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Clockwork Angels

por Kevin J. Anderson

Otros autores: Neal Peart

Series: Clockwork Angels (1)

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3332377,407 (3.31)13
A novel based on the album "Clockwork Angels" by the rock band Rush follows a young man on a quest through a world of lost cities, pirates, anarchists, and a Watchmaker who imposes precision on all aspects of daily life.
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Mostrando 1-5 de 23 (siguiente | mostrar todos)
I'm very upset right now. I didn't realize how many people took the ending of Candide at face value. That's a fundamental misreading, and is disastrous for the theme and the them of any work based on it.

But all the Easter eggs of Rush lyrics were fun. ( )
  3Oranges | Jun 24, 2023 |
Before I review this book, I need to point out that I haven’t heard the album of the same name by Rush, so this review is based solely on my thoughts about this book. This is a book that I may have picked up in a store because the cover intrigued me but may not have actually purchased, so it being a free gift from Emerald City ComicCon was a plus.

From the first page the reader is introduced to the main protagonist, and it is through his journey into adulthood that we are introduced to the world he inhabits. Initially I was under the impression that, because of his naiveté, this character could not possibly be the one who the storyline would centre around; I was sure he would be chewed up and spit out like so many broken watch parts, but this was not the case. This character is not a complex or multifaceted one in anyway, but he is written with traits and questions in his mind in his mind that will make the reader think; order or chaos, life and death freedom of choice and success or failure, are all covered and encountered by the main character as he journeys through this book. I enjoyed travelling with this character and joining in his adventures so much that, by the time I finished this book I felt I would our time together and I hoped his future would hold good things for him. As much as I liked this character, I did feel that the Author would have done this book a great service by providing an equally despicable and thoroughly unlikeable villain as a counterpart but, despite there not being such a character it really did not pull away from my liking of this book as a whole.

Steampunk is always a great genre to find action and adventure set in semi-quasi historical settings, and this book was no different in this respect. However, if you pick this up and read it purely as a steampunk fantasy you will, in my opinion be missing out on so much more and possibly some of the best pieces of this book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in French literature (parts of it carry a strong resemblance to Voltaire’s work) and also those with an interest in philosophy. This is a book that needs to be read slowly and savoured with time given over to the thinking it will provoke.


Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/07/21/review-clockwork-angels-the-novel-kevin-j-...





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
( )
  Melline | Aug 13, 2022 |
This book takes a bit of time to get into, but I'm glad I did. I finished two days after I bought it, so it must be good.

The slow start comes from a pretty bland opening, with a naive, good-hearted dreamer named Owen Hardy as our protagonist. Having grown up in the sleepy rural village of Barrel Arbor, under the absurdly rigid rule of the Watchmaker, he longs for a bit of adventure and excitement before he gets married and his life becomes entirely predictable from there on out.

Aside from the inciting incident (a mysterious man helps Owen hitch a ride on a cargo train to see the magnificent capitol Crown City), nothing much interesting happens for the first half of the book. He sees plenty of interesting sights, and meets some interesting characters, but until about halfway through it never feels like there's anything at stake for him, and he's never in any danger. Things get much more exciting then, but this book is about a young man's coming of age, with adventure serving more of a means to an end, rather than the whole focus of the story.

What that leaves us with is sort of a cross between Jeffrey Ford's The Well Built City trilogy and Voltaire's Candide. The latter was actually a heavy influence, and there are numerous references to it throughout the text. There is symbolism in abundance (not as deep as Ford's, though), and the recurring theme is the balance between extreme stability (represented by the benevolent, though misguided Watchmaker) and extreme freedom (represented by the villainous Anarchist). It requires the right mindset to enjoy, I think. Unlike most stories I've read, where something goes terribly wrong right at the beginning and the drama comes from the characters overcoming it, the events in Clockwork Angels just sort of happen, some good, some bad, and we get to see how Owen reacts to them and learns from them.

The setting of this story is excellent, though it also takes some time to become interesting, since it begins in a sleepy rural village, after all. It's steampunk, after a fashion, due to the abundance of clockworks and steam power, but it differs significantly from the usual steampunk by the inclusion of alchemy. All their steam boilers are powered by alchemical reactions, namely a chemical called "coldfire." Throughout the book, their civilization's mastery of alchemy lends the setting a unique feel, where lists of exotic reagents (molybdenum, natrium, potassium, precision gems, moonstone, dreamstone, redfire opals, etc.) can create dazzling, magical effects. What's more, since this is an young man's coming of age adventure, we see numerous locales, each very distinct and very well realized.

The characters are quite good, as well. Though I started off not really liking Owen for his ignorance and naivete, towards the end of the book he becomes a much more well-rounded and self-assured character. Then you have the Watchmaker and his misguided benevolence, the Anarchist, with his pent up anger and dangerous "freedom at all costs" philosophy, a troupe of carnies he travels with for a time, and more. It is a world populated by all sorts.

Though it may have been slow to start, and not exactly the sort of fantasy book I'm accustomed to reading, I found it to be a very enjoyable and refreshing experience. I strongly recommend it. ( )
  perrywatson | Jan 6, 2022 |
I should like this book. I love Rush, and I love the album that serves as the inspiration to this novel. So really, I should like this book. But I truly don't. It's horrible.

I've read (more than) enough Kevin J. Anderson to know he's a prolific, and terrifically lazy writer. He gets the job done, like a Big Mac will quench hunger, but it's all empty calories.

In this story, the protagonist, Owen Hardy, essentially gets led by the nose through all of the areas that were conveniently laid out at the beginning of the book. Crown City, the circus, on a supply ship, on an airship, and even strolls around the Seven Cities that no one up to that point have been able to even find. Through it all, he comes to learn he needs to be content, that home is where the heart is, or some other boring soundbite.

Don't get me wrong, there were a few moments of brilliance. The disappearing bookstore, the implication of other worlds, the Asimov/Foundation-like ability to predict behaviours, even the Seven Cities, had they not been mishandled so badly.

The problem was, instead of exploring any of these fascinating concepts, they were tiny jewels lobbed out into the vast wasteland of sand. Instead of capturing our attention, we were treated to a travelogue where nothing really exciting happened. Want an example? Owen was hungry, he offered to sweep a baker's floor. When he was done, the baker refused to pay him. So--dun dun DUNNNN! -Owen stole a pie! Gripping stuff, that.

As well, it felt as though Anderson threw in specific scenes simply to get a reference to a Rush lyric or reference to fit. Instead of stating that a tightrope walker performed with grace, he had to state she performed with grace under pressure. Instead of indicating that Owen decided to go his own way, he stated that his choice was to not make a choice, that he chose free will.

Come on. Write me a novel, not a game of find the Rush reference.

Reading Neil Peart's notes at the end, I saw that this book had a lot of its origins in some rather lofty, classic literature.

Then again, I consider the original Frank Herbert Dune series to be lofty, classic literature and Anderson, along with Herbert's son, took that and crapped all over it, so really, why would Anderson change his method now.

Beautiful book to look at. Great companion album to listen to. Terrible story. ( )
  TobinElliott | Sep 3, 2021 |
It was fabulous!!! ( )
  nagshead2112 | Apr 27, 2021 |
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Peart, Nealautor secundariotodas las edicionesconfirmado

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A novel based on the album "Clockwork Angels" by the rock band Rush follows a young man on a quest through a world of lost cities, pirates, anarchists, and a Watchmaker who imposes precision on all aspects of daily life.

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Ediciones: 1770411216, 1770411569

 

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