My FIve Word TL:DR Review:The RIght Book/Right Time

I was really happy to pick up Clockwork Boys, I’m really enjoying Kingfisher’s books, she has such a lovely style and she writes such great characters.  There’s always a bit of humour injected and more often than not a low stake style romance in the offing that never threatens to become all encompassing.

The story gets off to a quick start.  We meet Slate as she peruses the inmates of a jail looking for a likely character to join an impossible mission.  Slate has a mission, to travel across hostile land and infiltrate the neighbouring city that her country is currently at war with – and in dire need of help.  The enemy have a robotic sort of army and Slate and her companions need to cross the country, secretly enter Anuket City, and find out the secrets of the Clockwork Boys.

This is quite a short story but there’s no shortage of action or likable characters.

Slate, and two of her companions, are criminals.  Should they succeed on their mission pardons will be forthcoming and to keep them in line and prevent any wild ideas about absconding they’re tattooed with a magical image – a tattoo that will literally attack them should they veer from the mission.

So, Slate is a forger.  Brenner is an assassin and Calliban (the newest recruit) is a disgraced paladin who seems to harbour a dead demon.  To complicate matters further Slate and Brenner previously shared an intimate relationship which has now ended although Brenner still hopes for things to be rekindled.  Calliban also fairly quickly forms an attraction to the prickly leader of the group and this adds an extra layer in the form of Brenner and Calliban constantly having a go at each other.  The three are joined by a scholar with some very sheltered opinions when it comes to female leadership.  Anyway, off they set, they have little hope and Slate is definitely harboring some sort of secret that will come to light in book 2.

What I really liked about this.  The writing is lovely, which wasn’t a surprise given the author.  The characters are actually really good fun.  Kingfisher is adept at inserting humour into salty situations and I just love that about her work.

The characters are really put through the mill with all sorts of weird encounters – not least of which being attacked by vegetables, kidnapped by scary ‘deer’ beasts and traversing an unusual landscape that can change on a whim.

I would mention that this book is not a standalone and indeed finishes at what I would say is probably the halfway point.  I didn’t find this a problem although I have a deep hankering for the next book already.

I had a very good time with this, it’s entertaining, the characters are easy to get along with, there’s enough adventure to make the pages practically turn themselves and, put bluntly, I had a lot of fun.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars