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Clockwork Sister
Aeon is a simulacra, a creation of flesh, clockwork and magic designed to protect their original humans from the deadly attacks of curse-workers.
She is an identical copy of her original, Mara, eighth princess of the Tamyin Empire, except for the brands and seals that mark her as artificial.
When Mara dies of natural causes, Aeon expects to be killed. After a botched attempt to euthanise her, she is taken in by a family of rogue simulacra living in the city slums.
When one of their number dies after injecting a dose of a serum that allows simulacra to change their bodies, Aeon is worried that someone is targeting rogues. A trail of discoveries unearths a deadly conspiracy, where friends and enemies are no longer what they seem.
She is an identical copy of her original, Mara, eighth princess of the Tamyin Empire, except for the brands and seals that mark her as artificial.
When Mara dies of natural causes, Aeon expects to be killed. After a botched attempt to euthanise her, she is taken in by a family of rogue simulacra living in the city slums.
When one of their number dies after injecting a dose of a serum that allows simulacra to change their bodies, Aeon is worried that someone is targeting rogues. A trail of discoveries unearths a deadly conspiracy, where friends and enemies are no longer what they seem.
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 22, 2025
This is more of a 2.5/5, honestly. I loved the central idea and the worldbuilding we got about the simulacra, as well as parts of the main plot - but I felt a lot of things were lacking.
Firstly, I thought the author chose to worldbuild in the wrong places. We get all of those asides as the characters are traveling through the city, but no concrete information on Aeon's life at all - how long was she in her Maker's home, for example?
Secondly, there are simply too many characters. Things happen to them, but I do not care as much as I should because I haven't had the time to bond with them. For Aeon, our POV, I felt as if not enough was done to mark out all the interesting ways her being a simulacra would change her internal feelings in comparison to that of originals (yeah ok, I know the text's point is that they are not so different, but still). It felt like the writer had some distance from the character.
Thirdly, I thought the whole last 20% of the book could have been better in terms of plot - help comes out of nowhere and events feel random at points.
Fourthly, there were a number of editing mistakes in the books, as well as commas being in places they should not and absent from places they should be.
Overall I genuinely liked the ideas here and I would recommend the book to friends, but it really felt like it could have been better.
Firstly, I thought the author chose to worldbuild in the wrong places. We get all of those asides as the characters are traveling through the city, but no concrete information on Aeon's life at all - how long was she in her Maker's home, for example?
Secondly, there are simply too many characters. Things happen to them, but I do not care as much as I should because I haven't had the time to bond with them. For Aeon, our POV, I felt as if not enough was done to mark out all the interesting ways her being a simulacra would change her internal feelings in comparison to that of originals (yeah ok, I know the text's point is that they are not so different, but still). It felt like the writer had some distance from the character.
Thirdly, I thought the whole last 20% of the book could have been better in terms of plot - help comes out of nowhere and events feel random at points.
Fourthly, there were a number of editing mistakes in the books, as well as commas being in places they should not and absent from places they should be.
Overall I genuinely liked the ideas here and I would recommend the book to friends, but it really felt like it could have been better.
June 18, 2022
I loved this for its startling premise - Aeon is an artificial person who looks exactly like a Princess - she is there to take the hit of lethal curses and if her Princess dies, she's destroyed. Except the Princess does die, and she evades that destruction and soon she and those around her are in more danger. Delightful, odd, world-building, mor plots, mysteries, danger, all sorts of genders and identities and a houseshare of misfits and renegades that is simply lovely. And a novella, which is nice.
November 7, 2025
My rating : 4.5 of 5 stars
Oooh, I did enjoy this one. On the surface it's a relatively straightforward mystery thriller (albeit one in a fantasy setting), but underneath that is a beautiful story of found families and an exploration of that need to belong that so many of us have.
Told from first-person perspective, this one is really well written and the only reason I didn't finish it sooner was because I was at work and had to actually do the job I get paid for. I definitely recommend this one to fans of intriguing fantasy mystery tales.
Oooh, I did enjoy this one. On the surface it's a relatively straightforward mystery thriller (albeit one in a fantasy setting), but underneath that is a beautiful story of found families and an exploration of that need to belong that so many of us have.
Told from first-person perspective, this one is really well written and the only reason I didn't finish it sooner was because I was at work and had to actually do the job I get paid for. I definitely recommend this one to fans of intriguing fantasy mystery tales.
July 30, 2021
I enjoyed this novella. The idea of using simulacra to stand in for you, is well handled and in a sense it makes you think about life inequalities: who are the people that we consider less important.
Rodman creates an interesting fantasy world, with a touch of steampunk-like technology. The story is well contained in novella form, and still it gives you the feeling that it's a huge world, full of happenings.
really enjoyable read.
Rodman creates an interesting fantasy world, with a touch of steampunk-like technology. The story is well contained in novella form, and still it gives you the feeling that it's a huge world, full of happenings.
really enjoyable read.
December 21, 2021
Ostensibly a steampunk fantasy, which in turns reminded me of Blade Runner. Loved the world building, although perhaps there was just a tad too much detail for such a short novel - I don't usually read doorstop fantasy epics, but in this instance Rodman could well be able to flesh out the this world of simulcra and Makers into a two or three-book series.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews