Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of A Chess-Playing Automaton

by Jane Irwin

In 1769, the court of Empress Maria Theresia witnessed one of that era's most amazing feats of engineering: a machine that could play chess. Artfully constructed by a Hungarian nobleman named Wolfgang von Kempelen, the chess-machine played a unique game against each opponent, far surpassing the abilities of all its fellow automata. Throughout its eighty-five year career, audiences across Europe and the Americas flocked to see the mechanical marvel seemingly capable of human intelligence; Napoleon, Charles Babbage, and Benjamin Franklin were among its challengers, and Edgar Allen Poe wrote an essay attempting to explain how it worked. Despite its demise over a hundred fifty years ago, its mystery continues to fascinate, and its audience's reaction to its Orientalist trappings casts fresh light on our present sense of the 'exotic'. Written and Illustrated by Jane Irwin, author of the V�gelein graphic novels, Clockwork Game retells the true story of the world's first chess-playing automaton, blending reality and fiction into a singular graphic novel.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Historical, Comics

211 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

Reviews

[Claire Binkley]

I adored the beginnings of this graphic novel, though I feel bad about rating it, since I did not truly finish it.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful piece of graphic historical fiction exploring the intriguing mystery of a chess-playing automaton that took Europe and the Americas by storm in the 18th and 19th centuries. Along the way it explores society's first encounter with the "uncanny valley," the nature of showmanship, technological ingenuity and trickery, and the masses' relationship with the truth vs. convenient, entertaining falsehood. The simple black-and-white line drawing art is effective and expressive, though it's hard to track certain characters from page to page and era to era. I will also admit to some confusion in some of the business dealings and political fortunes of the various proprietors of the automaton, but the notes that follow the story clear some of that up. It's overall a very entertaining and engaging story.

[Ken DeBacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Irwin has created a very detailed history of the famous chess playing automaton that had delighted audiences for decades. This is a fun and fascinating look into the foibles of human characters that are willing to be used and fooled by a contraption that was beyond the means of human engineering at the time. I recommend this for students of humans and the limits of believability.

[K De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Irwin has created a very detailed history of the famous chess playing automaton that had delighted audiences for decades. This is a fun and fascinating look into the foibles of human characters that are willing to be used and fooled by a contraption that was beyond the means of human engineering at the time. I recommend this for students of humans and the limits of believability.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and a well illustrated piece of historical fiction.
It can definitely be described as quite dour and depressing due to what happens to the main characters throughout the story.
Still if you are interested in a historical oddity with some good footnotes at the end this is definitely worth a read.

[Bryanzk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, which I've remembered some of it. The life of the Turk is actually the life of its owners.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful work of historical fiction in graphic novel format about a chess-paying automata that was built in the 1700's. From the hands of its creator Wolfgang von Kempelen, The Turk passes on to several others before meeting a sad end. Its career started out rather illustrious, playing opponents such as Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon, but as the century turns, it becomes a mere carnival trick, and the crowds begin to dwindle. For the first half of the book we are left completely mystified about its inner workings and like any good magic trick we are held in a liminal state; we know there is some trick to it, but despite that we wish that it was magic. Once the secret is revealed it does lose its magical quality, but the ingenuity behind pulling off this illusion is something to be marvelled at. Many of the mechanical wonders of this age are fascinating, and a handful of others are depicted. Irwin's strong inks focus our attention on two things, the materials, and faces. The Turk looks almost human, but for the grain lines, and mechanical sound effects. His wooden stare prevents us from ever truly feeling attached, but there are moments where we feel sympathy for him. To make the story more entertaining, the author has made some changes, and for those that are interested he separates out fact from fiction in the back. The chess-playing automata may be long gone, but his story is now available to entertain us.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely awesome. A fascinating historical fiction that runs from the mid 1700s to the 1850s as it chronicles the fascinating "life" of a sideshow attraction billed as a clockwork automaton that could play chess by itself. Crossing paths with famous people throughout this time period from the German Empress Maria Theresea to Napoleon Bonaparte to Edgar Allan Poe, this makes for riveting reading. I'm well-read in the Victorian Era, and while this mainly takes place before that time, I'm still surprised I'd never heard of it before. This curiosity held people fascinated with whether it was real or fake for 85 years! Irwin has written a truly epic graphic novel that contains so much intriguing historical details and a fascinating plot that keeps even the reader guessing until the reveal (for one who doesn't know the historical outcome). The artwork is incredibly detailed and a pleasure to behold, making the reading go at a pace slow enough to thoroughly take in the illustration. I was completely satisfied when I'd completed the story to only find an incredibly rich page by page "Notes" section that contains detailed historical annotations and author's input on where she took artistic license and where regrettably she had to leave some parts of the story out. This is an adult book but is sure to be a hit with ages teen and older.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely! The title pretty much says it all. What we have is a biography of the famous chess-playing Turk automaton in graphic novel form. The artist does take a few liberties with the story, but helpfully provides detailed footnotes explaining said liberties. The result is a wonderful bit of historical fiction with emphasis on the "historical". The art style is deceptively simple. Some impressive research has gone into every panel. Being a longtime student of magic and illusion, I already had a fair amount of knowledge of the Turk, but this book still managed to teach me quite a bit. I've long been a fan of Jane's work--Yes, that's my name on the list of Kickstarter contributors who helped make this book happen--and this is some of her most impressive to date.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is excellent, and the story/history of the Turk itself is fascinating and obviously thoroughly researched. Irwin does a great job spinning the story across decades. And there are endnotes!

It's a very sad story, though, and very few of the major players are at all sympathetic. Mälzel especially was not someone I enjoyed spending time with. The book is gorgeously done, and Irwin has done an amazing job crafting all the characters who fill the Turk's 80-plus-year history. However, this isn't the kind of story I'm going to revisit any time soon.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

a wonderful read Clockwork Game chronicles the rise and fall of the renowned chess-playing automaton and the people who kept it in working order throughout its life. Irwin does an excellent job surrounding the automaton with mystery throughout the tale. Even when the secret is revealed you still feel like it's a little magical. It's a tale of triumph that takes a bitter turn toward the middle of the second act leading up to the end.

The story of the automaton is actually a true one and Irwin tells it with as much historical accuracy as she can, even providing copious notes in the back of the book.

Fans of historical fiction would really appreciate Clockwork Game.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of tiresome. Too much detail (especially the chess moves, dozens at a time - was that meaningful for serious chess players?). And who was this supposed to be about - the original designer/inventor or the sleazebag Maelzel?

(The mechanical elephant clock at the beginning made me think of the Turkish machines in the Leviathan trilogy. I wonder if that (the historical al-Jazari versions) is where Westerfeld got some of his inspiration? )

[Krys (Krys Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

My final thoughts:
Via Black 'n Write Reviews
I thought the art in this book was well done, unfortunately I wasn’t too keen on the story-line – personal interest. I think anybody who might be relatively interested in panharmonics, metronomes, and new-age puppets will enjoy the historical detail of this book

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A graphic novel...with endnotes! This very engaging work tells the story of the Mechanical Turk, from its invention to its final fate. Irwin does a great job of conveying the changes in time over the career of the automaton, without getting bogged down in historical detail.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun micro-history (well, historical fiction). The story was much more interesting than I expected, and Irwin wonderfully added footnotes in the back, so you can find out what was real, what she inferred, and what she took liberties with.

[Gus Grosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

a gorgeous graphic novel which humanizes the story of this famous automaton through the impact on its inventor.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/...

[l · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised that this book hasn't gotten more attention!