#clockwork lives

Book of the Day

Title: Clockwork Angels

Author: Kevin J. Anderson

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Steampunk

Synopsis: “For more than two centuries, the land of Albion has been ruled by the supposedly benevolent Watchmaker, who imposes precision on every aspect of life. From his sleepy town of Barrel Arbor, young Owen Hardy watches the steamliners drift by, powered by alchemical energy, as they head toward Crown City - never dreaming that he is already caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos, between the Watchmaker and his nemesis, the Anarchist. Owen’s Journey begins at a fabulous carnival with the clockwork wonders beyond his imagination and take him aboard airships far into the Redrock Desert  to seek lost cities, through storms at sea to encounters with pirates...and give him a chance at love.”

Personal Rating: 6/10

Opinion: I thought this was a good book, but I personally felt it was a little disorganized. Though I admit, my opinion might be a bit clouded because I actually read Clockwork Lives before I read this one. Though from what I read, both books take place in the same universe, but as two separate stories, so they could be read independently. As I stated, I did enjoy and I do recommend it, but I felt like the book was trying to make the main character do too many stuff at such a short time. Though is the timeline was longer, I didn’t really notice, or remember. I found that a some of the characters didn’t have enough characterization and some were rather flat, including the main character, though I will admit there was a bit of development in the end. Wasn’t my kind of book, but I still recommend it to people who are fans of Steampunk.

Title: Clockwork Lives

Author: Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Steampunk

Synopsis: 

“Miranda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village. When her alchemist father dies, Miranda receives a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories - and ultimately her own.      Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Miranda embarks on a grand journey and strives to change her life from a mere ‘sentence or two’ to a true epic.”

Personal Rating: 10/10

My initial exposure with Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart’s Clockwork Lives was on The Steampunk Scholar’s blog. Him, being a doctoral researcher interested in Steampunk as an aesthetic, and Clockwork Lives, a book cast as a “Steampunk” Canterbury Tales, made a perfect fit. At the time, I wasn’t interested in medieval literature, so I didn’t much care that a medieval author’s idea was being…