In Caitlin Kittredge’s The Iron Thorn, Aoife Grayson grows up as a ward to Lovecraft, a steampunk city in an alternate version of the American 1950s. The world is a bleak one. The necrovirus, a disease that drives people mad or transforms them into horrific creatures such as ghouls and nightjars, ravages the countryside, leaving the totalitarian Lovecraft one of the few safe havens against the epidemic. Inside the city the Proctors maintain order against all things that they deem Heretical, including magic and witchcraft. Aoife is misfortunate to have a family history of insanity, both her brother and mother falling to it on their sixteenth birthdays. As the book begins, Aoife’s own sixteenth birthday swiftly approaches, her status as a ward to the state threatening to send her to an ill-reputed experimental facility should she herself go mad. Life is an ominous waiting game until one day she receives a letter from Conrad, her fugitive brother, reading:

Find the witch’s alphabet.

Save yourself.

What follows is a journey of danger and mystery as Aoife, her best friend Cal, and their elusive guide, Dean Harrison, race into a world of Heretics and horrors against time and the Proctors to find out what happened to Conrad. What they discover about not only about the Grayson family, but also about the necrovirus has the potential to figuratively and literally tear the world asunder.

There are a number of things that impress me about this book. The first of which is the author’s masterful skill in creating suspense through imagery involving all the senses. It is very easy to put oneself into the disturbing, yet also fascinating atmosphere of each scene. Kittredge’s style, in a sense, works the plot arcs and setting with each other, winding tension further and further before finally setting off one reaction after another like an elaborate mousetrap.

The author also manages to effectively blend magic and technology in accordance to her theme of trying to find balance between reason and madness, the mechanical sensibility and the imagination. Aoife constantly questions her sanity as she discovers more about the necrovirus, and about her family’s past. Kittredge’s usage of folklore illustrates a metaphorical and literal war between the old and modern world, where in one attempting to dominate the other only results in disaster. She also does well in personifying these two sides in the villains: Tremaine—the calculating member of the Fair Folk, and Draven, the Superintendent of the Proctors so obsessed with keeping order that it has ironically driven him to insanity.

Some of world and story elements Kittredge comes up with are just plain cool. I will try not to give away any spoilers, but whether it’s for the living mechanical buildings, the ghost bridges, or simply for the shoggoth in the front yard, steampunk, horror, and fantasy fans will all find something to appreciate in this book. The only issue I do have about Kittredge’s world is that some of the references to H.P. Lovecraft are a little clunky and cheesy. I’m still wondering why this world would name a city after the author when there is hardly any mention of him at all in the story. Perhaps it will be clearer in the next book? Yes, I will go ahead and say that this book is the beginning of a series, simply so it won’t confuse you as much when the conflict doesn’t resolve fast enough before the last few chapters. I feel that the plot gets a bit rushed as soon as Aoife starts traversing between worlds. I understand the intention may be to keep the plot moving since this book is no small task to read at almost five hundred pages. However there are many moments towards this point in the story where I question how certain aspects and events are even possible since the cause behind them are a little underdeveloped. Once again, I hope these elements will be explained further in the next book.

The author presents some pretty strong and interesting characters throughout the story. I applaud her for holding Aoife true to her voice and character while developing her mindset naturally with the plot. As the main character Aoife is a breath of fresh air to YA lit as a practical-minded, level-headed female whose concerns differ from the typical teenage girl. There is romance still, mind you, but it takes a backseat to discovering the truth of her past and world. On a whole, it is nice to see another approach to the YA female, first person narrative. Kittredge is good at character development. That much is clear. However, I can also say that she is too good at it. She sets up minor characters to have a crucial stake in the story, but then leaves their involvement unresolved. While I hope to see these hooks elaborated in the next book, right now my assessment is that the author is yet to find a balance in development between the major characters and the “extras” so to speak.

Kittredge will also play tricks on you with her characters and usage of plot tropes. Yes, there are moments throughout the book where you will believe the author resorts to the dreaded cliché. However she more than makes up for it with plot twists that hardly anyone could see coming because she effectively uses the tropes as a misdirection to the reader as to what is really going on.

On a whole, I enjoyed this book. It is imaginative, suspenseful, thoroughly engaging, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. Though this novel is marketed for Young Adult audiences, I can honestly say that adults will find the story just as enjoyable. Kittredge does not only well in executing an entertaining, well-told story, but also in using the narrative to explore the conflict between reason and imagination so one can see that the least reasonable thing to do is force a separation between the two.

Catherine Barson is a contributor to the Steampunk Chronicle and a self-proclaimed nerd of many talents including costuming, belly dancing, and writing. You can follow her on Twitter, or on her writing blog: Writing Fiction With The Plot Junkie.