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A review by souloftherose
Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
4.0
'“Would you like to go on a suicide mission?” she asked instead.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen all day.
“I would be honored,” he said.'
This fantasy tale really hit the spot for me - an angst-ridden paladin, a forger, an assassin and a misogynistic cleric are sent on a suicide mission (not entirely by choice for the most part) to discover a way to defeat the strange and apparently unstoppable army of creatures known as the Clockwork Boys who are attacking their land. There's a lot more joy and humour in the story than the plot makes it sound and a dash of romance but this is definitely only part one of the story (apparently the author split this into two novels due to the length). I have already started the second and concluding part, [b:The Wonder Engine|38352077|The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War #2)|T. Kingfisher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517810851s/38352077.jpg|58381662].
In terms of similar authors this reminded me of Bujold's books, especially the Penric stories and [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322571773s/61886.jpg|1129349] (in fact one of the reasons I bought this was because Bujold gave it a positive review) and also Adrian Tchaikovsky's [b:Spiderlight|28765741|Spiderlight|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454623315s/28765741.jpg|48957766] in the way the book riffs on typical fantasy tropes.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen all day.
“I would be honored,” he said.'
This fantasy tale really hit the spot for me - an angst-ridden paladin, a forger, an assassin and a misogynistic cleric are sent on a suicide mission (not entirely by choice for the most part) to discover a way to defeat the strange and apparently unstoppable army of creatures known as the Clockwork Boys who are attacking their land. There's a lot more joy and humour in the story than the plot makes it sound and a dash of romance but this is definitely only part one of the story (apparently the author split this into two novels due to the length). I have already started the second and concluding part, [b:The Wonder Engine|38352077|The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War #2)|T. Kingfisher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517810851s/38352077.jpg|58381662].
In terms of similar authors this reminded me of Bujold's books, especially the Penric stories and [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322571773s/61886.jpg|1129349] (in fact one of the reasons I bought this was because Bujold gave it a positive review) and also Adrian Tchaikovsky's [b:Spiderlight|28765741|Spiderlight|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454623315s/28765741.jpg|48957766] in the way the book riffs on typical fantasy tropes.