Cold Wind by Andrew Givler is out — and Hot Take Books has thoughts. A lot of them.

In this episode, Rich and Ryan dive deep into book two of the Ironbound series, just days after its release. Castor is back, the stakes are higher, and the world has gotten a whole lot bigger. The guys break down what makes Cold Wind one of their highest-rated books to date — and why this series still isn't getting the attention it deserves.

The spoiler-free section covers everything you need to know to decide if this is the series for you: the revenge-fantasy genre comp (think Red Rising meets Rage of Dragons), the magic system that might just be Rich's favorite ever, and why if you loved Ironbound, you need to keep going.

Then the spoiler warning drops, and nothing is safe. Rich and Ryan dig into the expanding lore of core and congruency, the political backstabbing of the empire, Castor's evolving identity as the symbols wage war in his head, and the characters they couldn't get enough of — and the ones they wanted a lot more of. They also get into what this book means for the series as a whole, and why books three and four might be capable of a score they can barely bring themselves to say out loud.

If you haven't read Ironbound yet, start there — we've got you covered with our full episode on book one. And if you're already a fan of the series, buckle up. This one's going to be a lot of fun.Hot Take Books drops every two weeks. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @HotTakeBooks.