Review: Burden of the Monarch: Blade of Rails by Josh Perry

Burden of the Monarch: Blade of Rails by Josh Perry is a steampunkesque novel with a soldier that doesn’t consider himself a soldier any longer, mysterious demons living in a distressed town mine, a train that carries a community within its belly, and plenty of intrigue and action.

Readers are introduced to Bell in the first chapter as he sits on the edge of The Tristram – a three car, red and gold war-train which hovers above the prairie. His demeanor is calm and one wouldn’t know at first that he and his comrades are on their way to a town that has been taken over by bandits, and has a ghoul breeding ground within the depths of the town mine.

Upon taking care of the town’s problems with the help of his blade Ehre, Bell returns to the train and we are further introduced to the main members of his group. Howarth and Mel – a married couple who have different roles in their community but work seamlessly as a team – and their daughter Ylinia, an inquisitive young girl who is trying to find her place. Taking Ylinia under his wing, Bell passes on his knowledge of the blade, passing his expertise to a new generation. Her journey becomes the journey of all around her.

Bell’s story has an underlying romantic tone as he reminiscences about his wife and their time together before she passed in battle. The author weaves a story of a love affair that brings a sense of vulnerability to the character that makes Bell immediately endearing. Perry is also adept at describing the finer details of each character and scene – not only establishing each character’s inner world, but their attire and surroundings as well. Readers will be drawn in by Bell and his community and become invested in their journey from the start.

On the technical side, the book is well-edited and has little to no grammatical or spelling issues. Chapters flow naturally into one another allowing the reading to take in quite a bit of world-building description while not feeling overwhelmed. The only issue comes in when the monsters pop up in the story, and they aren’t given quite enough backstory. It is clear immediately that the monsters play a large part in the story, but what isn’t so clear is why they play such a large part, so more information should have been frontloaded in the narrative. However, while this would be beneficial to the flow of the read, it does not detract from the story in any significant way. The plot is still easy to follow, and would only be enhanced with this extra bit of detail.

Overall, Burden of the Monarch: Blade of Rails is an entertaining and original read. Filled with magic, fantasy, subtle romance, and adventure, it hits a number of themes and motifs in one novel and culminates with a fantastic ending. With this novel, Josh Perry shows himself to be a gifted and inventive writer with a style that will please readers of fantasy, as well as other genres.