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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
In The Clockwork Dynasty, Daniel Wilson folds steampunk, robotics, AI and history back upon themselves, forging a new yet familiar tale of ancient intrigue and fast action. Can't wait for the inevitable sequels!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The main characters in The Clockwork Dynasty are June, a young human woman who researches mechanical antiquities, and Peter, an automaton or avtomat (a Russian word that means both “automatic” and “machine”). Peter has a “sister,” another avtomat, who looks like a doll but is determined, intelligent and logical.
The world building in The Clockwork Dynasty is amazing. It opens with June exploring a mechanical doll, which pulled me in right away as a doll collector. The story covers the lives of the two avtomats and others like them across continents and millennia. June gets dragged into an avtomat civil war against her will, but she has the knowledge and skills to alter the course of something that has gone on for thousands of years. I would describe the book as a sort of steampunk mystery. Why are the avtomats fighting? It was refreshing to read a book that didn’t dwell on a romantic trilogy – or any romance for that matter.
Wilson does a great job of painting images throughout the book. There are many little believable details about the construction of the automatons. Wilson draws them in such a way that they felt both real and inhuman to me. I felt I came to know Peter and his sister Elena better than the human June. The narrative jumps between Peter’s past and June’s present, but not in a way that seemed at all confusing.
The Clockwork Dynasty is not a perfect book – parts of it were a bit slow, and a lot of questions remained after I finished it. But I very much enjoyed this unusual read.
The world building in The Clockwork Dynasty is amazing. It opens with June exploring a mechanical doll, which pulled me in right away as a doll collector. The story covers the lives of the two avtomats and others like them across continents and millennia. June gets dragged into an avtomat civil war against her will, but she has the knowledge and skills to alter the course of something that has gone on for thousands of years. I would describe the book as a sort of steampunk mystery. Why are the avtomats fighting? It was refreshing to read a book that didn’t dwell on a romantic trilogy – or any romance for that matter.
Wilson does a great job of painting images throughout the book. There are many little believable details about the construction of the automatons. Wilson draws them in such a way that they felt both real and inhuman to me. I felt I came to know Peter and his sister Elena better than the human June. The narrative jumps between Peter’s past and June’s present, but not in a way that seemed at all confusing.
The Clockwork Dynasty is not a perfect book – parts of it were a bit slow, and a lot of questions remained after I finished it. But I very much enjoyed this unusual read.
I should preface this review by saying this genre is way out of my usual comfort zone. So even though the automatons/steampunk/gore were a little much for me, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad book for everyone.
That being said, I did have major issues with the overall plot of the story, as well. The book alternates chapters between the past (1700-1950ish) and present. The past follows two avtomats in their journey throughout a few centuries. I actually found this plot line fun and I fell in love with Peter and Elena as characters, which is the only reason I didn’t give this book one star. In the present timeline, I can honestly say I had no idea what was going on. The narrator, June, is very bland and flat with only one mentioned character trait (curiosity). It’s pretty ironic that I emotionally connected with her, the only human, wayyy less than I connected with all of the avtomats. Also, her entire storyline with Peter just makes no sense. It’s basically a typical “save all of humanity” theme, but there’s no clear direction and it left my head spinning. The end of the plot is left so unresolved and confusing that I thought it might be the first book in a series. But no, after I did a little research, I realized it was just vague and anti-climatic.
That being said, I did have major issues with the overall plot of the story, as well. The book alternates chapters between the past (1700-1950ish) and present. The past follows two avtomats in their journey throughout a few centuries. I actually found this plot line fun and I fell in love with Peter and Elena as characters, which is the only reason I didn’t give this book one star. In the present timeline, I can honestly say I had no idea what was going on. The narrator, June, is very bland and flat with only one mentioned character trait (curiosity). It’s pretty ironic that I emotionally connected with her, the only human, wayyy less than I connected with all of the avtomats. Also, her entire storyline with Peter just makes no sense. It’s basically a typical “save all of humanity” theme, but there’s no clear direction and it left my head spinning. The end of the plot is left so unresolved and confusing that I thought it might be the first book in a series. But no, after I did a little research, I realized it was just vague and anti-climatic.
The concept of this book is very interesting and I became invested in the main characters story. There was some detail lacking connecting the dots which is likely because the story covered such a span of history, but I'm left with a lot of little questions that I wish I had answers to.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Review:
https://immortalparadise.wordpress.com/2017/06/02/the-clockwork-dynasty/?preview_id=2279&preview_nonce=94a6ee8664
https://immortalparadise.wordpress.com/2017/06/02/the-clockwork-dynasty/?preview_id=2279&preview_nonce=94a6ee8664
Intriguing. Not the world that I would have expected but definitely took me places I wasn’t expected to go. Makes one ask what makes someone or something alive. One of the more entertaining books I’ve read lately.