Review: Fans of Heart of Steel do not want to miss this continuation of Archimedes' and Yasmeen's stories!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2014
Tethered is a combination extended epilogue/after the happily ever after of Heart of Steel. It reads very well as a stand-alone novella, but obviously this book and review contains spoilers for Heart of Steel - so don't read further if you want to read Heart of Steel first.Archimedes Fox and Yasmeen Corsair are my favorite characters in the Iron Seas universe, and probably my very favorite thing about any of these books are Archimedes' letters to his sister, Zenobia, of which there are plenty here. These letters are always vastly entertaining, but this time they serve a new purpose: an entreaty for help. After selling the Leonardo da Vinci sketch for an astronomical amount Archimedes and Yasmeen are independently wealthy which makes them very able to pay a ransom (kidnapping and ransom is so common in the Iron Seas world that there's an unspoken and unbroken conduct for how they should be handled).When Zenobia is taken hostage it should be a simple matter of paying the fee and everyone going on their merry way. Unfortunately Zenobia has been taken by an old business associate of Archimedes, and he wants Yasmeen to fly her ship to the floating city of New Eden to free his brother. Unfortunately New Eden is run by a zealot and all ships and people brought into the city never get to leave. This leaves Archimedes and Yasmeen in a tight spot.This is a great look into Archimedes and Yasmeen's lives together, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship get tested. When Meljean first mentioned the city of New Eden back in The Iron Duke I was more than intrigued and delighted that we got to visit it here (even if that visit was fraught with peril). Tethered is not-to-be missed by fans of Heart of Steel. I only gave it three stars because I did think it had some relationship reflections on Yasmeen's behalf that would have belonged better in Heart of Steel. I also thought the height of the action was resolved a tiny bit too easily and quickly for me. Despite all that I did enjoy this book, and am happy to have it in my collection!