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Clementine [Hardcover]

Cherie Priest (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 30, 2010
Maria Isabella Boyd's success as a Confederate spy has made her too famous for further espionage work, and now her employment options are slim. Exiled, widowed, and on the brink of poverty...she reluctantly goes to work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago.

Adding insult to injury, her first big assignment is commissioned by the Union Army. In short, a federally sponsored transport dirigible is being violently pursued across the Rockies and Uncle Sam isn't pleased. The Clementine is carrying a top secret load of military essentials--essentials which must be delivered to Louisville, Kentucky, without delay.

Intelligence suggests that the unrelenting pursuer is a runaway slave who's been wanted by authorities on both sides of the Mason-Dixon for fifteen years. In that time, Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey has felonied his way back and forth across the continent, leaving a trail of broken banks, stolen war machines, and illegally distributed weaponry from sea to shining sea.

And now it s Maria's job to go get him.

He's dangerous quarry and she's a dangerous woman, but when forces conspire against them both, they take a chance and form an alliance. She joins his crew, and he uses her connections. She follows his orders. He takes her advice.

And somebody, somewhere, is going to rue the day he crossed either one of them.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Piracy meets politics head-on in this steampunk thriller, loosely linked to Priest's much-lauded Boneshaker (2009). Maria Isabella Boyd, a notorious former actress and Confederate spy, is on her first mission for the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. The airship Clementine must deliver its cargo unimpeded, but its former owner, escaped slave–turned–air pirate Croggon Hainey, is determined to recover the ship he stole fair and square. A simple pursuit quickly evolves, and soon Maria and Croggon are forced to fight on the same side. Explosive battle scenes, riveting action, and a sharp-eyed examination of the mistrust between Croggon's all-black crew and very white, very Southern Maria play out in a desperate race against the clock. Though the unflinching portrayal of complex race relations is aimed at adult readers, Priest's swashbuckling tale is also quite accessible for older teens. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Subterranean; Deluxe Hardcover Edition edition (July 30, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1596063084
  • ISBN-13: 978-1596063082
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cherie Priest is the author of eleven novels, including the steampunk pulp adventures Dreadnought, Clementine, and Boneshaker. Boneshaker was nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award; it was a PNBA Award winner, and winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Cherie also wrote Fathom and the Eden Moore series from Tor (Macmillan), Bloodshot and Hellbent for Bantam, and three novellas published by Subterranean Press. In addition to all of the above, she is a newly minted member of the Wild Cards Consortium - and her first foray into George R. R. Martin's superhero universe, Fort Freak (for which she wrote the frame story), will debut in 2011. Cherie's short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Subterranean Magazine, Publishers Weekly, The Living Dead 2, and the Thackeray T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities. Though she spent most of her life in the southeast, she presently lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a fat black cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cherie Priest's second long-form entry Clementine in The Clockwork Century world follows a side story from the Hugo nominated Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books), which just happens to be one of my favorite reads from last year. Having read Boneshaker isn't necessary to enjoy Clementine, but it does add to some of the references made.

The story flips between two perspectives which are both uniquely idiosyncratic and well developed in their own right. The stars are airship captain and escaped slave Croggon Hainey and former confederate spy and patriot Maria "Belle" Boyd. Both are something of a living legend or menace in this world depending on what side of the fence your are viewing from. Neither take crap from anyone.

Croggin is chasing after his airship the Free Crow, which was nefariously stolen from him in Seattle. Belle is sent to ensure the Free Crow reaches its destination without Croggin's interference. Belle is actually based on a true person of the same name who acted as a spy for the Confederate army. Priest builds on her history to create a very determined and dangerous character very much true to life. Clementine's greatest strength is the dialog of the main characters. Each has their own style that colors the characters perfectly.

Clementine is a much more subtle story than Boneshaker, but it is no less enthralling as every chapter moves at a brisk pace. Airship fights, spies, thieves, and giant guns all make Clementine a seriously steam-powered wild ride through the sky, which showcases a larger part of Priest's Clockwork Century fractured North America. The war of the North versus the South is still on going in the late 19th century filled with steam-powered weaponry and mad scientist trying to turn the tide of the war one way or the other.

I did feel Cherie had to rein herself in with the book to keep it to novella length as she clearly loves this world and its inhabitants. Hopefully, she'll treat us to more with Belle and Croggin. Belle definitely has an adventure left for here. I kept expecting more of a intimate relationship to develop between Croggin and Belle, but things do seem to have been left open somewhat in that regard. The story arc does complete itself rather well with a fitting culmination and a few surprises along the way. We also learn being a Mad Scientist doesn't necessarily mean they are a bad scientist.

Priest is gives us glimpses of a world that is wide and wild in a story that hardly touches the ground. Clementine shows off the southern flair that Cherie has become famous for, but will please even hardened Steampunk fans with her ingenuity at keeping everything fresh and yet historically stylized. Cherie still has a lot more in store for us in The Clockwork Century including at least two more shorts and the next full length novel Dreadnought, which Tor will be releasing this September. She is definitely earning the moniker as the Queen of Steampunk, but she may have to duel it out with Gail Carriger in some sort of no holds-barred battle royale.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I just finished reading Clementine by Cherie Priest, which I downloaded and read on my Kindle reader. This was a fun, although short, followup to Boneshaker. Reading Boneshaker is not necessary to enjoy this novel, but it helps to set the context. There are a few characters that will be recognized. The story follows two primary protagonists, Belle Boyd (a former Confederate spy) and Croggon Hainey (an airship pirate who appeared in Boneshaker). The story starts with Hainey pusuing his stolen dirigible, which the thieves have renamed to Clementine. Boyd was just hired by the Pinkerton detective agency, and her mission is to see that the cargo the thieves are transporting arrives at its destination... and, if she so desires, an opportunity to capture Hainey, a fugitive slave whose capture may buy her favor with her former employer, the Confederacy. The two eventually cross paths, and start a wary partnership. It is a great ride. The book is pretty short, but the Kindle price reflects that. I highly recommend reading Boneshaker and folowing it up with this.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Fury
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
With this book and its predecessor, Boneshaker, Cherie Priest has not only become one of my new favorite authors, but has also made steampunk enjoyable for more than just its clothes and gadgets. Clementine is not only ten times more exciting than any summer blockbuster, but features characters that you actually like and care about. My only complaint about this book is that there is not more of it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not Great and Not Bad
this is what I thought was a sequel, and then I saw that it was shorter than the first so I realized that this was a short story about a character that we met in Boneshaker - it... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Joe
Another good story by Priest set in the Clockwork Century world
I found this shorter novel fun and interesting to read. Cherie Priest continues/adds to her Clockwork Century world by giving us this fun, if a little silly, novella that brings... Read more
Published 4 months ago by James Ridgway
Disappointing but readable followup to Boneshaker
Hainey, a free slave in this alternate version of the late 1800's where the Civil War has dragged out nearly two decades, has a brief but memorable part in Boneshaker. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mike
Review of Clementine
I'm so in love with Cherie Priest's writing. Clementine was, I think, one of the best of the bunch when it comes to the Clockwork Century novels. I loved, loved, loved this book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lydia
Clockwork Century novella
Readers of Boneshaker might remember Captain Croggon Beauregard Hainey. In Clementine, he's chasing down the thief who stole his dirigible, Free Crow. Read more
Published 7 months ago by misplaced cajun
Good Steampunk
This is a good, quick read with interesting characters and some over the top sequences. I gave it four stars for its quick story, good plotting and interesting characters. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lance K. Mertz
Fun, Quick Steampunk Dime Novel
I really enjoy this series. Clementine is a modern steampunk dime novel with courageous heroes and heroines on the wrong side of the law who get the job done come hell or high... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Kindle-aholic
Bad science meets bad fiction meets bad alternative history
This is the first Priest book I've read, and based on this experience I'll be very hesitant to purchase another. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ryan
Unique World With Too Much Tell
Overall: This was a really short book, and much of it was unnecessary. I think this story would have been better formatted as a short story as opposed to a novel/novella. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Bluestocking173
Revenge and redemption, with a steampunk infused twist
Loved it! Cherie Priest writes great characters, and her Clockwork Century setting is the perfect backdrop to tell their exciting stories. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Guy L. Gonzalez
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