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A Clockwork River
Lower Rhumbsford is a city far removed from its glory days. On the banks of the great river Rhumb, its founding fathers channelled the river's mighty flow into a subterranean labyrinth of pipes, valves and sluices, a feat of hydraulic prowess that would come to power an empire. But a thousand years have passed since then, and something is wrong. The pipes are leaking, the valves stuck, the sluices silted. The erstwhile mighty Rhumb is sluggish and about to freeze over for the first time in memory.
In a once fashionable quarter of the once great city, in the once grand ancestral home of a family once wealthy and well-known, live the last descendants of the city's most distinguished engineer, siblings Samuel and Briony Locke.
Having abandoned his programme in hydraulic engineering, Samuel Locke tends to his vast lock collection, while his sister Briony distracts herself from the prospect of marriage to a rich old man with her alchemical experiments. One night Sam leaves the house carrying five of his most precious locks and doesn't come back...
As she searches for her brother, Bryony will be drawn into a web of ancestral secrets and imperial intrigues as a ruthless new power arises. If brother and sister are to be reunited, they will need the help of a tight-lipped house spirit, a convict gang, a club of antiques enthusiasts, a tribe of troglodytes, the Ladies Whist Club, the deep state, a traveling theatrical troupe and a lovesick mouse.
Epic, rollicking and in love with language, Jacob and Sara Emery's sprawling debut novel of humble kitchen magics and awe-inspiring civil engineering is a rare and delicious commodity – the world's first hydropunk novel.
In a once fashionable quarter of the once great city, in the once grand ancestral home of a family once wealthy and well-known, live the last descendants of the city's most distinguished engineer, siblings Samuel and Briony Locke.
Having abandoned his programme in hydraulic engineering, Samuel Locke tends to his vast lock collection, while his sister Briony distracts herself from the prospect of marriage to a rich old man with her alchemical experiments. One night Sam leaves the house carrying five of his most precious locks and doesn't come back...
As she searches for her brother, Bryony will be drawn into a web of ancestral secrets and imperial intrigues as a ruthless new power arises. If brother and sister are to be reunited, they will need the help of a tight-lipped house spirit, a convict gang, a club of antiques enthusiasts, a tribe of troglodytes, the Ladies Whist Club, the deep state, a traveling theatrical troupe and a lovesick mouse.
Epic, rollicking and in love with language, Jacob and Sara Emery's sprawling debut novel of humble kitchen magics and awe-inspiring civil engineering is a rare and delicious commodity – the world's first hydropunk novel.
Kindle Edition
First published October 7, 2021
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422 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Emery
1 book6 followersJ.S. Emery is a brother-sister writing team, born in North Idaho into a homeschooling family of seven children, each of whom received an air rifle and a copy of The Odyssey by way of a fifth birthday present. After dropping out of secondary school, they worked jobs including ballet dancer, emergency room janitor, and map librarian in various parts of Europe and North America. They now live in the United States, where they are godparents to one another's children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
November 1, 2021
Okay so the first things first, the cover is gorgeous 😍 secondly, the list of chapters was super unique and made me chuckle and thirdly… she thicccccc.
the writing style is interesting, captivating and easy to follow, this is a book you can easily find yourself lost in. The characters are cool and multifaceted. Overall an enthralling read.
the writing style is interesting, captivating and easy to follow, this is a book you can easily find yourself lost in. The characters are cool and multifaceted. Overall an enthralling read.
October 29, 2021
What do I have to say about the world’s first hydropunk novel? It was a fantastic read, that’s what!
This chunky novel is wonderfully fast paced with an amazing plot and fascinating characters, looking at my boy Sam (although Briony was a close second)! I loved that all of the characters are connected with each other in some way, it made things more interesting for me to figuring out just how they were all intertwined with each other. As much as this book is a fantasy/dystopian novel, it also comes across as a historical one as well as a thriller. There are so many different genres all in the 700+ pages of this wonderful book. Essentially, we follow Briony as she tries to save her brother Sam before time runs out and a new lethal power ends them all. Because you know, Sam just HAD to leave the house and never return, he just had to, silly banana.
Now, I understand that setting the book in a city on the banks of a river will always make for weird things to happen, but I’m still confused by the Water People… I found them creepy and I don’t know why! Maybe because they live underground in a labyrinth of pipes? I don’t know. But as much as I’m confused by them, I’m also very intrigued by them and could quite happily read an entire book just about them. You know how you feel reading (or watching) Alice in Wonderland, and you think you accidentally got drugged somehow but it’s amusing so you enjoy it? That’s how reading this book felt for me. It was absolute insanity for the most part but I absolutely loved it and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I’m already anticipating re-reading this next year because I feel like it’s one of those books where the more you re-read it the more things you discover that you may have missed when reading it before.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
PS: please can we all have resident ghosts in our houses?
This chunky novel is wonderfully fast paced with an amazing plot and fascinating characters, looking at my boy Sam (although Briony was a close second)! I loved that all of the characters are connected with each other in some way, it made things more interesting for me to figuring out just how they were all intertwined with each other. As much as this book is a fantasy/dystopian novel, it also comes across as a historical one as well as a thriller. There are so many different genres all in the 700+ pages of this wonderful book. Essentially, we follow Briony as she tries to save her brother Sam before time runs out and a new lethal power ends them all. Because you know, Sam just HAD to leave the house and never return, he just had to, silly banana.
Now, I understand that setting the book in a city on the banks of a river will always make for weird things to happen, but I’m still confused by the Water People… I found them creepy and I don’t know why! Maybe because they live underground in a labyrinth of pipes? I don’t know. But as much as I’m confused by them, I’m also very intrigued by them and could quite happily read an entire book just about them. You know how you feel reading (or watching) Alice in Wonderland, and you think you accidentally got drugged somehow but it’s amusing so you enjoy it? That’s how reading this book felt for me. It was absolute insanity for the most part but I absolutely loved it and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I’m already anticipating re-reading this next year because I feel like it’s one of those books where the more you re-read it the more things you discover that you may have missed when reading it before.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
PS: please can we all have resident ghosts in our houses?
July 11, 2021
I read an early edition of this book, and I had a great time reading it. I found it witty and charming and dark and weird. It had a delightfully antiquated tone, and I liked that the reader is given credit for intelligence and a sense of playfulness. It is a fantasy world, yet feels analogous to our own past. It has a wonderful dystopian decay, but it's not filthy or barbarous, but kind of like Miss Havisham's wedding dress, a thing that was once elegant and fine, and is now tawdry, genteelly rotting away. It has elements of early gothic romance, like Castle of Otranto, but the attitude is modern. It is also a thriller, and is also absurd at times. I am so glad that the term "hydropunk" has been coined, because I was at a loss as to what to call it. It is has a debt to steampunk, obviously, but A Clockwork River is smarter than what steampunk has been watered down to once it hit the mainstream (see what I did there?). This is a little different than anything I have read, but not in a way that makes it laborious; it's totally accessible. The characters are flawed, which makes them more human, and the situations are sometimes improbable, but I don't know why anyone would expect realism in a fantasy novel. It's fun. It is a long book, but I was never bored, except by a few very long lists, which I suspect were meant to be absurd and were, but I don't know if those got left in. The payoff at the end is surprisingly jarring, and worth getting there.
August 18, 2021
This is a curious book. It isn't Steampunk - more Hydropunk. A world where vast stores of water pulse their way through tubes, powering a clockwork city.
I'll be honest, I struggled with it. It is ambitiously long - over twice the length of a normal novel. The sentences sometimes drift on interminably - with nary a semicolon in sight. I consider myself well read - but I felt like every other page I was calling up my eReader's dictionary to see what some archaic word meant. That's fun at first, but quickly becomes tedious. Every sentence gave the impression of being run through a thesaurus twice.
There's an awful lot of world building going on. Clockwork, and locks, and ghosts, and "regency" debutantes falling in love, and impoverished nobility, and politics, and magic... it just goes on and on. I found it quite exhausting to keep up with all the different sub-plots, minor characters, and humorous asides from the narrator.
But is it any good...?
Big books like this need a big sweeping plot to drive things along. And this, sadly, doesn't. A quarter of the way through I felt like the plot wasn't really going anywhere. There were so many diversions and tributaries that it was hard to sustain the momentum of the plot. For all the talk about it being "hydropunk" there was very little discussion about what that meant and how it had shaped the world. I wasn't expecting a thesis on how a hydraulic city could work - but there's little more than "things run on a water and some people can do magic" and that was it!
I think this may have worked better as several different books - each following a character along the Clockwork River. A book just focused on the inept magical learning of a debutante, for example, would have been a smashing read. Instead it's muddled in with half a dozen other stories.
It's rare that I don't finish a book. But by the time I got a third of the way through, I was tired from keeping every plot straight in my head and, frankly, a little bored. So I've set it aside in the vague expectation of finishing it once I've read every other book on my list.
If you enjoy long and convoluted books filled with protracted and labyrinthine sentences, and are prepared to muster up the courage to look up old-fashioned words - be they ever-so frequent - then you may (if the stars align) find this a worthwhile endeavour for your librocubicularist tendencies.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The book is released in October 2021.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/08/book...
I'll be honest, I struggled with it. It is ambitiously long - over twice the length of a normal novel. The sentences sometimes drift on interminably - with nary a semicolon in sight. I consider myself well read - but I felt like every other page I was calling up my eReader's dictionary to see what some archaic word meant. That's fun at first, but quickly becomes tedious. Every sentence gave the impression of being run through a thesaurus twice.
There's an awful lot of world building going on. Clockwork, and locks, and ghosts, and "regency" debutantes falling in love, and impoverished nobility, and politics, and magic... it just goes on and on. I found it quite exhausting to keep up with all the different sub-plots, minor characters, and humorous asides from the narrator.
But is it any good...?
Big books like this need a big sweeping plot to drive things along. And this, sadly, doesn't. A quarter of the way through I felt like the plot wasn't really going anywhere. There were so many diversions and tributaries that it was hard to sustain the momentum of the plot. For all the talk about it being "hydropunk" there was very little discussion about what that meant and how it had shaped the world. I wasn't expecting a thesis on how a hydraulic city could work - but there's little more than "things run on a water and some people can do magic" and that was it!
I think this may have worked better as several different books - each following a character along the Clockwork River. A book just focused on the inept magical learning of a debutante, for example, would have been a smashing read. Instead it's muddled in with half a dozen other stories.
It's rare that I don't finish a book. But by the time I got a third of the way through, I was tired from keeping every plot straight in my head and, frankly, a little bored. So I've set it aside in the vague expectation of finishing it once I've read every other book on my list.
If you enjoy long and convoluted books filled with protracted and labyrinthine sentences, and are prepared to muster up the courage to look up old-fashioned words - be they ever-so frequent - then you may (if the stars align) find this a worthwhile endeavour for your librocubicularist tendencies.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The book is released in October 2021.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/08/book...
September 19, 2021
This really started out so promising. Quaint and a bit odd. Nostalgic almost for something I could never quite put my finger on for what. However, about a quarter into the book, I have to admit to losing my patience. A book that length you need something more than an interesting world and quaint observations, I wanted a plot, I wanted interesting characters and I wanted to be swept away into this world. None of this happened. I ended up being bored and the payoff at the end was definitely not worth the slog.
October 26, 2021
Time is running out for the Clockwork River.
The city of once well-revered Lower Rhumbsford is now something which is a hollow ghost of its former self and it fades a little more with every passing day, with every tick of a clock and upon the banks of the great river Rhumb, it’s wise and mighty founding fathers did something which no one would have ever thought possible and commanded the power of the river to flow into a labyrinth of pipes hidden deep within the earth, which married alongside valves and sluices would pave the way to power an empire….
However, a thousand years have passed since this magnificent feat took place and time has worn away these systems and decay eats away deeper and swifter each day, more leaks appear and the Rhumb is nothing but a pathetic trickle…
The Locke family, descendants of the very engineer who made this marvel possible are mirrored in their reduced standings and upkeep, with Samuel and Briony Locke facing their own challenges alongside a decrepit legacy in which neither of them are confident of their chances in what awaits them in life from unwanted marriage proposals, to avoiding their studies…
One night Samuel disappears and it’s up to his sister to track him down all while meeting an array of characters from a mouse who really needs to stop obsessing, to a gang of convicts, to a sass mouth of a ghost, Briony must work against the tick-tick of time to save Sam before a new and deadly power could end everything.
Will Briony ever track down Sam or will she uncover a secret which should have stayed buried deep down where only the great labyrinth can hide it…
Original with dead-pan humour, and memorable characters make for an incredibly gripping and magical tale.
The city of once well-revered Lower Rhumbsford is now something which is a hollow ghost of its former self and it fades a little more with every passing day, with every tick of a clock and upon the banks of the great river Rhumb, it’s wise and mighty founding fathers did something which no one would have ever thought possible and commanded the power of the river to flow into a labyrinth of pipes hidden deep within the earth, which married alongside valves and sluices would pave the way to power an empire….
However, a thousand years have passed since this magnificent feat took place and time has worn away these systems and decay eats away deeper and swifter each day, more leaks appear and the Rhumb is nothing but a pathetic trickle…
The Locke family, descendants of the very engineer who made this marvel possible are mirrored in their reduced standings and upkeep, with Samuel and Briony Locke facing their own challenges alongside a decrepit legacy in which neither of them are confident of their chances in what awaits them in life from unwanted marriage proposals, to avoiding their studies…
One night Samuel disappears and it’s up to his sister to track him down all while meeting an array of characters from a mouse who really needs to stop obsessing, to a gang of convicts, to a sass mouth of a ghost, Briony must work against the tick-tick of time to save Sam before a new and deadly power could end everything.
Will Briony ever track down Sam or will she uncover a secret which should have stayed buried deep down where only the great labyrinth can hide it…
Original with dead-pan humour, and memorable characters make for an incredibly gripping and magical tale.
July 26, 2021
This is a quirky, adorably pompous fantasy novel set in a decaying 1800s-like plumbing extravaganza of a world. There is something lavish about the setting, extremely funny, that reminded me of the Monty Python and Terry Pratchett and even Wilkie Collins' humourous villans. It's very well crafted. Clockwork River hints so much to classic comedy plays, where people keep crossing by each other on stage mistaking each other's identity and meaning. The narrator is exterior to the novel and yet has a huge amount of personality and ego, judging, knowing and feeling everything and giving so much colour to this novel.
The writing style is a real pleasure to read, and the way everything is built up into a culminating point, all the vastly extended threads drawn together like a net, is extremely satisfying.
We follow the adventure of the very impoverished Locke family, from the lock and key obsessed son, to the beautiful daughter who fears marriage so much she spends her time cooking up poisons and love potions, to the terribly narcistic father who only lives for his appearance. They each find themselves upturned into escalating dangers from which you can't even guess how they will escape....
I have never read anything quite like it and really enjoyed this smart confident new voice. I will recommend it to people who are not afraid of large books and enjoy both classics and fantasy. There is something of Jules Vernes and Shakespeare in this. If you loved the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde this might be just the clever fun book for you.
The writing style is a real pleasure to read, and the way everything is built up into a culminating point, all the vastly extended threads drawn together like a net, is extremely satisfying.
We follow the adventure of the very impoverished Locke family, from the lock and key obsessed son, to the beautiful daughter who fears marriage so much she spends her time cooking up poisons and love potions, to the terribly narcistic father who only lives for his appearance. They each find themselves upturned into escalating dangers from which you can't even guess how they will escape....
I have never read anything quite like it and really enjoyed this smart confident new voice. I will recommend it to people who are not afraid of large books and enjoy both classics and fantasy. There is something of Jules Vernes and Shakespeare in this. If you loved the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde this might be just the clever fun book for you.
October 15, 2021
A Clockwork River is a beautifully written tale set in the town of Little Rhumbsford. The place is not what it once was and the great feats of engineering that were once infamous have now started to decay and fail. The story follows Sam and Briony Locke, two residents of the town as they find themselves wrapped up in an epic adventure. Sam was once a student of hydraulic engineering and is passionate about locks. When one night Sam goes to give a lecture on his lock collection, he does not come home. His sister Briony, a young woman fascinated by alchemy, will do anything to avoid marriage to rich old man to save her family home. When she discovers her brother is missing she soon finds herself wrapped up in a web of secrets. Will she be able to uncover the truth and find her brother before it’s too late?
A Clockwork River is a chunky book but this compelling story had me captivated right from the very first chapter. I loved the gorgeous language, the fascinating plot and the intriguing characters. J. S Emery has created a really unique hydro punk world and I constantly wanted to know more and more. It was completely unlike anything I’ve read before and despite it being over 700 pages I ended up reading this in just a few days. The story is charming and excellently plotted, making for a quaint and engaging read.
A Clockwork River has some really fascinating characters and this was the thing that captured my attention most. They felt very realistic as there was an immense amount of depth and character development throughout the story. They felt like real, flawed human beings who sometimes don’t get it right. I particularly liked Briony, she’s a clever young woman, determined to avoid marriage and I enjoyed her character arc the most. There are a whole host of fascinating secondary characters too and Emery has created a brilliant cast of characters.
A Clockwork River is one of those books that’s just a pleasure to read. If you’re looking for a unique fantasy story with beautiful prose and complex characters, this book is a must read.
A Clockwork River is a chunky book but this compelling story had me captivated right from the very first chapter. I loved the gorgeous language, the fascinating plot and the intriguing characters. J. S Emery has created a really unique hydro punk world and I constantly wanted to know more and more. It was completely unlike anything I’ve read before and despite it being over 700 pages I ended up reading this in just a few days. The story is charming and excellently plotted, making for a quaint and engaging read.
A Clockwork River has some really fascinating characters and this was the thing that captured my attention most. They felt very realistic as there was an immense amount of depth and character development throughout the story. They felt like real, flawed human beings who sometimes don’t get it right. I particularly liked Briony, she’s a clever young woman, determined to avoid marriage and I enjoyed her character arc the most. There are a whole host of fascinating secondary characters too and Emery has created a brilliant cast of characters.
A Clockwork River is one of those books that’s just a pleasure to read. If you’re looking for a unique fantasy story with beautiful prose and complex characters, this book is a must read.
July 23, 2022
2.5 stars
This book reminded me a bit of "A series of unfortunate events". The main characters get into some ridiculous situations that are mostly outside their control and things just keep happening. Most of the side characters in this book are not so nice people with devious plans to take our main characters inheritance from them.
I found it incredibly frustrating that they barely took any action against these people the whole book, but what was worse was that they were not even aware of the danger looming over their lives. Which seemed strange for characters that are, right off the bat, established as smart people.
The use of many complex unusual words further bogged down my reading progress and diminished my enjoyment. Especially as this language was not only used in the descriptive text, but also in dialogue, making all characters sound alike too.
This book was at times funny, but also took some darker turns than I expected near the end. I liked the kitchen magic and the city powered by a river (and some more magic).
I am a bit sad that my main emotion right now is that I am just glad to have finished this book.
This book reminded me a bit of "A series of unfortunate events". The main characters get into some ridiculous situations that are mostly outside their control and things just keep happening. Most of the side characters in this book are not so nice people with devious plans to take our main characters inheritance from them.
I found it incredibly frustrating that they barely took any action against these people the whole book, but what was worse was that they were not even aware of the danger looming over their lives. Which seemed strange for characters that are, right off the bat, established as smart people.
The use of many complex unusual words further bogged down my reading progress and diminished my enjoyment. Especially as this language was not only used in the descriptive text, but also in dialogue, making all characters sound alike too.
This book was at times funny, but also took some darker turns than I expected near the end. I liked the kitchen magic and the city powered by a river (and some more magic).
I am a bit sad that my main emotion right now is that I am just glad to have finished this book.
August 24, 2021
This is a charming tale of a brother and sister who both find themselves in situations beyond their control. It is set in a low magic. imperial british-like world, a bit like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but with more hydrodynamics. The story centers around the Rhumb river, the lifeblood of Lower Rhumbsford and empire.
The writing is not lean. Single sentences whirl through multiple events, detours, and clarifications. Despite the complexity of the prose, I got used to it after the first 20-30 pages and then quite enjoyed the style and its pomp and filigree that fills out the story in vivid color.
While the protagonists (Sam and Briony) are quite likeable and the villain appropriately despicable, I found the most memorable characters are actually some of the smaller parts amongst the water people, the ghostly house spirits, and most loveable of all, members of the Lock, Key, and Fob Club. Definitely a book for those whom enjoy the journey more than the destination!
The writing is not lean. Single sentences whirl through multiple events, detours, and clarifications. Despite the complexity of the prose, I got used to it after the first 20-30 pages and then quite enjoyed the style and its pomp and filigree that fills out the story in vivid color.
While the protagonists (Sam and Briony) are quite likeable and the villain appropriately despicable, I found the most memorable characters are actually some of the smaller parts amongst the water people, the ghostly house spirits, and most loveable of all, members of the Lock, Key, and Fob Club. Definitely a book for those whom enjoy the journey more than the destination!
June 23, 2021
I bailed on this one at the 65% mark, after the level of fortunate coincidence passed what I could tolerate.
There seems to be a rule in effect in this book that you can either have agency or interiority, but not both. What I mean is that the chatty omniscient narrator gives us insight into the thoughts and feelings of some characters, who we therefore assume are the protagonists; but those characters don't protagonise. The only effectual action (at least, up to the 65% mark) comes from secondary characters or the villain and his minions, and even then, most of them aren't especially competent.
Sam, whose qualifications to be the primary protagonist seem to mainly consist of being a middle-class white guy, is so ineffectual that any attempt he makes to do anything only ever makes the situation worse, necessitating yet another rescue by a random character. He's what I call a Spoiled Protagonist (not that he's a protagonist, really); wherever he goes, people who should be attending to their own business down tools and leap to help him for no readily apparent reason, often rescuing him from the consequences of his own incompetence, and, if female, falling in love with him (he also falls in love with every woman he meets, immediately and superficially). Having been rescued, he soon manages to bungle things and deposit himself into another fix, and the cycle repeats with a new rescuer. This episodic structure reminded me of picaresque, but Sam is not picaresque; he's too hapless and useless, too much of a schlemiel. The author is forced to heap greater and greater amounts of "good luck" on him in order to keep him moving through the plot and not dying, and eventually I couldn't take it anymore.
Sam's sister Briony is, at least, trying a bit harder and showing more competence, but at the point I gave up she was shaping up to be more of a potential victim than a protagonist.
The adjective I kept thinking of for the relatively lightly-sketched setting is "Dickensian," which is not a compliment coming from me; I have no love for Dickens' grimy, run-down world. It also has lots of characters (many of them more-or-less-good-hearted scoundrels or eccentrics) and lots of words - though, to the author's credit, the pace didn't drag for me.
The pre-publication ARC I had from Netgalley also has many, many unnecessary coordinate commas, or, as the author would punctuate it, "unnecessary, coordinate commas". The author also doesn't know when to use commas before "who" or "which", or where to put the apostrophe when a possessive noun is plural. The copy editor has their work cut out for them, which is usually a predictor of a book that will be published with a lot of residual errors. The vocabulary is expansive, and includes some words that neither I nor my Kindle's dictionary knew, but I only spotted one clear error in vocabulary usage (the word "chit," which means a girl, used to refer to Sam when he was a child). It's probable that a lot of this will be fixed before publication, but again, even the best copy editor misses about 10% of the issues, and 10% of these issues is a lot.
The book did have some strengths; the numerous characters are distinct and memorable, it manages to be wordy without being dull, and the numerous subplots included some mysteries that I wanted to know the answer to. But I didn't want to know badly enough to trudge through more ineptitude from Sam, from which he would, no doubt, be rescued by increasingly unlikely coincidences.
There seems to be a rule in effect in this book that you can either have agency or interiority, but not both. What I mean is that the chatty omniscient narrator gives us insight into the thoughts and feelings of some characters, who we therefore assume are the protagonists; but those characters don't protagonise. The only effectual action (at least, up to the 65% mark) comes from secondary characters or the villain and his minions, and even then, most of them aren't especially competent.
Sam, whose qualifications to be the primary protagonist seem to mainly consist of being a middle-class white guy, is so ineffectual that any attempt he makes to do anything only ever makes the situation worse, necessitating yet another rescue by a random character. He's what I call a Spoiled Protagonist (not that he's a protagonist, really); wherever he goes, people who should be attending to their own business down tools and leap to help him for no readily apparent reason, often rescuing him from the consequences of his own incompetence, and, if female, falling in love with him (he also falls in love with every woman he meets, immediately and superficially). Having been rescued, he soon manages to bungle things and deposit himself into another fix, and the cycle repeats with a new rescuer. This episodic structure reminded me of picaresque, but Sam is not picaresque; he's too hapless and useless, too much of a schlemiel. The author is forced to heap greater and greater amounts of "good luck" on him in order to keep him moving through the plot and not dying, and eventually I couldn't take it anymore.
Sam's sister Briony is, at least, trying a bit harder and showing more competence, but at the point I gave up she was shaping up to be more of a potential victim than a protagonist.
The adjective I kept thinking of for the relatively lightly-sketched setting is "Dickensian," which is not a compliment coming from me; I have no love for Dickens' grimy, run-down world. It also has lots of characters (many of them more-or-less-good-hearted scoundrels or eccentrics) and lots of words - though, to the author's credit, the pace didn't drag for me.
The pre-publication ARC I had from Netgalley also has many, many unnecessary coordinate commas, or, as the author would punctuate it, "unnecessary, coordinate commas". The author also doesn't know when to use commas before "who" or "which", or where to put the apostrophe when a possessive noun is plural. The copy editor has their work cut out for them, which is usually a predictor of a book that will be published with a lot of residual errors. The vocabulary is expansive, and includes some words that neither I nor my Kindle's dictionary knew, but I only spotted one clear error in vocabulary usage (the word "chit," which means a girl, used to refer to Sam when he was a child). It's probable that a lot of this will be fixed before publication, but again, even the best copy editor misses about 10% of the issues, and 10% of these issues is a lot.
The book did have some strengths; the numerous characters are distinct and memorable, it manages to be wordy without being dull, and the numerous subplots included some mysteries that I wanted to know the answer to. But I didn't want to know badly enough to trudge through more ineptitude from Sam, from which he would, no doubt, be rescued by increasingly unlikely coincidences.
December 30, 2021
Wow, this was such a brilliant and interesting read with such a different feel than any book I’ve read before! The city of Lower Rhumsford, once an engineering feat, is now a shadow if its former self, with the once great river Rhumb, which helped to power the whole city, slowing down and becoming sluggish, causing problems for the people living there now. Sam and his sister Briony live in what was once a beautiful and rich mansion but is also a shadow of itself as the family possessions and home are slowly being sold off in pieces to cover debts. One day Briony is busy experimenting in her secret lab and causing all sorts of strange effects on mice when Sam visits her before leaving for a local meeting of the Lock, Key and Fob Club. When Sam gets to the club meeting he’s nervous as he’s to make a speech about some of his most interesting and important locks, but later, once the meeting has ended, Sam is attacked on his way home and disappears.
Well this is certainly an epic book to read at over 700 pages long and is one that I enjoyed from the start although it did take me some time to really get used to the writing style as it’s different from most modern books I read. The story is interesting with Sam’s disappearance beginning a long adventure for all the characters involved including Sam. The story is a detailed one with a lot of characters and a lot happening and the scenes change frequently to show us the different characters involved in the story, but this was very well written and I never found myself confused despite so much detail.
The world of Lower Rhumsford and the surrounding area is such a wonderful and interesting one. With the book set in an early Victorian-style era I really enjoyed the way the world came to life on every page. The details of the city, its inhabitants, both above ground and below, as well as the details of the individuals’ tales were all so absorbing. This being a hydropunk novel means that while the story is set in this steam-era time, the world of Lower Rhumsford is powered by water energy instead. I love how interesting this was and how it affects all the inhabitants of the city in different ways. I especially enjoyed things like the Tube which is a water powered transportation system, similar to the underground Tube in London!
As the story progresses a lot happens to the different characters, including the little lovesick mouse. This really is an adventure of a novel and there are so many things revealed along the way which I just didn’t expect. Every chapter is so interesting due to the narration which is different to many other books and is both a good and bad point about this novel for me. The narrator acts as an additional character almost, telling us the story and speaking to the reader directly making observations which I couldn’t help but enjoy, especially some interesting points about the unfortunate metaphors in one particular paragraph about Captain Muldoon. But while the narration is good and funny, at times it is also a bit tedious as the writing takes on an old-fashion feel like classic books written in the Victorian age or before where the language is a little deep and with words I have to admit I found at times difficult to read. I know a lot of words in the English language but even I had to keep a dictionary close by to look up the odd word which, though it fitting in with the narration style, also led me to sometimes have to re-read parts of a paragraph as I just got lost in such long sentences and slightly overly long observations.
Despite this though, I did get used to this style of narration and the more I progressed in reading the novel, the more interesting and easy it became to read. There was never a dull moment and I did enjoy the different way that the chapters followed the story, sometimes following what our main characters are doing and sometimes starting from an unknown place, like following a letter in the post which leads to a chapter about a certain character. I like what happen to all of the characters, with even the more minor ones having a good story throughout. The book really does have a very dramatic build up towards the ending. So many things are happening and it’s totally absorbing and I love how I just didn’t know what was going to happen in any scene! There are a few shocking moments especially with something near the end that happens underground to a couple of characters.
The ending itself is a good one with some nice things wrapped up about all of the characters. It did feel a bit of an anticlimactic ending though, and I’m not sure why, as things resolved well for most of the characters involved. Maybe it’s the fact that I had spent over 700 pages and quite a lot of my time reading this and wanted much more, or maybe it’s just that I prefer more details in a story at the end about what happened in the minutes and days after the dramatic events in the story, but I just didn’t feel as satisfied with the last chapter and ending as I had hoped to. The story resolves well, as I said, but while the majority of the tale takes place with only a few days difference between chapters, the last chapter fast-forwards about six months and doesn’t give as much information about what happened at the end of some of the characters stories. I’m still left wondering how some of the relationships between the different characters evolved, or didn’t.
The book has a map at the start which is so lovely and detailed. It doesn’t list everywhere mentioned in the story but it’s a lovely touch and I loved constantly referring to it. The cover for the hardback edition has some nice shiny copper coloured parts which make it look beautiful! I like the chapter headers too which give a line about what’s happening in the chapter which sometimes made me laugh. There’s nothing offensive in the story although as I’ve said before a few moments at the end were a bit shocking to read and a little more gruesome in its description than I expected given the rest of the story.
I have really loved reading this quirky and different tale. The book takes time and dedication to read but I can’t help but love how funny and often silly the story got. It’s a truly funny read with the narrator often adding to the humour with the way they explain certain things, like the details about Jack’s character (and body) when he receives some post! The story is so interesting too and really takes you on a journey with these characters who are often so funny and so different to each other. I couldn’t help but be engrossed in this story and even though the writing was a little more difficult to read sometimes, especially when extra long sentences or lesser known words broke the flow of reading for me, the tale is so interesting and different and in a style overall that I enjoyed, with a narrator feeling like their own character, that I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a different fantasy story set in a Victorian-style era. While the ending wasn’t as good as I had hoped and left me wanting to know more, the overall story was very good and things are still resolved for the characters at the end which I am happy about. I look forward to more in the future from these authors, it’s certainly a different and unique book to read and in a style that I’d like to read again (though maybe with a little less of the eccentric language used in the narration!).
-Thanks to Head of Zeus for a free copy for review.
Well this is certainly an epic book to read at over 700 pages long and is one that I enjoyed from the start although it did take me some time to really get used to the writing style as it’s different from most modern books I read. The story is interesting with Sam’s disappearance beginning a long adventure for all the characters involved including Sam. The story is a detailed one with a lot of characters and a lot happening and the scenes change frequently to show us the different characters involved in the story, but this was very well written and I never found myself confused despite so much detail.
The world of Lower Rhumsford and the surrounding area is such a wonderful and interesting one. With the book set in an early Victorian-style era I really enjoyed the way the world came to life on every page. The details of the city, its inhabitants, both above ground and below, as well as the details of the individuals’ tales were all so absorbing. This being a hydropunk novel means that while the story is set in this steam-era time, the world of Lower Rhumsford is powered by water energy instead. I love how interesting this was and how it affects all the inhabitants of the city in different ways. I especially enjoyed things like the Tube which is a water powered transportation system, similar to the underground Tube in London!
As the story progresses a lot happens to the different characters, including the little lovesick mouse. This really is an adventure of a novel and there are so many things revealed along the way which I just didn’t expect. Every chapter is so interesting due to the narration which is different to many other books and is both a good and bad point about this novel for me. The narrator acts as an additional character almost, telling us the story and speaking to the reader directly making observations which I couldn’t help but enjoy, especially some interesting points about the unfortunate metaphors in one particular paragraph about Captain Muldoon. But while the narration is good and funny, at times it is also a bit tedious as the writing takes on an old-fashion feel like classic books written in the Victorian age or before where the language is a little deep and with words I have to admit I found at times difficult to read. I know a lot of words in the English language but even I had to keep a dictionary close by to look up the odd word which, though it fitting in with the narration style, also led me to sometimes have to re-read parts of a paragraph as I just got lost in such long sentences and slightly overly long observations.
Despite this though, I did get used to this style of narration and the more I progressed in reading the novel, the more interesting and easy it became to read. There was never a dull moment and I did enjoy the different way that the chapters followed the story, sometimes following what our main characters are doing and sometimes starting from an unknown place, like following a letter in the post which leads to a chapter about a certain character. I like what happen to all of the characters, with even the more minor ones having a good story throughout. The book really does have a very dramatic build up towards the ending. So many things are happening and it’s totally absorbing and I love how I just didn’t know what was going to happen in any scene! There are a few shocking moments especially with something near the end that happens underground to a couple of characters.
The ending itself is a good one with some nice things wrapped up about all of the characters. It did feel a bit of an anticlimactic ending though, and I’m not sure why, as things resolved well for most of the characters involved. Maybe it’s the fact that I had spent over 700 pages and quite a lot of my time reading this and wanted much more, or maybe it’s just that I prefer more details in a story at the end about what happened in the minutes and days after the dramatic events in the story, but I just didn’t feel as satisfied with the last chapter and ending as I had hoped to. The story resolves well, as I said, but while the majority of the tale takes place with only a few days difference between chapters, the last chapter fast-forwards about six months and doesn’t give as much information about what happened at the end of some of the characters stories. I’m still left wondering how some of the relationships between the different characters evolved, or didn’t.
The book has a map at the start which is so lovely and detailed. It doesn’t list everywhere mentioned in the story but it’s a lovely touch and I loved constantly referring to it. The cover for the hardback edition has some nice shiny copper coloured parts which make it look beautiful! I like the chapter headers too which give a line about what’s happening in the chapter which sometimes made me laugh. There’s nothing offensive in the story although as I’ve said before a few moments at the end were a bit shocking to read and a little more gruesome in its description than I expected given the rest of the story.
I have really loved reading this quirky and different tale. The book takes time and dedication to read but I can’t help but love how funny and often silly the story got. It’s a truly funny read with the narrator often adding to the humour with the way they explain certain things, like the details about Jack’s character (and body) when he receives some post! The story is so interesting too and really takes you on a journey with these characters who are often so funny and so different to each other. I couldn’t help but be engrossed in this story and even though the writing was a little more difficult to read sometimes, especially when extra long sentences or lesser known words broke the flow of reading for me, the tale is so interesting and different and in a style overall that I enjoyed, with a narrator feeling like their own character, that I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a different fantasy story set in a Victorian-style era. While the ending wasn’t as good as I had hoped and left me wanting to know more, the overall story was very good and things are still resolved for the characters at the end which I am happy about. I look forward to more in the future from these authors, it’s certainly a different and unique book to read and in a style that I’d like to read again (though maybe with a little less of the eccentric language used in the narration!).
-Thanks to Head of Zeus for a free copy for review.
October 8, 2021
I received a review copy from the publisher as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
3.5 stars
THE CLOCKWORK RIVER is set in such a fun world, which was the big selling point for me. Hydropunk, where a river is the source of power, rather than steam. But the river is dying, and everyone has their own theories on how to solve it. Unbeknownst to them, and quite by accident, at the heart of this squabbling are Sam and Briony Locke, who are going to find themselves tangled up with some very unscrupulous people...
It is a very big book - the graphic below for the first few days of the tour doesn't do enough justice to just how thick this book it. Double the apparent thickness and you have an idea!
The reason it's quite this big is because the narrative style is not a concise one. It's told by a narrator, who sometimes does go on a tangent (ending occasionally with a "I forget what I was talking about", and yes, Mr Narrator, I had also forgotten what the point was at the end.)
If you want a book where the story is in tight focus and it's easy to follow what's going on, then this is not a book for you. This is a book where the narrative style comes before plot, which took me a very long time to get used to, and I did get lost a few times in the many jumps and side-trips.
There are a dozen characters the book follows, meandering around them and the plot. They are very eccentric characters, to match the very eccentric world. But most of the character quirks are treated as completely normal - until a girl wants to show her ankles, and then a mother who will happily seduce footmen goes hysterical. This slightly absurdist feel helps merge the plot, world, and characters together - helped along further by the narrator's fourth-wall breaks and commentary.
It's an interesting debut, setting up a very distinctive style that should be interesting to watch develop over the coming years.
3.5 stars
THE CLOCKWORK RIVER is set in such a fun world, which was the big selling point for me. Hydropunk, where a river is the source of power, rather than steam. But the river is dying, and everyone has their own theories on how to solve it. Unbeknownst to them, and quite by accident, at the heart of this squabbling are Sam and Briony Locke, who are going to find themselves tangled up with some very unscrupulous people...
It is a very big book - the graphic below for the first few days of the tour doesn't do enough justice to just how thick this book it. Double the apparent thickness and you have an idea!
The reason it's quite this big is because the narrative style is not a concise one. It's told by a narrator, who sometimes does go on a tangent (ending occasionally with a "I forget what I was talking about", and yes, Mr Narrator, I had also forgotten what the point was at the end.)
If you want a book where the story is in tight focus and it's easy to follow what's going on, then this is not a book for you. This is a book where the narrative style comes before plot, which took me a very long time to get used to, and I did get lost a few times in the many jumps and side-trips.
There are a dozen characters the book follows, meandering around them and the plot. They are very eccentric characters, to match the very eccentric world. But most of the character quirks are treated as completely normal - until a girl wants to show her ankles, and then a mother who will happily seduce footmen goes hysterical. This slightly absurdist feel helps merge the plot, world, and characters together - helped along further by the narrator's fourth-wall breaks and commentary.
It's an interesting debut, setting up a very distinctive style that should be interesting to watch develop over the coming years.
October 7, 2021
I owe this book, and the author, a longer and more in-depth review that goes more in-depth as to why I liked it as much as I did.
That said, you, the Goodreader, should really consider checking this out if you like cozy hydropunk bildungsromane that hits the escapist spot perfectly (so, definitely check this out). The worldbuilding here is perfectly constructed, on par with China Mieville as far as quasi-Victorian dystopias go.
Is it a soul-crushing Darkness-at-Noon-style fantasy like Mieville can tend towards? No, thankfully. This is a book that says, "You've had a hard go of it, haven't you? Take off your shoes, have some tea, and curl up by the fire with this tale that is somehow both rousing and soothing to different parts of your tired brain." Without ever actually saying that to the reader, because that would be a bit presumptuous on the part of the book.
A very fun read that hopefully sees a sequel.
That said, you, the Goodreader, should really consider checking this out if you like cozy hydropunk bildungsromane that hits the escapist spot perfectly (so, definitely check this out). The worldbuilding here is perfectly constructed, on par with China Mieville as far as quasi-Victorian dystopias go.
Is it a soul-crushing Darkness-at-Noon-style fantasy like Mieville can tend towards? No, thankfully. This is a book that says, "You've had a hard go of it, haven't you? Take off your shoes, have some tea, and curl up by the fire with this tale that is somehow both rousing and soothing to different parts of your tired brain." Without ever actually saying that to the reader, because that would be a bit presumptuous on the part of the book.
A very fun read that hopefully sees a sequel.
October 22, 2021
Well, my goodness this is one huge beast of a book. An epic and sweeping tale which transports you into a dark hydropunk world with a wide and diverse cast of characters. We follow the impoverished Locke family, namely Samuel and Briony Locke, a quirky and interesting brother and sister duo. An unusual premise this novel is set alongside the banks of the River Rhumb, where vast stores of water are channelled from the river and are carried through tubes to power the city of Lower Rhumbsford. It’s a decidedly odd tale with a really strange feel about it, it’s almost reads like a old-fashioned play or classical novel. As someone who has never read anything remotely like it before, I found it new and refreshing and I really liked the combination of the hydro, fantasy and historical elements.
The writing is good and it’s easy to follow, although I did find it just that little bit too long-winded and had this not been part of a book tour I may have struggled to get to the end. You definitely need to set aside and invest a good amount of time to immerse yourself in the story and slowly take the time to read and digest it. The world building is brilliant and this distinctly grimy and run-down world is explored in great depth and detail by the authors. The map at the front is really useful, as always a map in a book of this magnitude is always an added bonus to give the reader a sense of location.
A Clockwork River is a sprawling and lengthy read at over 700 pages, it’s quite exhausting to read in one go and for that reason I think this would have been better suited as a duology. Nevertheless it’s worth persevering with, it’s a unique and interesting read and if you are a fan of steampunk inspired novels (or as this one has been categorised ‘hydropunk’), detailed worlds and amazing characters you definitely need to pick this one up.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted proof and for inviting me on this tour.
TWISTED IN PAGES BLOG
The writing is good and it’s easy to follow, although I did find it just that little bit too long-winded and had this not been part of a book tour I may have struggled to get to the end. You definitely need to set aside and invest a good amount of time to immerse yourself in the story and slowly take the time to read and digest it. The world building is brilliant and this distinctly grimy and run-down world is explored in great depth and detail by the authors. The map at the front is really useful, as always a map in a book of this magnitude is always an added bonus to give the reader a sense of location.
A Clockwork River is a sprawling and lengthy read at over 700 pages, it’s quite exhausting to read in one go and for that reason I think this would have been better suited as a duology. Nevertheless it’s worth persevering with, it’s a unique and interesting read and if you are a fan of steampunk inspired novels (or as this one has been categorised ‘hydropunk’), detailed worlds and amazing characters you definitely need to pick this one up.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted proof and for inviting me on this tour.
TWISTED IN PAGES BLOG
April 30, 2023
What an odd duck of a doorstopper! So ingenious in its creativity, so playful, so confident in its narrative voice, so self-assuredly sprawling, and yet so skillful in how it rewove and returned all the various threads together in an elaborate fractal dance. Sam and Bryony were quite passive in the various events, leaving it to the huge cast of entertaining secondary characters to make events happen, but there were so many characters, and so many events, that it seems churlish to criticize.
Read
December 20, 2022i havent finished this because i forgot to read it for two weeks and I started again but I forgot what happened and there are like eight or nine main characters and it's 700 pages long and I'll read it later I promise
November 26, 2021
This is still a fairly new genre for me, so the world building takes a while, I loved the premise of the story and wasn’t disappointed as I started to read the story. Lower Rhumbsford is gradually fading as time goes by, a ghost of its former glory, as the clock that sits on the banks of the river Rhumb ticks it fades just a little bit more. The founding fathers had taken the power of the river to flow into a Labrynth of pipes hidden deep in the earth, it married alongside valves and sluices to pave the way to power a whole empire.
But now a thousand years have passed by, decay eats away deeper and quicker everyday, as more and more leaks appear and the Rhumb is just a mere trickle.
The Locke family are the impoverished descendants of the engineer. Briony and Samuel Locke seem to be facing their own challenges along with the worn out legacy, neither of them are confident of the chances they face in life. Sam is obsessed with locks and keys, and the beautiful Briony spends her time cooking up love potions and poisons because she is so afraid of marriage, their narcissistic father is only interested in his appearance. But when Samuel disappears one night it’s down to Briony to try and find him, along the way meeting an assortment of characters, a gang of convicts, a ghost with a sassy mouth, a mouse who keeps obsessing. It seems Briony has to work against time to save Samuel before a new deadly power could put an end to everything.
This is a brilliant fantasy read for lovers of the genre, it’s quirky, funny and very well written. But it’s not just fantasy, it crosses genre’s as could be seen as historical fiction as well as a thriller. At over 700 pages it’s a bumper read, perfect for the cold winter evenings.
Thank you to #netgalley and #HeadofZeus for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.
But can Briony find Sam in time?
But now a thousand years have passed by, decay eats away deeper and quicker everyday, as more and more leaks appear and the Rhumb is just a mere trickle.
The Locke family are the impoverished descendants of the engineer. Briony and Samuel Locke seem to be facing their own challenges along with the worn out legacy, neither of them are confident of the chances they face in life. Sam is obsessed with locks and keys, and the beautiful Briony spends her time cooking up love potions and poisons because she is so afraid of marriage, their narcissistic father is only interested in his appearance. But when Samuel disappears one night it’s down to Briony to try and find him, along the way meeting an assortment of characters, a gang of convicts, a ghost with a sassy mouth, a mouse who keeps obsessing. It seems Briony has to work against time to save Samuel before a new deadly power could put an end to everything.
This is a brilliant fantasy read for lovers of the genre, it’s quirky, funny and very well written. But it’s not just fantasy, it crosses genre’s as could be seen as historical fiction as well as a thriller. At over 700 pages it’s a bumper read, perfect for the cold winter evenings.
Thank you to #netgalley and #HeadofZeus for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.
But can Briony find Sam in time?
September 5, 2021
The world building in this book was so in-depth and fascinating, howber as time went on a found this book dragged it heels. I drifter through this book and couldn't find it more than words. I found the MC is trying to much to be liked didn't help me.
October 30, 2022
Near the beginning of the book, one of the heroes, Sam Locke, finds himself in the workshop of a sorceress who works her divination with a key suspended on a pendulum. Sam finds himself thrown into a world of heightened sensation where
"things were more real here than he had ever found things to be before... The chair beneath his thighs, the smells of the spices, the bright key swinging on its thread above the parchment, even the feeling of his army clothes against his skin, all of it came crowding in upon his consciousness... Like any ordinary person, Sam was used to looking at a tree without registering the shape and angle of every leaf, or at a dog without noticing all the individual hairs of its coat. ... Now every object in the neighborhood intruded on him with agonizing urgency."
This is the quasi-psychedelic effect that so much fantasy literature aims for, and which A Clockwork River achieves. It invites you to experience a world of fantasy in intoxicating detail, and thereby awakens you to the wonder that was already around you. The style varies sometimes (I wondered if I was noticing the different literary voices of the brother and sister team who wrote this?) And the book is surely long. But it's a fun journey. I brought it on a camping trip, and found the pages flying by, faster and faster, as the book progressed.
"things were more real here than he had ever found things to be before... The chair beneath his thighs, the smells of the spices, the bright key swinging on its thread above the parchment, even the feeling of his army clothes against his skin, all of it came crowding in upon his consciousness... Like any ordinary person, Sam was used to looking at a tree without registering the shape and angle of every leaf, or at a dog without noticing all the individual hairs of its coat. ... Now every object in the neighborhood intruded on him with agonizing urgency."
This is the quasi-psychedelic effect that so much fantasy literature aims for, and which A Clockwork River achieves. It invites you to experience a world of fantasy in intoxicating detail, and thereby awakens you to the wonder that was already around you. The style varies sometimes (I wondered if I was noticing the different literary voices of the brother and sister team who wrote this?) And the book is surely long. But it's a fun journey. I brought it on a camping trip, and found the pages flying by, faster and faster, as the book progressed.
November 15, 2021
Like a long gentle boat ride down the river with a few mildly exciting bumps does this book go. A book flowing with words with narrative style and prose being the highlight.
The world-building is done well as well. So prose style and world-building, but the characters and plot? Ok, but nothing that sticks out or is not spread thin and justifies a novel over 700 pages. Although I liked the house ghost, Dominic.
The whole novel reminds me of a classic Victorian novel, like Great Expectations, and would also be fitting for a children's novel, if not for the length.
Reading a Clockwork river was a leisurely and moderately pleasant experience, although nothing to make a splash about, although the prose and the setting were remarkable.
The world-building is done well as well. So prose style and world-building, but the characters and plot? Ok, but nothing that sticks out or is not spread thin and justifies a novel over 700 pages. Although I liked the house ghost, Dominic.
The whole novel reminds me of a classic Victorian novel, like Great Expectations, and would also be fitting for a children's novel, if not for the length.
Reading a Clockwork river was a leisurely and moderately pleasant experience, although nothing to make a splash about, although the prose and the setting were remarkable.
February 11, 2023
Steampunk fantasy but speaks to real world, would be appreciated by Pratchett fans especially. Love the characters and their complexity, layer on layer. Slow, dense reading but every word is worth it. So many subplots and no one central character, is really interesting in the way it develops.
November 8, 2021
An incredible adventure my review for this fantastic story is on my blog https://thefallenlibrarian.wordpress....
August 23, 2024
Minor spoilers ahead.
It's not possible to quote from this book without that quote being thiccc, so here we go...
No, it's not Osborne. It's the plot of this book.
If your eyes glazed over during that excerpt, don't worry, mine did, too.
This book reads like the authors are trying to sound like writers from the Victorian era. As a result of this apparent need for literary time travel, this book is twice the length it needs to be.
Have you ever read a sentence in a book written before 1900 that just goes on and on and on and you think there's no way this would get past an editor today. This is of course assuming you haven't been intimidated into thinking that the sentence structure isn't a problem and that you're just a heathen who doesn't understand good literature.
90% of the sentences in this book are like that. Subclauses shoved into subclauses that just don't need to be there.
Another example of this is one of the most r/menwritingwomen sentences that I have ever randomly stumbled across out in the wild.
Yes, that was all one sentence.
I acknowledge that this is a stylistic choice, if you focus entirely on sentence structure and not on the blatant objectification of a woman whose only character trait is that she's sexy. This way of writing does give a very specific voice to the book. I quite liked it at first. But this book is over 700 pages long. You could easily write a 400 page book in the same style, and I wouldn't be complaining.
In a similar vein, there are entirely unnecessary descriptions that go on for entirely too long. The above description of a relatively minor character, for example. There is also a page and a half dedicated entirely to describing a room. A room, by the way, which we don't see again. That should be a paragraph, tops. It makes the book drag on, and this plus the over-embellishment of every single sentence make the length of this book really fucking noticeable.
I have read books this length and longer before. There's a way to make them fly by, and to make the reader forget just how long the book actually is. This is not the way.
Alongside this, the plot apparently decided there was no need to rush. It stopped for coffee, it got its hair done, had a nice manicure and a massage, all on its way to an important business meeting or something. It's 3 hours late but that's okay. It stops to give autographs to everyone in the street even though nobody knows what it is. It dawdled along like it knows it's got 700 pages to work with, so why rush?
I don't mind a meandering plot. I don't mind no plot at all. But good grief just get on with it.
And this brings me on to the characters. The main reason I don't mind meandering plots in most cases, is usually because I love the characters. But these characters...eh.
They're fine. I did find myself liking them more towards the end, and being more invested in them than I was expecting to be, but for at least the first half of the book I didn't really care. So 700 pages of tangents and pointless information was even more gruelling than it otherwise would have been.
A big issue I had with the two main characters - Sam and Briony - was their complete lack of agency. The synopsis of this book implies that after Sam goes missing, Briony tries to find him, and this would be the main driving force of the book. But it isn't. There are a few vague attempts at helping him, but otherwise no one seems that bothered by his disappearance. I probably wouldn't be as bothered by this if the synopsis hadn't misled me. This misleading also implied that Briony has any agency. NOPE. Things just happen to her, and she goes with it. Sam is no better. It's only towards the end that either of them gain any sort of agency. It's like the plot needed both of them to be useless for it to progress.
Equally, while both of them are established as smart characters, the plot requires them to be remarkably stupid. 700 pages of this can be a very infuriating read.
My relative indifference towards the characters was not helped by the lack of relationship building. We get exactly one on-page conversation between Briony and Sam, and we only seem them on page together twice. There are some memories brought up, but I can probably count them on one hand.
The romances also felt stilted. Basically they all read like the authors didn't want to write them at all but felt obligated to. Hot take: books don't need romances to be good!
There also wasn't a huge interest in friendships. Briony often seemed annoyed with Fanny, who was supposed to be her best friend. You don't really see Briony and Rupert's friendship, despite them supposedly being childhood besties. I could go through all sorts of types of relationships here, but basically relationships as a whole are not this book's strong point, so if that's something you're interested in, this book probably isn't for you.
Credit where credit is due, though: the world these authors created is really interesting. They somehow merged steampunk with water and...it works? Hydropunk, babeyyy! Hopefully we get more hydropunk books in the future, because it's a vibe and I definitely want to read more.
So yeah. Worldbuilding: phenomenal. Characters: kind of a slog at first but eventually interesting. Relationships: whoopsie. Writing style: interesting and unique until it goes on for 700 pages.
This review has been very chaotic, but honestly the book sometimes felt like that as well, so let's say I wrote the review this way on purpose and not question it. :)
3 stars.
It's not possible to quote from this book without that quote being thiccc, so here we go...
'"More delays," muttered Professor Deligris, looking out his window with a glum expression at the snowy gulch where the supply road used to be. As he sighted over the parade of abandoned brick-wagons and gravel-pallets that two feet of fresh snow had made more closely resemble a row of fluffy marshmallows than an assembly line of industry, a mysterious perambulating bundle appeared on the horizon. Upon closer inspection, the bundle proved to have arms and legs and other human attributes, but it made only desultory progress. It stopped every three feet or so and bent down to examine the snow.
"Well, I'll be damned," cried Deligris, brightening. "It's got to be Osborne!"'
No, it's not Osborne. It's the plot of this book.
If your eyes glazed over during that excerpt, don't worry, mine did, too.
This book reads like the authors are trying to sound like writers from the Victorian era. As a result of this apparent need for literary time travel, this book is twice the length it needs to be.
Have you ever read a sentence in a book written before 1900 that just goes on and on and on and you think there's no way this would get past an editor today. This is of course assuming you haven't been intimidated into thinking that the sentence structure isn't a problem and that you're just a heathen who doesn't understand good literature.
90% of the sentences in this book are like that. Subclauses shoved into subclauses that just don't need to be there.
Another example of this is one of the most r/menwritingwomen sentences that I have ever randomly stumbled across out in the wild.
'From the sheepskin slippers that lovingly embraced her slender ankles, alabaster calves rose after the manner of pornographic statuary to the brocade hem of her colorful dress, which began just above her knees and was belted very tight above the generous curve of her hips, but was left very loose around the bodice which Posy had not bothered to tie up all the way, so that the creamy bulges of her bosom appeared to be near winning a victory over the noble efforts of the laces to restrain them.'
Yes, that was all one sentence.
I acknowledge that this is a stylistic choice, if you focus entirely on sentence structure and not on the blatant objectification of a woman whose only character trait is that she's sexy. This way of writing does give a very specific voice to the book. I quite liked it at first. But this book is over 700 pages long. You could easily write a 400 page book in the same style, and I wouldn't be complaining.
In a similar vein, there are entirely unnecessary descriptions that go on for entirely too long. The above description of a relatively minor character, for example. There is also a page and a half dedicated entirely to describing a room. A room, by the way, which we don't see again. That should be a paragraph, tops. It makes the book drag on, and this plus the over-embellishment of every single sentence make the length of this book really fucking noticeable.
I have read books this length and longer before. There's a way to make them fly by, and to make the reader forget just how long the book actually is. This is not the way.
Alongside this, the plot apparently decided there was no need to rush. It stopped for coffee, it got its hair done, had a nice manicure and a massage, all on its way to an important business meeting or something. It's 3 hours late but that's okay. It stops to give autographs to everyone in the street even though nobody knows what it is. It dawdled along like it knows it's got 700 pages to work with, so why rush?
I don't mind a meandering plot. I don't mind no plot at all. But good grief just get on with it.
And this brings me on to the characters. The main reason I don't mind meandering plots in most cases, is usually because I love the characters. But these characters...eh.
They're fine. I did find myself liking them more towards the end, and being more invested in them than I was expecting to be, but for at least the first half of the book I didn't really care. So 700 pages of tangents and pointless information was even more gruelling than it otherwise would have been.
A big issue I had with the two main characters - Sam and Briony - was their complete lack of agency. The synopsis of this book implies that after Sam goes missing, Briony tries to find him, and this would be the main driving force of the book. But it isn't. There are a few vague attempts at helping him, but otherwise no one seems that bothered by his disappearance. I probably wouldn't be as bothered by this if the synopsis hadn't misled me. This misleading also implied that Briony has any agency. NOPE. Things just happen to her, and she goes with it. Sam is no better. It's only towards the end that either of them gain any sort of agency. It's like the plot needed both of them to be useless for it to progress.
Equally, while both of them are established as smart characters, the plot requires them to be remarkably stupid. 700 pages of this can be a very infuriating read.
My relative indifference towards the characters was not helped by the lack of relationship building. We get exactly one on-page conversation between Briony and Sam, and we only seem them on page together twice. There are some memories brought up, but I can probably count them on one hand.
The romances also felt stilted. Basically they all read like the authors didn't want to write them at all but felt obligated to. Hot take: books don't need romances to be good!
There also wasn't a huge interest in friendships. Briony often seemed annoyed with Fanny, who was supposed to be her best friend. You don't really see Briony and Rupert's friendship, despite them supposedly being childhood besties. I could go through all sorts of types of relationships here, but basically relationships as a whole are not this book's strong point, so if that's something you're interested in, this book probably isn't for you.
Credit where credit is due, though: the world these authors created is really interesting. They somehow merged steampunk with water and...it works? Hydropunk, babeyyy! Hopefully we get more hydropunk books in the future, because it's a vibe and I definitely want to read more.
So yeah. Worldbuilding: phenomenal. Characters: kind of a slog at first but eventually interesting. Relationships: whoopsie. Writing style: interesting and unique until it goes on for 700 pages.
This review has been very chaotic, but honestly the book sometimes felt like that as well, so let's say I wrote the review this way on purpose and not question it. :)
3 stars.
October 13, 2021
This is a wondrous book, a large one (over 736 pages!) and whilst teen me would have been thrilled to dive deeply into this immaculately constructed world which JS Emery creates, it does require forbearance, forswearing of any other books bar this one (sorry, I am a serial multi-booker!) and fortitude.
There is so much to enjoy in your first visit to Lower Rhumbsford, the social classes, mores, behaviour is very Victorian inspired, and Katherine Addisonor Theodora Goss fans will find much to enjoy.
The fourth wall breaking narrator, speaking directly to the reader, is such a great technique, it helps pull you into the story and is so reminiscent of the joy of being read to, it brings back the indulgence of just lying back, and letting the story take over.
The fortunes of Briony and Sam, the brother/sister team on whom the book focusses, is highly gothic, and their faded fortunes, with the circling antiquarian eagerly awaiting their father's call to take the last things of value is a wonderful conceit, perfectly described within the context of Brie's wardrobe, for example. The importance of maintaining appearance relies on girls and women carefully rotating their meagre collections to ensure that their status, and therefore value is maintained. Briony (known as Brie) however, uses hers to conduct alchemical experiments. She is desperate to find a poison that she can kill herself with when her father finally has nothing left to sell but her, and I deeply adore that kind of dedication to a cause.
Her brother, Sam, is a collector of locks , all kinds of them, some with historical attachments, and between them, they create the most engaging duo who pull you into their adventures.None of the family, including servants and the house spirit, are 100% likable, which makes them more rounded and realistic.
Ambitious? Yes, the authors are taking us into entirely unknown territory whilst pulling on threads of commonality with fantasy and gothic writers, creating their own space on the shelf next to strong fantasy standards. The world building is not so exhaustive that you feel you have read a treatise, you pick it up as it trundles along, like any visitor to a foreign land would.
Appearance, misconception, falsities and ruses all combine to create misunderstood situations and errors which land our hapless family in deep water (excuse the pun).
I am unsure how long this series has been planned to run, but I am excited to visit this world again in a hurry!
Charming, whimsical and deeply different, I really enjoyed it.
There is so much to enjoy in your first visit to Lower Rhumbsford, the social classes, mores, behaviour is very Victorian inspired, and Katherine Addisonor Theodora Goss fans will find much to enjoy.
The fourth wall breaking narrator, speaking directly to the reader, is such a great technique, it helps pull you into the story and is so reminiscent of the joy of being read to, it brings back the indulgence of just lying back, and letting the story take over.
The fortunes of Briony and Sam, the brother/sister team on whom the book focusses, is highly gothic, and their faded fortunes, with the circling antiquarian eagerly awaiting their father's call to take the last things of value is a wonderful conceit, perfectly described within the context of Brie's wardrobe, for example. The importance of maintaining appearance relies on girls and women carefully rotating their meagre collections to ensure that their status, and therefore value is maintained. Briony (known as Brie) however, uses hers to conduct alchemical experiments. She is desperate to find a poison that she can kill herself with when her father finally has nothing left to sell but her, and I deeply adore that kind of dedication to a cause.
Her brother, Sam, is a collector of locks , all kinds of them, some with historical attachments, and between them, they create the most engaging duo who pull you into their adventures.None of the family, including servants and the house spirit, are 100% likable, which makes them more rounded and realistic.
Ambitious? Yes, the authors are taking us into entirely unknown territory whilst pulling on threads of commonality with fantasy and gothic writers, creating their own space on the shelf next to strong fantasy standards. The world building is not so exhaustive that you feel you have read a treatise, you pick it up as it trundles along, like any visitor to a foreign land would.
Appearance, misconception, falsities and ruses all combine to create misunderstood situations and errors which land our hapless family in deep water (excuse the pun).
I am unsure how long this series has been planned to run, but I am excited to visit this world again in a hurry!
Charming, whimsical and deeply different, I really enjoyed it.
October 16, 2021
Lower Rhumbsford was once a great city – an exceptional feat of hydraulic prowess that harnessed the power of the river to power the city. Those glory days are long gone though, today the pipes are leaky, the valves are stuck and the city is steadily falling into disrepair.
Samual and Briony Locke live in a grand ancestral home, despite their family having fallen on hard times. Samual was a promising hydraulic engineer until he abandoned his studies, but now spends his time tending his vast lock collection. One night he takes five of his most precious locks to the Lock, Key and Fob meeting for a presentation, and never returns. If Bryony is to find her brother she will need all the help she can get.
Full disclosure here, I didn’t finish reading this one. I gave up at about 20%, which is why I’m giving 1 star. I thought it was a book with a lot of promise, but it was a struggle to read and at a mammoth 800+ pages it needed to have gripped me early.
I like the idea of the book, a city running on hydraulic power but needing some care and attention to restore it to glory, with a bit of magic and an eccentric family as our leads has a lot to like. There were parts that I really enjoyed reading which is probably what kept me going for so long. Unfortunately these parts were over shadowed by the more frequent sections I found frustrating and hard to read. I found a lot of it to be what I would call ‘overwritten’ – ridiculously long sentences, heavy on the purple prose and loaded with some very unusual words. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with getting out a dictionary every now and then, but it gets frustrating when it becomes a frequent occurrence.
The other problem I had was the sheer number of characters and the way the book would bounce between people and places. It was hard to keep track of who was who, and hard to know which characters were integral to the story and which were bit parts. The blurb leads you to believe that Sam is going to be our main protagonist, but he doesn’t feature heavily in the early stages of the book. From what I read I found it hard to tell who was our main focus.
All in all I do think this is a great idea, and I’m sure there will be many readers out there who will love it. The writing style is just one that I never really enjoy so it’s not the book for me.
Samual and Briony Locke live in a grand ancestral home, despite their family having fallen on hard times. Samual was a promising hydraulic engineer until he abandoned his studies, but now spends his time tending his vast lock collection. One night he takes five of his most precious locks to the Lock, Key and Fob meeting for a presentation, and never returns. If Bryony is to find her brother she will need all the help she can get.
Full disclosure here, I didn’t finish reading this one. I gave up at about 20%, which is why I’m giving 1 star. I thought it was a book with a lot of promise, but it was a struggle to read and at a mammoth 800+ pages it needed to have gripped me early.
I like the idea of the book, a city running on hydraulic power but needing some care and attention to restore it to glory, with a bit of magic and an eccentric family as our leads has a lot to like. There were parts that I really enjoyed reading which is probably what kept me going for so long. Unfortunately these parts were over shadowed by the more frequent sections I found frustrating and hard to read. I found a lot of it to be what I would call ‘overwritten’ – ridiculously long sentences, heavy on the purple prose and loaded with some very unusual words. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with getting out a dictionary every now and then, but it gets frustrating when it becomes a frequent occurrence.
The other problem I had was the sheer number of characters and the way the book would bounce between people and places. It was hard to keep track of who was who, and hard to know which characters were integral to the story and which were bit parts. The blurb leads you to believe that Sam is going to be our main protagonist, but he doesn’t feature heavily in the early stages of the book. From what I read I found it hard to tell who was our main focus.
All in all I do think this is a great idea, and I’m sure there will be many readers out there who will love it. The writing style is just one that I never really enjoy so it’s not the book for me.
October 11, 2021
A Clockwork River - JS Emery
𝒪𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑅𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒷 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝐿𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝑅𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓈𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓅𝒾𝓅𝑒𝓈, 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓁𝓊𝒾𝒸𝑒𝓈 - 𝒜 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀 𝑅𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔.
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝒸𝓀𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎, 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎’𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓈. 𝒮𝒶𝓂 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓋𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓎, 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓁𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓎 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒶𝑔𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒮𝒶𝓂 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓊𝓃𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝒾𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒𝓈.
I must admit I started this book with a smattering of apprehension due to its size, at 717 pages long it is a behemoth.
It took me a little while to get to grips with the story as it is complex and quite convoluted. There are numerous characters to meet, some of whom are quite amusing, at times it felt unclear as to who the narrator was.
I quite liked the siblings Sam and Briony, they are interesting characters and also Fanny and her mother for the comedy value.
The created world is complicated and built around water and locks, essentially hydropunk, extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level but I was able to visualise it, it felt a bit Mad Max! It is retrofuturistic, sprawling and a little bit bonkers, much like a TV series with short episodes that sometimes jump about. I did struggle to keep hold of the narrative a bit, once I thought I’d got to grips with it, we’d move somewhere else and I had to read in small sections to keep hold of it and figure out what was happening.
The plot involves locks and keys, underground canals, water people, a travelling acting troupe, a lovesick mouse and a spirit. There are lots of twists and turns involving all of the characters at some point.
Although I felt it was slow to start, it picks up pace toward the end, and whilst some of it feels utterly crackpot, the convoluted threads all finally come together in a darkly twisted but highly entertaining plot.
✩✩✩
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Thanks to Head of Zeus for my copy of this book and spot on the blog tour.
𝒪𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑅𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒷 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝐿𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝑅𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓈𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓅𝒾𝓅𝑒𝓈, 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓁𝓊𝒾𝒸𝑒𝓈 - 𝒜 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀 𝑅𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔.
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝒸𝓀𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎, 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎’𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓈. 𝒮𝒶𝓂 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓋𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑒𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓎, 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓁𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓎 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒶𝑔𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒮𝒶𝓂 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓊𝓃𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝒾𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒𝓈.
I must admit I started this book with a smattering of apprehension due to its size, at 717 pages long it is a behemoth.
It took me a little while to get to grips with the story as it is complex and quite convoluted. There are numerous characters to meet, some of whom are quite amusing, at times it felt unclear as to who the narrator was.
I quite liked the siblings Sam and Briony, they are interesting characters and also Fanny and her mother for the comedy value.
The created world is complicated and built around water and locks, essentially hydropunk, extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level but I was able to visualise it, it felt a bit Mad Max! It is retrofuturistic, sprawling and a little bit bonkers, much like a TV series with short episodes that sometimes jump about. I did struggle to keep hold of the narrative a bit, once I thought I’d got to grips with it, we’d move somewhere else and I had to read in small sections to keep hold of it and figure out what was happening.
The plot involves locks and keys, underground canals, water people, a travelling acting troupe, a lovesick mouse and a spirit. There are lots of twists and turns involving all of the characters at some point.
Although I felt it was slow to start, it picks up pace toward the end, and whilst some of it feels utterly crackpot, the convoluted threads all finally come together in a darkly twisted but highly entertaining plot.
✩✩✩
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Thanks to Head of Zeus for my copy of this book and spot on the blog tour.
November 11, 2021
Wonderful, imaginative ideas. But so, so long! I think that a lot of the people who would love a story like this would be put of not only by the length, but by some of the rambling. Why put one adjective when you can put 23?
I think this is a good book, but could use some drastic editing, for instance I saw nothing gained by the entire passage of the prose of the play in the second half of the book. Unfortunately, there were many parts which I thought that, had they been cut, it would have improved the book. I did find, however, that it wasn't even possible to skim read or fast read it, as the words were so well crafted that almost every sentence was a delight, there were just so many of them!
This is literary fiction, but in a genre appealing to those who love sub genres of science fiction such as steam punk, although this is hydraulic punk, really. But those who would have loved it may not even attempt it, which is such a shame.
I am surprised that this immensely long book was not made into two or even three books, two with some ruthless editing would have made for a great series. I thought I would get this review done many days ago, it took that long to finish it. As it was, I felt quite proud of myself just for finishing!
I think this is a good book, but could use some drastic editing, for instance I saw nothing gained by the entire passage of the prose of the play in the second half of the book. Unfortunately, there were many parts which I thought that, had they been cut, it would have improved the book. I did find, however, that it wasn't even possible to skim read or fast read it, as the words were so well crafted that almost every sentence was a delight, there were just so many of them!
This is literary fiction, but in a genre appealing to those who love sub genres of science fiction such as steam punk, although this is hydraulic punk, really. But those who would have loved it may not even attempt it, which is such a shame.
I am surprised that this immensely long book was not made into two or even three books, two with some ruthless editing would have made for a great series. I thought I would get this review done many days ago, it took that long to finish it. As it was, I felt quite proud of myself just for finishing!
August 11, 2022
This is a book I really should have enjoyed more than I did. It has some great elements - colourful characters, interesting premise, set in a city that is not-quite-London in barely-disguised-England, undercurrents of household magic, mystery, comedy and a touch of romance. This is the sort of quirky book I usually devour.
But then... the middle third of the book felt so overwritten that it just became a slog. Some sentences are so long they take up almost a whole page and minor characters are described in huge detail then disappear only to show up again 300 pages later for a brief mention. Meanwhile, important plot points are buried under a mass of misdirection, so when the payoff finally happens I felt like I was still missing half of story despite reading 700-odd pages. Yes, it's that long.
It's possible that under different circumstances I would have happily sunk into the detailed worldbuilding and let my imagination live there for a while, and I should probably come back to this book again down the track to give it another go. In the meantime, I'm going to say this book is... fine. Not great, not terrible, just fine. Has potential, but didn't quite deliver for me.
But then... the middle third of the book felt so overwritten that it just became a slog. Some sentences are so long they take up almost a whole page and minor characters are described in huge detail then disappear only to show up again 300 pages later for a brief mention. Meanwhile, important plot points are buried under a mass of misdirection, so when the payoff finally happens I felt like I was still missing half of story despite reading 700-odd pages. Yes, it's that long.
It's possible that under different circumstances I would have happily sunk into the detailed worldbuilding and let my imagination live there for a while, and I should probably come back to this book again down the track to give it another go. In the meantime, I'm going to say this book is... fine. Not great, not terrible, just fine. Has potential, but didn't quite deliver for me.
October 24, 2021
I was sent a copy of A Clockwork River by J.S. Emery to read and review by NetGalley.
This ended up being a really enjoyable book, though it is very long and at times, especially in the beginning, quite confusing. There is a rather large host of characters which aided the confusion as I couldn’t always remember who was who or what part of the story they hailed from! I really loved some of the prose, it was witty and wordy and very ‘storytelling’ if you get what I mean! There were a lot of words that I didn’t know, some arcane and some that I couldn’t even look up! The setting had a rather Victorian feeling and I placed it somewhere in England, although some references, such as a raccoon, set it more firmly in America. In actual fact this was a place with magical and ethereal aspects the set it somewhere entirely of its own. This novel is what I would call a proper ‘Story’ and deserves to have enough time spent enjoying its many tangents and loving its language.
This ended up being a really enjoyable book, though it is very long and at times, especially in the beginning, quite confusing. There is a rather large host of characters which aided the confusion as I couldn’t always remember who was who or what part of the story they hailed from! I really loved some of the prose, it was witty and wordy and very ‘storytelling’ if you get what I mean! There were a lot of words that I didn’t know, some arcane and some that I couldn’t even look up! The setting had a rather Victorian feeling and I placed it somewhere in England, although some references, such as a raccoon, set it more firmly in America. In actual fact this was a place with magical and ethereal aspects the set it somewhere entirely of its own. This novel is what I would call a proper ‘Story’ and deserves to have enough time spent enjoying its many tangents and loving its language.
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