Ionheart Review

 

Ionheart by Lukas Kummer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ionheart is an action, gore, and profanity-filled sci-fi and fantasy mashup that explores themes of artificial life, love, and the dark side of human nature, despite its simplistic cartoony art style.

Ionheart is set in a medieval world where objects and technology from the future, referred to as magic by the locals, randomly fall from the sky through temporal breaches. It follows a decorated medieval knight adept in the use of this “magic” who awakens 30 years after an apocalypse involving a demon (murderous advanced robot) decimated his kingdom, poisoned his friends/people, and turned the terrain into a desert wasteland.

With the demon now back and hunting him, we are left to wonder, who is this knight, why is technology from the future showing up in the past, why can he understand and use this futuristic tech, why hasn’t he aged at all in the 30 years since the apocalypse, and what history is there between him and this demon

Ionheart has such a uniquely gripping plot and story. The concept feels so refreshing and original, plus the book is very well-written, especially the first chapter. Its characters are complex and relatable, and the growth and development of the lead in the series is very compelling, but after the first chapter, the pacing becomes awkward, and the story going back and forth between timelines just confused this reader, making it feel like it's all over the place.

I initially wasn’t going to read this because of the art, but I’m so glad I did. The minimalist design is complemented by very detailed illustrations/imagery, and the use of contrasty neon colors to portray the synthetic aspects of the world was masterfully executed. The book is beautiful and its pages glow and stand out to the reader, I wasn’t at all expecting to enjoy the art so much that I would change a thing about it, it just perfectly suits the feel of the book and adds to its originality. There’s also lots of sexual imagery and language, this book is not at all for kids 

Great book, 3.6 out of 5 stars, and strongly recommend for any Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan, or anyone looking for a well-written unique and refreshing story.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Top Shelf Productions for providing me with a free eARC.

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