The Iron Hunt is a good book with a fascinating main character and several good supporting characters. While it’s superficially similar to the “WoD knockoff” books that I’ve been burning out on, several interesting twists are made to the setting and characters that keep it from being a playground of wizards, werewolves, and vampires. I found this via Scalzi’s Big Idea piece by her.
The biggest element keeping everything together is that there aren’t dozens of splats. The foes are demons, though they aren’t ‘traditional’ demons with red skin and pitchforks. They are very alien like, though possession is the heart of their power and influence.
Maxine Kiss is a solid, conflicted character, with a huge responsibility thrown at her. She’s the last of her bloodline and is the “jailer” of the demons. In ancient days, pacts were made with some demons that have served her family for generations…
The book has an open ending, so I expect to see other books in the series later. This book is relatively complete despite that open ending, with several other interesting elements. I like the debate over salvation, whether the demons can be reformed at all. The nature of the prison is interesting, though its scale makes it very difficult to convey.
Despite a few glitches, I really liked the book. I look forward to the next.