Customer Reviews

Clockwork Heart

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really don't know what sort of story this is. It's an adventure, it's a mystery, it's crime novel and a romance kind of all throw into on. Such a complex blend of genre all set in a different world where technology is far behind our modern times in many respects, but has been carefully enough thought out that it makes sense.

At the center of the story is a young woman who works as an Icarus, basically the equivalent of a bicycle messenger only state-sponsored and with wings instead of a bike. The setting is a city-state that supports a caste system of governance. Again, pretty well thought out and not so complicated that you can't follow it. Taya, that main character, is a free-spirited, intelligent, unknowingly pretty protagonist who is drawn into a convoluted series of plots because she happens to be in the right place at the right time to save a woman and child who are members of the highest caste.

Taya is pretty well written and, as is often the case with female main characters in Fantasy works, she blends an interesting combination of stubbornness, willfulness and outright luck. She makes mistakes and causes problems for herself and others as a result and this makes her believable as a character. She is surrounded by a variety of supporting characters that fill their respective places in the story fairly well. No glaringly, out of place supporting cast in this book.

The story follows a fairly quick pace and covers a variety of settings. It's not quite an action/adventure book, but there's enough action to pace the slower social scenes. On the whole, it's well blended. I honestly felt more like I was reading a Urban Fantasy novel than a real Fantasy novel, but the setting is not modern.

If you're looking for traditional Fantasy this is not it. If you are willing to try something that carried hints of Fantasy with no real magic or Knights in shining armor then this is worth the trip. It's not too long and feels in no way like it's the beginning of another series. Kudos to the author for that.

Fantasyliterature.net Reviewer

If you like Urban Fantasies, you'll love this book even though it's a Fantasy. The heroine is decisive without being overbearing and obnoxious about it. The hero is not the standard pretty-boy Prince Charming. In a lot of ways, he seems to be unlikely until the inner qualities begin to be unwrapped one layer at a time.

It's a cross-genre book; however, it's beautifully written, cleverly orchastrated, and so original as to set a new standard.

Yes, the romance is there; however, it's very humanistic. This is not a book of casual lust that miraculously morphs into the forever kind of love. It's a book where the relationship is built one drop at a time, just like in real life.

What makes this book truly shine is the depth of plot, artistic world-building, vivid characterization, and sheer premise originality.

Kudos, Ms. Pagliassotti. Very well done.

Taya is an icarus, a person who's managed to pass the tests to become a privileged, winged, message carrier. This gift allows her to transcend her country's closely regulated caste system. Citizens are tattooed according to class, the lowest working in the mines and factories, while the highest lead the Council. Above it all ticks the Great Engine, a massive machine programmed to guide and rule the people, from the number of widgets that should be made on a particular day, to the job a person is suited for. Taya, as an icarus, bears no tattoos and no responsibilities for the Great Engine's functioning until the day she saves the lives of two Exalted.

Brothers Cristof and Alister Forlore belong to the Exalted class, a group of rulers revered and viewed as special because they've been perfected by the Lady through multiple reincarnations. When Taya saves their cousin's life, she is unwittingly drawn into the Forlore family's intricate world. Alister, a ladies' man and member of the ruling council, is instantly attracted to the petite muscle-bound icarus. And Taya, flattered, returns his flirtations. Cristof, who denied his class and instead chose a menial profession as a master Clock Wright, is everything his brother is not: plain-faced, rude, bossy, and anti-social, but analytical brilliance is something they both share.

When political turmoil erupts in the form of sabotage and bombings, and the Great Engine's inner workings are threatened, Taya will have to decide who to trust. The Exalted, who in public hide their intentions and feelings beneath ivory masks and silken robes? The lictors, a form of police, who amongst other things, strictly enforce the caste system? Her fellow icarii, some whom are vocal dissenters of the current system, or the Great Engine's programmers themselves?

I'll try not to spoil any of the story's many secrets. You'll have to read the book to see which of the brothers uses his mind and snags Taya for his own, but be prepared to be run through the emotional wringer. Treasured characters die. Political intrigue abounds. Even the secondary characters have lives of their own, right down to Jayce, a budding dressmaker, and Gwen, Taya's landlady and, for lack of a better term, dorm mistress.

This book sat in my to-be-read pile far too long. I'm not typically a gushing reviewer, but if you enjoy fantasy and complex world building, Clockwork Heart is a book you cannot ignore. The cast of characters each have their own unique voices, flawless in their mannerisms and activities. The heroine never acts too stupid to live. The hero isn't a hastily sketched, oozingly sweet man, which makes it all the harder for the author to get the heroine (and reader) to fall in love with him. The plot is as intricate as a clock's inner workings, every nuance as carefully placed as a treasured pocket watch's gears. This book made me cry, smile, snicker, and cheer. Having a computer programming background only enhanced my reading pleasure. In a sea of science fiction and fantasy authors who rely on paranormal elements like magic and mythical creatures to enhance their stories, I feel like the one exempt from it needs a standing ovation. Bravo, Ms. Pagliassotti, bravo.

Chris
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This debut novel by Dru Pagliassotti is being billed as a steampunk romance/urban fantasy. And it is all of these. But it transcends each of them as well, making it IMO an incredibly enjoyable cross-genre read. I'm sitting here trying to think of someone I wouldn't recommend this book to and I'm coming up blank.

Taya is an icarus--a member of the messenger class. Every day she straps on a pair of metal wings and soars across the city of Ondinium delivering messages. Life in Ondinium is extremely stratified. As an incarus, Taya is considered outside caste and is therefore able to move freely between the uber-powerful upper crust and the lower level plebeians. Social rank is marked by a subtle facial tattoo. And the "exalteds" (the highest of the high) only go out in public masked and heavily robed, to preserve their grace and purity.

Then one day Taya inadvertently rescues an exalted and her son. This seemingly minor event thrusts her into the realm of the exalteds and into the lives of two brothers--Alister and Cristof Forlore. Alister is the dashing younger brother, a gifted programmer, a rising star on the political scene, and an incorrigible lover of women. Cristof is the caustic older brother who has chosen to live outside his caste, maskless, working as a clockwright among the working class of Ondinium. As a rebel group known only as the Torn Cards terrorizes the city with a series of bombings, Taya is swept up in a murder mystery and must quickly learn how to navigate the deep waters between exalted and plebeian, charm and ruthlessness, and Alister and Cristof Forlore.

CLOCKWORK HEART delighted me. I went into it complacently, wanting to love some characters and hate others unreservedly, but Ms. Pagliassottii's multi-faceted characterization made that impossible. I was forced to sit up and care about all of them, to see their flaws and their virtues, to really understand them and how they were themselves but also the product of the unique world they lived in, the society they were born into. A world built on the carefully delineated contrast between humanity and technology, privilege and humility. A truly engrossing read.

I *really* liked this book!

Taya is an "Icarus" in the mountain city-state of Ondinium. Icari are
sort of flying bike-messengers/mailmen/couriers for the city, but with
a bit more social status than that implies in our world. Ondinium is
apparently the only place in the world where the negative-weight, positive mass
metal "Ondium" can be mined, though it is rare even there. An ondium armature
negates enough weight that Icari can fly with metal wings.

Taya is happy in her job, but yearns to pass her diplomatic exams and see
the world as a (flying) diplomat for Ondinium. However, her life changes
dramatically when she makes a daring rescue during a "wireferry" (the
cable cars which connect the citys different peaks and neighborhoods) crash.
Saving the life of an "Elite" woman and her child propels her into the
affairs of the city's upper-crust and into the heart of the conspiracy
that imperils it.

I'm trying to figure out why I liked this book so well and I think there
are several reasons:

1) The setting feels real and lived in. Now perhaps there are many
elements that wouldn't make sense if I thought about them too hard,
but nothing slapped me in the face and said "I'm here to challenge
your suspension of disbelief!". Not only did it feel real, it felt
like a place worth saving, and you could believe the loyalty the
main characters felt for it. No one was blind to the problems of
society, but they all felt they could be addressed in the society's
own context. The police force was shown to be strict but fair, and
not so bound by bureaucracy that they wouldn't deputize the citizenry
when necessary. There was no real democracy, but different interests
were represented on the council, and the press seemed to be completely
free (if no more accurate than our own). Also there was broad
sexual equality and a general lack of obsession with people's
sleeping arrangements. There were obvious borrowings from Republican
Rome, Victorian England, Mandarinism and Hinduism, but I felt they
fell together well.

2) The characters were engaging. Taya is smart and ambitious, but
no steely eyed hero. When circumstances force her to kill someone (a police
officer who mistakenly believes she is trying to destroy the city's great
babbage engine) in self defense, she feels terrible about it. She is
also able to accept her eventual love interest for who he is without trying
to polish all his rough edges. Said love interest is no "love at first
sight" Mr. perfect either. In the "Night Huntress" books I just reviewed,
there's an obvious "something" about the "fate-ed" lover from the get-go.
Here it develops gradually.

3) The plot was interesting. The other "Juno" book I read recently,
_Personal Demons_ was more Supernatural Romance, with the plot designed
to bring the heroine and "hero" together. In _Clockwork Heart_, we get
enough plot that it would work as a "buddy movie" even without the
budding romance.

I would really like to see some more books in this setting.

Okay, I know that cliche and said a thousand times, but this time I believe the cliche is somewhat appropriate. I bought this book, as I do many of my favorite books, on a total whim. I never thought I would love it half as much as I do. But, then again, I never imagined it could be such a wonderful book!

Clockwork Heart is a fantasy that combines a little science fiction and a little mystery. The setting is both majestic and dreary. It combines some of the best science fiction with equally compelling fantasy and melds it all together into a world that is trully believable.

While the plot is certainly an intriguing part of the story, the characters--as always--are what really bring this book to life. The main characters are delightful to read and are so real that you want to hug them and punch them all at the same time.

This book was a surprise, but I should learn by now to trust my instincts.

While not a big "steampunk" fan, I met the author at her booksigning and figured I'd give CH a shot. The book hooked me from the opening with that wireferry accident. And the worldbuilding, imagery, solid pacing and character development kept me going. The romance/love triangle element was nicely underplayed, unlike a lot of "urban fantasy" books out there that are just Harlequin Romances with vampires or werewolves--this book is NOT one of those. It is a suspenseful read set in a fantastic (yet scientifically plausible) world where the main city is powered by a massive steam engine and Icarus Taya works as a flying courier who is drawn into political and class intrigue.

The only "quibbles" I had were with the team of programmers who showed up later on--it took me a while to keep track of who was who. And the final showdown felt oddly overshadowed by the earlier, dramatic confrontation beteen the book's main characters (trying to stay spolier-free.)

Despite those minor issues, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in fantasy/steampunk. Eagerly waiting for the author's next book!

This book was a delight, a very original theme with varied characters and an interesting plot. Our heroine, Taya, is an Icarus, a messenger who flies using special wings impregnated with Ondium to counteract her weight. The world of Ondinium is a semi-mediaeval many-layered one with different castes who live in different parts of the land with sometimes only an Icarus moving between them. When Taya rescues an Exalted, a member of the upper caste, from a damaged cablecar she finds herself mixing with other Exalteds, including the handsome and charming Alister Forlore, as well as his outcast clockmaker brother Cristof. However the accident to the cablecar appears not to have been an accident at all and when other sabotage takes place, and people start to die, Taya finds herself investigating with Cristof and some other people. Could there be a plot to damage the Great Engine, the mechanical computer that is at the heart of Ondinium? Can she trust those with whom she works? Can she keep her Icarus wings despite having to go against the rules and training?

From the start of this book I was hooked, eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next and to learn more about the interesting world. The terminology, much of it borrowed from Latin (Icarus, lictors etc), is never confusing, although I never quite got a handle on the various Engines and machines and how they worked. The cast of characters widens as the story progresses but it's easy to keep up with who is who and there are some nice touches of characterisation for some of these bit parts. My only reservation about the book is that I didn't always understand Alister's behaviour towards Taya on such a slight acquaintance but it was still an excellent read and I'll look out for other books by this author.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

My first Steampunk novel was Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. I fell in love with the genre right then and there. Then I read Scott Westerfield's Leviathan and knew that it wasn't a fluke. I was officially smitten.

I put Clockwork Heart on my to be read list because first, I loved the cover and second, steampunk, um.. yes! I wasn't disappointed, and in fact was pleasantly surprised.

This was a pleasant mix of romance, mystery and steampunk. There were gadgets galore (even one to predict the perfect marriage!), there were crazy inventors, a strange caste system and.. my favorite thing about this book - a contraption to strap on your back that gives you wings. How. cool.

So why didn't I go all out and give the book five stars? Oddly enough - although I'm not much of a romance person, I just felt as if the book started dragging in the second half when the whole romance triangle thing wasn't there any longer. The mystery/intrigue part wasn't strong enough to keep my attention on its own and I really felt the book would have been better if it'd been about 1/4th of it's length shorter.

But - it's a fun read, an easy one to get into if you are brand new to reading steampunk and..mm, wings. Who wouldn't love that!?

Just a short and quick take on my thoughts...

This book was recommended to me by two friends last year. I wasn't sure about the Steampunk genre, not having read it before, I didn't really know what to expect. But then one friend mentioned it had a really nice romance, so with that I went to the store and found a copy. It's been almost a year since I read it and scenes and images have remained with me. Clockwork Heart was an amazing book and I'd have to say that the author did a superb job with describing imagery. And the characters took on a life of their own. The tone, the tension, the world-building, the pace, the character relationships, the way the society is set up, everything about this book was perfect!

If you're ever in the mood to try something different, I would absolutely recommend this book to you. I was fascinated!