Book Review – Master of Iron

Master of Iron by Tricia Levenseller is the second of two books in the Bladesmith duology. I reviewed the first book, Blade of Secrets, here. This is also one of the books I had picked up at New York Comic-Con 2022.

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Here is the blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.


This book continued the story from Blade of Secrets and launches a new crisis where a power-hungry prince takes both Ziva and Kellyn captive and forces Ziva to create magical weapons for his growing army. The action in this book didn’t move as quickly as in Blade of Secrets and I had a harder time getting through it. Some of the plot felt too contrived to me.

The romance also felt like it stagnated, and despite Ziva and Kellyn being thrown together for so much of this book, Ziva’s lack of perception about their relationship made this a frustrating read. So overall, I didn’t like this second book as much as the first, but it did come to an exciting conclusion.

I feel like I’m seeing more duologies out there than I used to. Do you think that this is a good length for a story? Should they generally be combined into a single novel? Or could authors add more depth and get a trilogy out of it? Let me know in the comments (above).

Read more of my reviews here.

Book Review – Blade of Secrets

I had picked up Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller at New York Comic-Con a few months ago because I enjoyed reading one of the her previous books – Warrior of the Wild. This book was the first of two in the Bladesmith fantasy/romance duology series.

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Here is the blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power.

Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims’ secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely.


This was an easy and fun read and moved quickly. Ziva was quickly established as a sympathetic protagonist because she suffers from pretty significant social anxiety and is only truly comfortable around her sister, Temra. Of course the story pushes her out from the comfort of her home and on a journey with her sister and two strangers.

The plot evolves and Ziva struggles to deal with new friends and family, only to be betrayed. The antagonist is relentless, but also holds some secrets that complicate everything. On top of that, Ziva wants to deny to her attraction to the handsome and irritating mercenary, Kellyn. He is only accompanying them for pay, after all.

This is not a complete story, so if you read this novel you will need to be prepared continue on to the second book, Master of Iron, to finish the tale. I will have a review of that one up next!

Have you read any of Tricia Levelseller’s books? Let me know in the comments (above).

Find more of my reviews here.

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