Helpful Score: 3
You know, by all rights I shouldn't be admitting to this. I liked it. Yeah, it is, at its heart, a romance novel. But what the hell. I remember reading Dragonsinger and its sequels and loving the hell out of them back in my teens. This is in the same vein. Johnn Four's Roleplaying Tips #411 introduced me to it and piqued my interest enough to seek it out and read it.
The quote I cribbed from the author's website and it sums up things without revealing too much about the story. And while I like Taya, Cristof and Alister, the world is its own star.
The setting is Ondinium, capital of the city state of Yeovil. Its a stratified society of castes (with strong meritocratic elements) with the exalted at the top (leaders and ruling the roost), the cardinals (technologists, programmers (of difference and analytical engines), lictors (soldiers and police), famulate/plebians (craftsmen and laborers) and icarii, messngers granted the ability to fly at the cost of duty to Ondium. The society is ruled by a republic of the exalted, and advised by their analytical engines (including one Great Engine). It also has ondium - a metal that is lighter than air, allowing the creation of the wings of the icarii and mechanical computers (complete with punch cards) far better than were attempted in our world. Its a steampunk (or would steampulp be better?) world of beauty, intrigue, espionage and power plays, and not a utopia either. Its interesting.
The world is fun and as I said, as much of a star as the human actors of the piece. And Pagliassotti drips and drabs it out, not laying too many info dumps on the reader, making discovery part of the delight. The plot is decent too - I had my suspicions about the plot twist, but not the reasons behind it, from the moment some things are said. There is a separate plot moving along that is just as important as the first, but only dipped into once the first is closed - in some ways it felt added, but not forced. I don't know if that makes sense, but it was good.
All in all, a fun steam punk-ish romance. One I could easily see being adapted for a steampunk style game.
The quote I cribbed from the author's website and it sums up things without revealing too much about the story. And while I like Taya, Cristof and Alister, the world is its own star.
The setting is Ondinium, capital of the city state of Yeovil. Its a stratified society of castes (with strong meritocratic elements) with the exalted at the top (leaders and ruling the roost), the cardinals (technologists, programmers (of difference and analytical engines), lictors (soldiers and police), famulate/plebians (craftsmen and laborers) and icarii, messngers granted the ability to fly at the cost of duty to Ondium. The society is ruled by a republic of the exalted, and advised by their analytical engines (including one Great Engine). It also has ondium - a metal that is lighter than air, allowing the creation of the wings of the icarii and mechanical computers (complete with punch cards) far better than were attempted in our world. Its a steampunk (or would steampulp be better?) world of beauty, intrigue, espionage and power plays, and not a utopia either. Its interesting.
The world is fun and as I said, as much of a star as the human actors of the piece. And Pagliassotti drips and drabs it out, not laying too many info dumps on the reader, making discovery part of the delight. The plot is decent too - I had my suspicions about the plot twist, but not the reasons behind it, from the moment some things are said. There is a separate plot moving along that is just as important as the first, but only dipped into once the first is closed - in some ways it felt added, but not forced. I don't know if that makes sense, but it was good.
All in all, a fun steam punk-ish romance. One I could easily see being adapted for a steampunk style game.
Helpful Score: 2
This blew me away. What I really loved was the world building. I have a very basic idea of steampunk so I came into this book with no expectations and was just blown away at the images of Ondinium while I was reading this book - from a city with winding, intricate streets, to the costumes of members of the different castes, and all the little nooks and crannies in between like the interesting things in Alister's crowded, paper filled office and in Cristof's watch shop. I also enjoyed the idea of card-punch computing (old-school!) being a large part of the plot and a system built upon this that is used to help run Ondinium. It was fantastic! The cherry on the top of all this was the slow moving romance that did not take over the book and worked alongside the mystery of what is going on in Ondinium.
The only negatives I can think of for this story were very minor. One was that at times I ran into a few typos like repeated phrases next to each other and missing words. I'm not really the most observant person about this type of thing so when I do catch it I figure others will. The other comment I had was on the ending well there was a really satisfying HEA for the romance, but the mystery part somehow didn't tie up to my complete satisfaction. The reveal was a bit of a surprise (when I mull this over I think that perhaps I was distracted by red herrings thrown in by the author), and yet WHY also didn't fully make sense to me. Maybe I expected to understand the reasons for the villains' actions more fully than was presented.
Overall: Already one of my favorite reads of this year, I think it's a shoo in for my best of 2009 list. This combines fantasy, steampunk, romance, action, and intrigue into something new and fresh. If you are the least bit interested go find this book. I was so addicted I just read this straight for hours and when I came up for air I was disoriented about how much time had passed.
The only negatives I can think of for this story were very minor. One was that at times I ran into a few typos like repeated phrases next to each other and missing words. I'm not really the most observant person about this type of thing so when I do catch it I figure others will. The other comment I had was on the ending well there was a really satisfying HEA for the romance, but the mystery part somehow didn't tie up to my complete satisfaction. The reveal was a bit of a surprise (when I mull this over I think that perhaps I was distracted by red herrings thrown in by the author), and yet WHY also didn't fully make sense to me. Maybe I expected to understand the reasons for the villains' actions more fully than was presented.
Overall: Already one of my favorite reads of this year, I think it's a shoo in for my best of 2009 list. This combines fantasy, steampunk, romance, action, and intrigue into something new and fresh. If you are the least bit interested go find this book. I was so addicted I just read this straight for hours and when I came up for air I was disoriented about how much time had passed.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book. It was well written with an eye for detailing the characters & setting. I would recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 1
I had this book on my TBR list for awhile. Once I started it I could hardly put it down.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a great read! An enjoyable romance as well as a mystery, in a compelling world with people who can fly! The main character has a job as an "icarus;" a flying messenger with a winged mechanical "armature" she puts on so she can fly. I enjoyed the story. I found it to be a refreshing blending of science fiction and fantasy.
This is the first book in the Clockwork Heart trilogy by Pagliassotti. I have had this book in my to read pile for a very long time and was excited to finally get around to reading it. It was a very enjoyable steampunk fantasy with a lot of mystery and some romance.
I listened to this on audiobook and it was well done. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying emotion and I enjoyed her voice. There were a few spots where it was hard to tell who was talking (the voices just werent different enough between characters) but aside from that I enjoyed listening to this.
Taya is an Icarus, she wears giant metal wings and flies messages around the great city of Ondinium. Her life changes when she spots a failing in the wire ferry lines and ends up rescuing a woman and child from the Exalted caste of citizens. In an effort to thank her the Exalted draws Taya into her life and Taya gains a celebrity-like status. Suddenly Taya finds herself not only embroiled in high level politics but also trying to solve a mystery involving murder and theft.
I really enjoyed this steampunk mystery. There are some wonderful steampunk elements in the story, the characters are engaging and interesting, and the world-building is well done. There is a complex caste system that was well described. I also really loved the city of Ondinium and how is has multiple layers and runs off of analytical engines.
The book is mostly a mystery. Taya is following a series of accidents and coincidences to try and figure out what is going on. There is a bit of a romance as well, but I didn't really feel like this book was a romance per-say (not sure why it is advertised as such).
Taya is an awesome character. She is curious and determined but never gets too serious. She doesnt know when to stop and constantly runs herself into the ground trying to solve problems.
I also really enjoyed the character of Cristoff. He is an Exalted that left the caste to become a clockmaker among the lower caste. He is such a noble, honest, and geeky type that I just loved him.
This was an engaging read that I enjoyed. My only complaint would be that the story went a bit long, I think it would have worked better if it had ended earlier. There is some humor in here as well, which was fun.
I also have a very specific complaint as a chemist. At one point the character smells an ammonia-like smell and identifies it as methanol...totally not accurate. Methanol smells a lot like rubbing alcohol and absolutely nothing like ammonia. I know...I know a small quibble but it bugged me.
Overall this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. This book had some fantastic world-building, lots of fun steampunk elements, and very engaging characters. It is mostly a mystery with a bit of romance. I would recommend to fans of steampunk novels that involve a lot of political intrigue. I definitely plan on reading the last two books in this series.
I listened to this on audiobook and it was well done. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying emotion and I enjoyed her voice. There were a few spots where it was hard to tell who was talking (the voices just werent different enough between characters) but aside from that I enjoyed listening to this.
Taya is an Icarus, she wears giant metal wings and flies messages around the great city of Ondinium. Her life changes when she spots a failing in the wire ferry lines and ends up rescuing a woman and child from the Exalted caste of citizens. In an effort to thank her the Exalted draws Taya into her life and Taya gains a celebrity-like status. Suddenly Taya finds herself not only embroiled in high level politics but also trying to solve a mystery involving murder and theft.
I really enjoyed this steampunk mystery. There are some wonderful steampunk elements in the story, the characters are engaging and interesting, and the world-building is well done. There is a complex caste system that was well described. I also really loved the city of Ondinium and how is has multiple layers and runs off of analytical engines.
The book is mostly a mystery. Taya is following a series of accidents and coincidences to try and figure out what is going on. There is a bit of a romance as well, but I didn't really feel like this book was a romance per-say (not sure why it is advertised as such).
Taya is an awesome character. She is curious and determined but never gets too serious. She doesnt know when to stop and constantly runs herself into the ground trying to solve problems.
I also really enjoyed the character of Cristoff. He is an Exalted that left the caste to become a clockmaker among the lower caste. He is such a noble, honest, and geeky type that I just loved him.
This was an engaging read that I enjoyed. My only complaint would be that the story went a bit long, I think it would have worked better if it had ended earlier. There is some humor in here as well, which was fun.
I also have a very specific complaint as a chemist. At one point the character smells an ammonia-like smell and identifies it as methanol...totally not accurate. Methanol smells a lot like rubbing alcohol and absolutely nothing like ammonia. I know...I know a small quibble but it bugged me.
Overall this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. This book had some fantastic world-building, lots of fun steampunk elements, and very engaging characters. It is mostly a mystery with a bit of romance. I would recommend to fans of steampunk novels that involve a lot of political intrigue. I definitely plan on reading the last two books in this series.
Excellent story, kind of steampunk. Would read more Dru Pagliassotti.
As much as I thought I would love this one, alas, it was not for me. It started off interesting enough and I was very excited but it didn't take too long before I was left uninterested. It was too predictable and the main character, Taya, really started to wear on my nerves. After about 2/3 into this book, I just gave up. I don't even care how it ends. I really think it could've been so much more.
