The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

John Claude Bemis (Author), John H. Mayer (Reader)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

What if John Henry had a son?

Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—Bemis's debut novel presents a unique way of creating fantasy by drawing on the themes and archetypes of Southern folklore and American legend. In place of knights and dragons are hoodoo conjurers, pirate queens, and sirens. Twelve-year-old orphan Ray Cobb has a lodestone his father gave him that is pulling him to the South from rural Maine. He jumps from an orphan train and connects with the Ballyhoo, a train that houses a medicine show with a blind sharpshooter, a snake dancer, a fire-eater, and a sword swallower. Ray learns that his father was (and perhaps still is) Li'l Bill, a Rambler who helped John Henry win the competition with the steam engine. Ramblers, like knights of old, are protectors. Their evil adversary, known as the Gog, is a captain of industry—a cold and calculating champion of the machine who desires dominion. The medicine show is hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from him as he wants her for her ability to lure people so he can feed his evil machine with ruined souls. As the Gog rebuilds an even more monstrous machine than the one John Henry destroyed, a new generation of Rambler heroes, including Ray, takes up the fight of defending the wilderness. While Bemis's setup is fascinating, the novel is as overblown as any tall tale. The convoluted plot is difficult to unravel, and the connection with John Henry and his hammer not clear for the better part of the book.—Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME END --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Books Ahoy:
"This is one of the best books I ever read! There are many twists and turns throughout the novel that kept me on the edge of my seat. Once I started I couldn't put it down until I was finished."


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739380761
• ISBN-13: 978-0739380765
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.2 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,998,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Claude Bemis grew up in rural eastern North Carolina, where he loved reading the Jack tales and African American trickster stories, as well as fantasy and science fiction classics. A songwriter and musician in an Americana roots band, John found inspiration for his fiction in old-time country and blues music and the Southern folklore at its heart. His grandfather, a train hopper, also had a hand in inspiring John with curious stories of America's lost past. At UNC-Chapel Hill, John studied Art History and Elementary Education. He taught elementary school for twelve years, mostly 4th and 5th grades as well as being a Gifted Education resource teacher. John lives a small-town life in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a mysterious, magical and lively adventure, August 30, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) (Hardcover)

I am in the sixth grade and I read a few books every day and this book I got and finished yesterday is a rare find. It was fantastic and I would recommend this to anyone who loves a mysterious, magical and lively adventure. While reading this story I really felt like one of the characters in that place and time. This book is different from the fairy tale magic we are used to, it is more realistic and is about the magic in ourselves. I will reread it often while waiting for the next book in the series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Adventure, August 27, 2009

By 

J.S. (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Fantastic adventure that all ages can appreciate. A book to read to, and with your kids, while learning about some of the stories at the roots of American folklore. Can't wait for book 2!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT a Book Based on Greek or Roman Myths! Yes!, May 26, 2011

By 

M. Lee (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) (Paperback)

As a mother who screens everything her 11-year-old daughter reads, I had been congratulating myself on being pretty well-versed the different myth and legend traditions popular among middle-schoolers. I was pleasantly surprised to find something new in "The Nine Pound Hammer" by John Claude Bemis. It reminded me of the Brer Rabbit stories I had read when I was little and took me on a thrill ride not unlike Disney's Splash Mountain. The book is a lot of fun and a promising start to (yet another!) new series. I kept picturing the travelling con artists like the two in the movie "Pete's Dragon" - and I loved how the book touched on the Orphan Trains that transported orphans from the East Coast to families in the Midwest. The incorporation of faerie myths and a Chinese girl as one of the secondary characters was interesting as well: we'd just watch an old movie about the first documented Chinese woman in Idaho, and it was hard not to visualize her while reading this book. I am looking forward to more from Mr. Bemis! In the words of said daughter:

"The first book in the series, `The Clockwork Dark', `The Nine Pound Hammer' by John Claude Bemis was an interesting and great read. It had just enough action, adventure, mystery, magic, friendship, humor and even a little bit of romance tossed in to make it the book it is.

"Ray Cobb and his sister, Sally Cobb - though they go by Ray and Sally Fleming - are regular orphans in the Wild, Wild West of the USA who possess a magical, metallic stone that tells them more or less where to go. But then Ray goes off on his own and discovers other kids with magical powers or possessions: will he finally discover who his father was? And does Ray have enough `Rambler' in him so that he is able to take on the Gog, the good Pirate Queen - and Jolie the siren?? (Ramblers are the stuff of legends. Have you ever heard of John Henry? He was a mighty good Rambler and the father of one of Ray's friends. Guess who!)

"My favorite part was definitely when Ray finds Jolie for the second time and she is all-defensive about how she freaked the first time they met. But, thank goodness, they become the best of friends eventually and even risk their lives for each other as good friends should and, hopefully, would.

"I would give this book five stars: one for being funny, two for being very adventurous and two for being a good book about friends and destiny. I sure hope the a sequel is soon!!"