Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Clockwork Boys

Bleak and humorous, CLOCKWORK BOYS follows three convicted criminals and a scholar sent to find out what they can about the terrifying and murderous "Clockwork Boys" who have been devastating their towns and villages.

As a journey narrative, CLOCKWORK BOYS focuses on the dynamic between the members of the party, as well as the internal struggles of the two point-of-view characters. Slate is a forger, Brenner is an assassin, Caliban is a paladin who has a dead demon rotting in his skull, they're on this trip in hopes of a pardon if they survive. Learned Edmund is a formerly cloistered misogynist from an order who prizes learning and instills a fear of mere proximity to women. There's a mix of genuine character growth and learning each other's edges, the kind of forced intimacy which is fostered by a suicide mission with terrible travel conditions in the middle of a war. The worldbuilding is conveyed through a mix of exposition, character reactions, and things encountered as they travel. Slate and Caliban think about themselves and their companions, often thinking things they don't dare or don't know how to say out loud.

CLOCKWORK BOYS ends on a cliffhanger, as the characters joined together and undertook a journey to a particular city, and the narrative abruptly ends when they arrive at their destination. The story is continued in THE WONDER ENGINE. Since it's the first book in a duology, it doesn't completely tie off anything before it ends, except perhaps that stage one of the plan (the journey there) is done and what remains is entering the city and maybe surviving (maybe not). The characters have been changed by the journey, now it remains to be seen whether they'll survive their destination.

I loved this and am excited to read the sequel!

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teaxmillions's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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rainydayreading's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

It usually takes me about 30-50 pages to really get into a book but this one pulled me in within a few pages. This is was fun fantasy adventure story that feels like follow along with a game of DnD. It's lighthearted and fast-paced, lots of witty banter, tropey character archetypes (Brooding paladin, mischievous assassin, high-strung scholar, etc.). The author gets right into the story, so you don't have to spend time on exposition and world building before getting into the plot. Read this in one sitting and had a great afternoon.

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I will very likely be making my way through the majority of T. Kingfisher's (and perhaps even the Ursula Vernon) backlog this year since I haven't had a single miss yet.

Also, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate "older" characters who actually act their age (or at least somewhat believably so). The main female is 30, one of the main male characters is 37.

The worldbuilding was interesting though somewhat sparse (what's the deal with the gods?, what's the reason for the war?, what's the deal with demons?), and the back and forth between the ragtag bunch on a suicide mission was hilarious. I do think that it didn't need to be split into two volumes since it ends pretty abruptly. I would have happily read more than a thousand pages in this series.

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beholderess's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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vittorioseg's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's a story about redemption, about growing, about having difficult circumstances and adapting to them. It's about losing and about winning and how to live when you win but still lost things, people, yourself.

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