Escapement (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: southern earth, steam borer, winged savages, Praia Nova, Five Lucky Winds, Silent Order (more...)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765317095
• ISBN-13: 978-0765317094
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #756,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, January 15, 2009

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

A novel in three strands, unlike the first.

Also unlike the first, it has the opposite problem, with the start being weaker than the end.

The three characters, a young girl genius, a dodgy petty officer, and a librarian find themselves in over their heads, and danger.

It appears in the background multiple secret societies that cross national boundaries are at work (e..g England, China, etc. all have agents of such) although you know little about them other than the general aims. E.g. Religious crazies, Rationalists, and a 'Middle Path' bunch trying to balance.

There are airships (and airships vs submarines), and Brass Men and chases and slaughter galore later on, but it is certainly a bit tedious in the beginning. For a secret society conspiracy piece it certainly lacks tension and atmosphere of that sort.

A book that can't make up its mind completely about what it wants to be, much like the first.

The front cover is great, the back cover with the usual blurb hyperbole not such - for example, Boing Boing delusionally compares the first book Mainspring to the best of Leiber and Howard - clearly they were smoking some of the opium to be found in Escapement to come up with that one.

When you begin to realise why the secret society interest the book comes together pretty well, but certainly a slog at times to get there, while the three main characters are separated. Because of that, better than a 3. Call it a 3.25 with some Martiniere art bonus to round it up.


3.5 out of 5

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book! Vastly Superior To Mainspring, September 25, 2008

By	J. Cordes - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Escapement is a great book. All of the good parts of its predecessor Mainspring are present with none of the bad parts. Because of Mainspring, I picked up and started Escapement with caution and low expectations. Now that I'm done, I can't wait for the next book in the series. This is some tasty fantasy!

My only complaint would be that we only got a glimpse of the many exciting and interesting locations and people our protagonists encounter. Hopefully Jay is planning to make this a long series with many installments, because he's created a world that deserves and supports many more adventures.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK in its way, August 28, 2009

By	Lefty "Lefty" (TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Escapement (Mass Market Paperback)

The book was at least 1/3rd too long. The story of Ms. Childress had very little to do with the resolution and while her adventures were mildly interesting they added nothing. Traveling around the world in a submarine might be interesting reading, but not here. The story of the girl who made the gleam was interesting while she was on the Wall, but her trip to Europe and Egypt could have been improved. I never had the feeling that the author had been to Europe or Egypt. The author enjoys throwing out inferences to shadow groups and conspiracies, but you have to do more than glimpse someone once in awhile having an obscure conversation. The story of the sailor was just repetitious, fight an overwhelming number of people, get wounded, wander on, fight an overwhelming number of people.
As for the resolution, it was rushed and unsatisfying. You never had the feeling that any of the three parts were in danger, so there was little suspense. I have spent hundreds of pages with these people and you want more than a page saying that she wandered off with a character who is minor if not completely unknown.