Zaira’s return. This novel starts right after the end of the prior one. If things looked bad in the prior one, it’s worse. Then Wranth soldiers were being affected by drug withdrawals. Now it seems they have a new source of the serum. So not only do Zaira and her airship have to help fight them off, but also see if they can find this new source and stop it. And can the cure for the withdrawals work as a counter-agent to the serum itself? That remains to be seen. And things get so bad that the royal family and others are evacuated from the city. Others will later have to flee. It will remain to be seen how things go forward after this one, as you see what happens in the end.
“Guard Training” again focuses on James, as is set within the time of the third novel. Here he is helping guard the royal family of Rislandia at their retreat at “Kings Retreat” near the Oler Mountains. He is able to stop some dangerous spies as well as another traitor. And things change in his relationship.
In “Hazing,” we witness an important event in James’ progression as a Knight of the Crystal Spire.
And in “Spy Training,” we see James on a special mission into Wyranth-held territory that includes an encounter with some bizarre creatures. He’s now a journeyman knight. I wonder when he will move to the next level as a full knight?
As I noted in my prior review, since this is a young adult series, our stories focus on our young heroes Zaira (in the main novels) and James (in the short stories). They are both learning their place in the world and learning to make the right decisions. Neither are perfect, and nor should they be expected to.
In too many young adult series, especially ones with female protagonists, the writers turn the characters into unrealistic caricatures. Zaira is thankfully neither a “Mary Sue” nor a “girl boss,” but a young woman with doubts and uncertainties to overcome. And who sometimes has to seek out advise from those older and more experienced. James, too, has to learn and grow as a knight. He’s not the “chosen one” to be immediately elevated to a master knight. Both get hurt, sometimes seriously to the point that it can be days before they are back up.
And it’s interesting to see their relationships. Zaira and James are like a lot of young people, who are expected by others to grow up and marry, but while they do become close, instead get involved with others. I think that makes a more realistic storyline. And it will be another fun aspect of the series, though I wonder about the complications of Zaira’s relationships.
All the covers of the series are nice. It appears they are using a model for most of the covers to represent Zaira. I hope they are able to continue with this with future covers.
I look forward to the next novels in the series and look forward to what may come. Check this series out if you haven’t already. We have two novels already out I hope to read soon.
