A Taste of Gold and Iron

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Sexual tension overload! One of my favorite reads of the year."—Katee Robert, USA Today and New York Times bestselling author And by the end of the book Prince Kadou seems to have learned precisely nothing: he began the book getting into trouble (and indirectly causing deaths) largely because he decided to keep secrets from his sister the Sultan & caused his loyal retainers to have divided loyalties; he ends the book once more keeping a secret from his sister the Sultan, & causing his retainers to have divided loyalties. Like. Babe. No. The politics and ethics of power and fealty are a big theme in this book and the Kadou/Evemer dynamic hinges less on class than oaths, obedience and a hair washing scene that would make Charles Boyle sweat.”— Geeky Inc The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. He’d confided his fears to Tadek—another of the kahyalar, who he had known for some time, and who he had once been … close to. Tadek, who was so easy to talk to, even about matters Kadou barely dared to whisper aloud to anyone else.

Idk - I feel like The Sleuth Of The Ming Dynasty did better by this plot, and it was only dealt with for a handful of episodes. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style. The author tried hard to make the prose lyrical. But it felt rather stoic and monotonous to me. The prose had a regal vibes to it which really suited the story. However, I myself as a reader felt quite lost if not a little annoyed while reading it. All in, the book wasn't accessible or easy to get into.

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Kadou's coping with anxiety and personal growth are a joy to watch as he fully embraces his talents and comes out of his shell with the help of Evemer, his bodyguard. The slow-burn romance between them is beautifully done and adds a thrilling element to the story that readers will savor.”— Booklist A Taste of Gold and Iron" was, in every sense, what a good political fantasy should be. Scenes including political turmoil outnumbered the romantic scenes. So, you can imagine..this book was heavy with court politics, treachery, betrayal and tactical negotiations. The political intrigue was surprisingly enjoyable. I don't like political fantasy novels that much. But the political discussions in this book were easy to understand and I thoroughly enjoyed them. The action sequences were great. I liked how the main characters were being thrust into forced proximity whenever a conflict appeared. Both of them, Kadou and Evemer, pretended that all of it was fake and out of necessity but they secretly waited for such opportunities. Opportunities when they could be together however they wanted without any obligations to follow by the ruled. Moments when they could express their hearts' desires; even if it was under disguises and pretense. Kadou and Evemer were loving it all. And me? I was busy trying not to melt into puddle... Kadou is the Prince of Arasht, and after a situation occures in which he barely escapes being sent off to the countryside by his sister the Sultan, he's assigned a new bodyguard. Evemer has recently graduated with top marks. He's the perfect no-nonsense and stoic guard. On the romance front, I don’t even consider this a slow burn, because there was no burn. It goes from nothing to instalust to dithering to instalove.

If you’re approaching it with full fanfic brain engaged, viewing the plot as essentially a framing device for the romance and basically sitting with your mouth open waiting to be fed delicious tropes, you will probably adore this: this baby can contain SO MUCH yearning and pining and intimacy, so many “oh my god, there was only one bed!” type moments and sacrifice and fealty and snuggling and all that good stuff. And I THOUGHT that was the mindset I was reading with, but apparently I was wrong, because while I enjoyed it a lot in the moment, when I reached the end I found myself disappointed that Rowland didn’t care more about the plotty stuff, or about consistent characterisation. Of course, peace and relief were a luxury that not even princes could easily afford for more than a moment or two: Princess Eyne’s birth was followed by days of celebration—for the court, for the people of the capital and the rest of the kingdom, for the hundreds of kahyalar who served throughout the palace and the government with loyalty and devotion. With his sister the sultan indisposed (and gleefully taking advantage of her own opportunity for some peace), the duties of representing House Mahisti to the populace naturally fell to Kadou, as did a greater than usual proportion of the daily concerns of the realm—a very alarming break-in at the Shipbuilder’s Guild on the night of the birth itself; a wealthy merchant from Oissos caught committing one of the most blasphemous crimes Kadou could conceive of, several days later; a number of perplexing tantrums thrown by Siranos, the body-father of the new princess (which Kadou’s already shaky nerves found as upsetting and alarming on a personal level as the former two catastrophes were on a larger scale) … All these added up to a solid whirlwind week during which time Kadou barely had a chance to breathe, let alone hold his new niece for more than a minute or two the morning after she was born. Overall, while there are elements within the whole that could be worth a recommend, I would definitely hesitate to encourage anyone give it a try who wasn't already going to. I arranged it, didn’t I?” she replied dryly, shifting Eyne a bit so she could free a hand to wave Kadou over. “Come here, I said. The rest of you are dismissed, thank you.”

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Nine eight six. Nine hundred and eighty-six parts pure gold out of every thousand, he knew now, a fineness that had been set hundreds of years before and had never once changed, not for generations, not for dynasties. He still had that altın somewhere, and even now, part of the signature for coin gold as he experienced it—proper coins, that is, genuine ones—was the clear, bell-like chime of a hammer striking a die.