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A review by alina_leonova
Clockwork Stars by E.R. Johnson
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Clockwork stars is a dystopian novel with steampunk elements. The story takes place on New Earth, a world that people have escaped to after devastating their home planet. Something strange has happened here. There was an explosion, followed by chaos and the disappearance of the population. The book follows two protagonists who try to find their place in the new world: Astra, a teenage girl who has lost her family and Flynn, a traumatized soldier with mysteriously dark past.
The narrative is in the first person, switching between the protagonists.
It starts with Astra, living alone as if she’s the only person left on the planet. The mood set from the very beginning seems somber and grim, the narrative introspective and detached, suiting the desolated, lonely world of New Earth. The details about the apocalyptic event that left the world in its current state are filled when we jump a year into the past. The narrative keeps switching between the past and present, allowing us to discover more about the characters, however, not much is clear until the very end, and after each peek into the past, I was left with more questions.
The pacing is slow, not much happens, and we spend most of the time in the protagonists’ heads, focusing mainly on spaces in between the occasional events, conversations or musings about those events, recollections and flashbacks, but not the events themselves.
I do love when the author allows a glimpse into their characters minds, but in this case, I had a couple of issues. First, there was no difference between the protagonists’ voices. If it weren’t for their names in chapter titles or details about them, it would be impossible to distinguish between them. Second, I missed being in the moment together with the characters, experiencing it with them. The narrative seems to brush the events briefly, in a detached manner, quickly moving on. I mentioned earlier that not much happened in the book, but maybe that’s not exactly the case, it’s just that little attention is paid to those meaningful situations that move the story forward, while most of the attention is focused on things like walking, thinking, talking, etc. We are constantly in the characters heads, but they seem detached from their own experiences, merely observing them, not living through them.
Because of all the above, the book felt a bit monotonous, and my mind started wondering at times. Still, I was curious what would happen next, wanted to know more about Flynn and the event that led to all the destruction. I enjoyed the steampunk elements, most of which appear in the second half of the story, when the conspiracy behind the mysterious apocalyptic event is uncovered. There were some questions that remained unanswered (like what was the source of Flynn's trauma before the military? What was the reason for the first explosion? Who did it? The government to take the people and turn them into robots? But what for, I mean they could just take people without blowing things up? And what exactly was it, the red sky and all?) and a couple of things that I found hard to believe (like Flynn choosing a teenage girl who has an aversion to violence and no combat skills to accompany him on a dangerous mission, even though he lives in a community of people, some of whom would surely be better; or when he just guesses the code to the locked door trying the combinations out) but overall it was an interesting story in an unusual setting, sometimes visually striking. I think the atmosphere the author managed to create perfectly suits the dystopian, broken world of New Earth.
The book explores the subjects of trauma, loss and loneliness, and there is a dedication “for those who feel trapped by mental health” in the beginning. To me it felt like the novel was mostly about those things, and the dystopian story merely created a setting for exploring the psychology of the people who have to deal with trauma. As if the key focus of the book was creating an immersive experience that would allow the reader to have a glimpse into the mind of a traumatized person.
The ending seemed unexpectedly hopeful. The importance of friendship, family and having people you can rely on is another theme that appears throughout the book.
To be completely honest, based on my personal enjoyment I'd give the book 3 stars, but I'm aware how subjective my perception is, and this is the first rating, so I don't want to reduce the chances of the book to be discovered by people who would enjoy it more.
You might enjoy the novel if you like slow-paced, introspective stories set in a dystopian, steampunk environment.
After realizing that most of the sci-fi books I've read were written by men, I've started a blog about sci-fi by female and non-binary authors, where I review books by famous as well as indie and self-published authors. If that's something you might be interested in, check it out!
The narrative is in the first person, switching between the protagonists.
It starts with Astra, living alone as if she’s the only person left on the planet. The mood set from the very beginning seems somber and grim, the narrative introspective and detached, suiting the desolated, lonely world of New Earth. The details about the apocalyptic event that left the world in its current state are filled when we jump a year into the past. The narrative keeps switching between the past and present, allowing us to discover more about the characters, however, not much is clear until the very end, and after each peek into the past, I was left with more questions.
The pacing is slow, not much happens, and we spend most of the time in the protagonists’ heads, focusing mainly on spaces in between the occasional events, conversations or musings about those events, recollections and flashbacks, but not the events themselves.
I do love when the author allows a glimpse into their characters minds, but in this case, I had a couple of issues. First, there was no difference between the protagonists’ voices. If it weren’t for their names in chapter titles or details about them, it would be impossible to distinguish between them. Second, I missed being in the moment together with the characters, experiencing it with them. The narrative seems to brush the events briefly, in a detached manner, quickly moving on. I mentioned earlier that not much happened in the book, but maybe that’s not exactly the case, it’s just that little attention is paid to those meaningful situations that move the story forward, while most of the attention is focused on things like walking, thinking, talking, etc. We are constantly in the characters heads, but they seem detached from their own experiences, merely observing them, not living through them.
Because of all the above, the book felt a bit monotonous, and my mind started wondering at times. Still, I was curious what would happen next, wanted to know more about Flynn and the event that led to all the destruction. I enjoyed the steampunk elements, most of which appear in the second half of the story, when the conspiracy behind the mysterious apocalyptic event is uncovered. There were some questions that remained unanswered (like what was the source of Flynn's trauma before the military? What was the reason for the first explosion? Who did it? The government to take the people and turn them into robots? But what for, I mean they could just take people without blowing things up? And what exactly was it, the red sky and all?) and a couple of things that I found hard to believe (like Flynn choosing a teenage girl who has an aversion to violence and no combat skills to accompany him on a dangerous mission, even though he lives in a community of people, some of whom would surely be better; or when he just guesses the code to the locked door trying the combinations out) but overall it was an interesting story in an unusual setting, sometimes visually striking. I think the atmosphere the author managed to create perfectly suits the dystopian, broken world of New Earth.
The book explores the subjects of trauma, loss and loneliness, and there is a dedication “for those who feel trapped by mental health” in the beginning. To me it felt like the novel was mostly about those things, and the dystopian story merely created a setting for exploring the psychology of the people who have to deal with trauma. As if the key focus of the book was creating an immersive experience that would allow the reader to have a glimpse into the mind of a traumatized person.
The ending seemed unexpectedly hopeful. The importance of friendship, family and having people you can rely on is another theme that appears throughout the book.
To be completely honest, based on my personal enjoyment I'd give the book 3 stars, but I'm aware how subjective my perception is, and this is the first rating, so I don't want to reduce the chances of the book to be discovered by people who would enjoy it more.
You might enjoy the novel if you like slow-paced, introspective stories set in a dystopian, steampunk environment.
After realizing that most of the sci-fi books I've read were written by men, I've started a blog about sci-fi by female and non-binary authors, where I review books by famous as well as indie and self-published authors. If that's something you might be interested in, check it out!