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Wardenclyffe

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When the city of Valentine loses power, an android named Bit tries to help restore it. Through old recordings documenting the relationship between two young girls, Bit learns of a possible new power source in a distant, unknown town and sets out to find it.

Along the way, she encounters different human communities, learning about the world outside of her home and what it means to survive.

Through love, loss, friendship, and beauty, an android sent to save her home finds the world is more complicated than she was programmed to believe.

173 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2022

4 people are currently reading
5505 people want to read

About the author

Lloyd Hall

3 books73 followers
Lloyd Hall (he/him) is an indie author and bookbinder born and raised in the coastal Connecticut town of Short Beach. He’s known for his Young Adult Sci-Fi books, The Wardenclyffe Series which has won various awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for his first book, Wardenclyffe, and the Reader’s Favorite award for his second book, Mercury. While not working on his novels, Lloyd is also the editor for an independent literary journal.

Before working as an author, Lloyd was an accomplished fashion designer, costume designer, and milliner, designing custom hats for opera and Broadway shows. After hanging up his literal and metaphorical hats, he channeled his love of storytelling into his first book, Wardenclyffe. He now lives a cozy life in California where he’s busy working on the last book in his series.

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5 stars
24 (48%)
4 stars
14 (28%)
3 stars
6 (12%)
2 stars
3 (6%)
1 star
2 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Sam E..
47 reviews
September 13, 2022
Such a fast read, I really enjoyed this especially the story line, very interesting. One thing that I just didn't enjoy that much was when they were traveling it would get boring which is kind of shocking for a 200 page book but I can't deny that at some parts I was slugging through to get to the next chapter, this didn't happen a lot though just one or two times.

I had this book on my want to read for so long and when I finally got it I was beyond elated, so glad that my expectations were not disappointed. Cute cover too!!

On pg.146 I believe there was a typo? "The main source of electricity into my foot is though the artificial muscle,.." I don't know if it was supposed to be 'though' but it didn't and doesn't make sense to me.
Profile Image for Lauren Luchetti .
60 reviews
November 4, 2021
Wardenclyffe is such a “beautiful adventure!” Absolutely adored the story from start to finish.
3 reviews2 followers
September 2, 2021
Absolutely excellent! The characters are so vivid and believable. The story is engaging and extremely well written. I highly recommend this book. Reading it is time well spent.
Profile Image for Graham | The Wulvers Library.
324 reviews94 followers
December 30, 2022
If you’re the last one out there, I hope you can manage
to keep the memory of us humans alive. I know we weren’t perfect, but there were some truly beautiful moments.

Wardenclyffe is the sci-fi dystopian adventure from Lloyd Hall that took us on a journey with Bit, an android that is constantly learning.

When the city of Valentine loses power, an android named Bit tries to help restore it. Through old recordings documenting the relationship between two young girls, Bit learns of a possible new power source in a distant, unknown town and sets out to find it.

Along the way, she encounters different human communities, learning about the world outside of her home and what it means to survive.

Through love, loss, friendship, and beauty, an android sent to save her home finds the world is more complicated than she was programmed to believe.

I'll admit I bought this book because of it's small, purple cover but was entirely enthralled by its plot, characters and embodiment of relationships. Bit goes on an interesting adventure that leads to miraculous discovery and unique distinctions. She is a helpful and interesting character who learns differently. Halls way of showing this development was particularly unique and I found it enjoyable that we see so many perspectives and responsive reactions to Bit and the way that she deals with these.

This book was everything that was needed in a sci-fi novel. Beautiful characters that are detailed and wonderful illustrations. Glorious adventure and heart-wrenching discovery. I finished this in a matter of hours. This was a great start to Wardenclyffe that has me exciting for future instalments.
Profile Image for J. Z. Kelley.
208 reviews24 followers
September 26, 2021
The author and publisher of Wardenclyffe, Lloyd Hall, has a fashion and costume design background, and it shows. Tthe book itself is a work of art. The satiny, dark purple hardback and matching dust cover were illustrated by Abigail Spence. You can’t tell from the little digital image, but when you hold it in your hand, the drawing almost looks like a linocut. It’s stunning.

Additional illustrations throughout the book by Minna Ollikainen help bring the world of Wardenclyffe to life.

Despite its beauty, I had a tough time getting into this book at first.

We got off to a bad start. Though it remains popular, I’m always put off by the sci-fi trope where characters in futuristic settings talk about weird old artifacts they found that we, the readers, recognize as commonplace in our time.

Read my full review of Wardenclyffe by Lloyd Hall on my blog.
Profile Image for Lauren Kidd.
36 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2021
“Would you please define “adventure?”

This book was everything I didn’t know I was missing. Part “The Phantom Tollbooth”, part “The Labyrinth” and part “Wall-E”. A phenomenal journey through a dystopian “California” into a future not far from our own. A story of friendship, hope, beauty and what it means to be human.

I devoured this fable within hours. Every village, every character so beautifully detailed and written. I was Bit, traveling through land, sea and ice to save her home. Heart wrenchingly splendid to say the very least.

“If you’re the last one out there, I hope you can manage
to keep the memory of us humans alive. I know we weren’t perfect, but there were some truly beautiful moments.”

*I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway
Profile Image for Ellie Preston.
41 reviews
November 1, 2022
Thank you to Goodreads and the author for the Kindle copy!

I enjoyed this novella very much! With an atmosphere similar to that of WALL•E and Horizon Zero Dawn, and a simple but complex android protagonist, I was completely drawn in.

My only criticisms is that all the dialog (not just Bit's) felt a tad juvenile at times, and there were sections where a large chunk of time passed very suddenly, and it felt like those could have been used to flesh out the characters and their relationships more.

Overall this was a fantastic read, and I would definitely recommend it!
Profile Image for Sally.
239 reviews6 followers
June 29, 2025
Set in a dystopian future, the world has been flooded and everyone lives in disconnected communities that may or may not have technology. it's giving Horizon Zero Dawn vibes (I love HZD)

Bit the robot sets off to find a power source to save her community of humans, and gets to interact with all these different peoples along the way.

This book is a cute, quick read, but the world building and plotting is a little dicey and I never really cared much about the characters.
Profile Image for Shane Sap.
6 reviews
October 12, 2021
This story was so incredibly immersive, detailed and all around heart warming! It can be a single consumption read, however I chose to savor it. You will absolutely fall in love with the characters and the overall humility of the story. Fantastic read, absolutely worth the time and I would even reread this story which is not something I often do.
1 review2 followers
March 17, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It's a light hearted adventure story that was a joy to read in a couple of sittings. I particulary enjoyed the dialogue and evolution of the character 'Bit'. My wife and I read out loud together and it was manageable given the length and tone.

I plan to read the next in the series as soon as it is published.
Profile Image for Patrick Haga.
163 reviews6 followers
October 11, 2021
This was actually really good. I was skeptical at first because it is self published, but the writer really knows how to craft a tale that keeps you reading. Very interested to see what happens in book 2.
4 reviews
September 12, 2021
Fantastic book! The characters were so easy to visualise and I struggled to put the book down. I read on the tube to work and every day I wished the journey was longer!
1 review
September 30, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this book! It is full of beautiful moments and mystery and has a very vivid atmosphere. Wonderful!
Profile Image for Christina Rittenberry.
72 reviews
November 4, 2021
I read the first 2 chapters. I'm not a big syfy fan. But if you like distopia, future type books this is one for you.
Profile Image for Jenna Breanne.
1 review
November 13, 2021
Beautiful and captivating. You absolutely fall in love with an android. I cannot wait to finish
Profile Image for breanna.
52 reviews
January 8, 2022
this was a “beautiful” story. the illustrations throughout the novel just added to the aspect of Bit’s “adventure.”
Profile Image for Emily | bookswith.emily.
380 reviews21 followers
January 24, 2022
This was such a great sci-fi/dystopian, adventure read. I loved the plot and the characters. I was so eager to find out more about the adventure Bit was sent on.

The plot was full of adventure and discovering new worlds. I really enjoyed being able to discover the new places alongside Bit, and also to meet the characters. The new places are all to unique despite being part of the ‘world’. It was interesting to see how the people from these places reacted to seeing Bit, considering she is an android. I also loved the illustrations in this book, it showed the reader the different places which Bit visited.

The adventure in this book comes from the present day scenario, but also comes from the past. It was interesting learning, alongside Bit, about the history of the place where the characters live. I am excited to see where the author takes the rest of the series.

I thought Bit was an interesting character. She is a helpful character where she is from, Valentine, and then even more helpful when she goes to discover power in other places. Being an android, she learns differently than humans do. It was interesting to read about how she learns about new words and new concepts. I also enjoyed the other characters that the reader meets in the book, some are interested in Bit, others think she is scrap metal. This just shows how different these places are.

I really enjoyed reading this first book in a series, it was such a good start.
Profile Image for Chantelle ellesbooksandbakes.
682 reviews8 followers
November 24, 2023
Cute, creative little read! And at least one star for the cutie patootie illustrations. The writing wasn’t incredible, but it was perfectly serviceable for a little shortie like this.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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