Under the Iron Sky was not what I was expecting at all. It’s an adult speculative fiction dystopia which left me with conflicting feelings. I liked the world building concept, but some things were a bit red flag-ish. Keep reading this book review of Under the Iron Sky for my full thoughts.
Summary
Vordell was beautiful once. Its people lived in harmony, and their civilization flourished as they learned to harness and control the power of Light.
Then the darkness came.
The Iron Sky unfolded dark clouds across the land, thick enough to choke out the light of the suns. The ground cracked, releasing vicious creatures that looked like humanity’s oldest fears. The Dar’rak—an enemy long believed to be buried and forgotten—returned to claim the world above.
Soraya Tollmere has spent most of her life on the front lines of the brutal war that followed. Now a high-ranking commander, she knows loss better than anyone.
By day, she leads troops across ruined landscapes and guides covert teams through enemy territory. By night, she meets with a Dar’rak defector who has kept humanity alive with his steady stream of secrets.
On a mission to investigate his latest lead—one that could turn the tide of the war—Soraya is captured by The Demon, the Dar’rak’s most feared soldier, his true identity unknown.
His orders are break the human commander, uncover where the humans are keeping a weapon that could win them the war, and bring it to the Dar’rak. But as he gets to know the fierce warrior, the lines between interrogator and enemy, prisoner and ally, begin to blur.
As devastating truths surface and loyalties shatter, Soraya must decide who to trust in a world where light is dying—and where her greatest enemy may be her only salvation.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Under the Iron Sky, but afterwards I fear I have to make a new rule. I am not into a relationship or a ‘trope’ where we torture the other person. I know that part of it is an enemies to lovers and they are truly enemies. But for me, it’s just something that felt like a big red flag and something that I, if the roles were reversed for me, do not think I could get over at all. Part of the dystopian world is that no one’s hands are clean as a major theme is wondering the differences between their sides. The blood on their hands, the guilt in war. We get snippets of his perspective and while it certainly adds a new layer, it didn’t redeem it enough for me.
Soraya is certainly the main draw as we get peeks into humanizing The Demon. With snippets of memories, I enjoyed the world foundations of Under the Iron Sky, but the romance, for me, was built on a premise I couldn’t really get behind. I’ll always support a speculative fiction mashup! Under the Iron Sky naturally examines being forced into a soldier, as a child to not understand the actions, or ethics, of war, but how does one escape when they begin to see? Under the Iron Sky explores the truth in true dystopian fashion.
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As we see the histories, wounds, and scars of the past, but also the ways that everything might not be what it seems. I am nothing if not predictable and am always drawn to that idea of a theme as well – especially if we have to question a forced religious belief which enforces silent obedience. Find Under the Iron Sky on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, Bookshop. org & Libro. fm.