Clockworld One-Shot

Dark Brothers One-Shots #1

by Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson

In the aftermath of a global nuclear war in an alternate historical timeline, a silent robot is tasked with restoring life before the world crumbles from decay.

Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2014

About the author

He's always had a fondness for different types of fantasy, having grown up on superhero cartoons, action and horror movies and anime. As he got older, he branched out, discovering more works in these and many other categories, including various forms of Hong Kong cinema, exploitation cinema, science fiction (especially cyberpunk and dystopian tales), various subgenres of horror, and what he considers the 'golden age' of action films, all of which have heavily influenced his imagination and writing/drawing style. He can't stay on a computer too long without opening Microsoft Word and writing something down, even if that computer doesn't belong to him; and if he has a pen and paper of some sort, he'll be drawing something for sure. Since he was ten, he's been striving to achieve a career in fiction writing while providing his own illustrations and cover art, constantly encouraging creative criticism from his peers so that he may improve wherever need be, and has always been trying to 'one-up' himself with his drawing and writing achievements.
He's come a long way with his writing and illustrating, and he's still got a long way to go. He looks forward to every step he'll have to take in the long run.

Reviews

[Ann Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book cover. It attracted my attention right away. The author has several books with equally witty, artistic, hand drawn covers. I’d like to see more of the drawings as illustrations inside his stories, too. Clockworld is a short book based on an essay the author originally wrote for an English class that assigned students to write their own myths. He spins a creation myth with steampunk elements, showing us robotlike men and women who toil with machinery that has taken over the earth. This is really a nightmare that belongs to all of us, going beyond steampunk, as we become more and more absorbed in our machines from cars to computers to phones and lose touch with both nature and our own humanity. The name Peacemaker, one of the protagonists, reminds me of the cynical Peacekeeper names the American military has given bombs and armies alike. Clockworld includes other universal elements found in myths around the world, the opposites of men and women, and the rejuvenation of the earth following absolute destruction. We can only hope real life will follow that pattern. I did get hung up a couple of times on grammar, but thought that might be due to UKisms, since I’m an American and the author is from the UK (a note in the front that the story uses UK spelling and grammar might be helpful). Well done and interesting from a promising writer.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the mythological overtones in this short story but I think it would have benefitted from remaining 'timeless' instead of tied in to an alternate World War II timeline. A few odd word choices ("monotone expression"?) here and there, but all in all an enjoyable effort at the creation of a modern myth.