lusragray's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
blodeuedd's review
3.0
So yes, fantasy romance steampunk is what I ended up calling this book. It takes place in another world, fantasy, there is a bit more romance so therefore romance. And last, the steampunk bit. This is not sci-fi, it is a society that has moved forward and you could place them sort of at the 19th century. There you have it.
Taya is an icarus, she flies with wings and delivers messages. She can fly freely in a society made up of three classes. The nobility, the middle class and the poor workers. One day she sees a wingferry with broken wires, it is going to fall and kill the people inside. She sets of for a rescue, knowing that her wings can't take that much and if she gets caught in the wires she will fall too. But she saves the day, and the woman and boy she rescues are excalted (the nobility). The ones that wear these huge covering clothes and always a mask. By saving these people she is thrown into another world. There is terrorism in the city because all do not think a big computer should decide everything, and the countries around wants the technology. Who can she really trust?
By saving the woman she gets a thank you from a man she delivers a message too, the woman's cousin. Alister, handsome, a flirt, and a great programmer. And his brother, the dark, brooding, Christof who has given up everything and lives with the poor fixing clocks.
Guess who I fell for, oh yes Christof, I had too, he was dark, angry, brooding, like this Rotchester/Darcy mix without the pride part of course. He yells at people, contradicts, and he is not that nice to her when she tries to be friendly. He has a big chip on his shoulder. While his brother is sweet, nice and such a flirt. Not to mention a total hunk. Taya is of course very attracted to him, but at the same time after meeting Christof a few times, well there is something there. Love triangle, I love that.
When I understood how the city worked then I liked this book. I did get disappointed half way through, but had a change of heart. But then again at the end, well it kind of dragged, and suddenly there was more to tell. I do not know, perhaps I lost interest for a few pages cos I just wanted to know how the romance would end. That part may have lost the solid 4 I had thought of given this book.
But it still was a great book, and I just read that she is making more. I will totally read that. This is a great standalone novel, but the world is so fascinating that I wanted more. And if that source was correct then that is the case. I want to read more about Taya, and how ever she will choose, or chose, I am not telling ;)
There is murder, a mystery about who is trying to sabotage the big computer, and the program Alister wrote. And do not forget the romance part. The title is the name of the program Alister has written, btw.
Blodeuedd's Cover Thoughts: Now I know people on covers are not real, but the sometimes do look real, this girl just looks like she is from a computer program like Final Fantasy. Oh and Taya would not show her breasts like that.
Reason for reading. Own copy (thanks Amy C for recommending this one!!)
Final thoughts: A fascinating tale about a woman who flies with iron wings. Romance and terrorism.
Taya is an icarus, she flies with wings and delivers messages. She can fly freely in a society made up of three classes. The nobility, the middle class and the poor workers. One day she sees a wingferry with broken wires, it is going to fall and kill the people inside. She sets of for a rescue, knowing that her wings can't take that much and if she gets caught in the wires she will fall too. But she saves the day, and the woman and boy she rescues are excalted (the nobility). The ones that wear these huge covering clothes and always a mask. By saving these people she is thrown into another world. There is terrorism in the city because all do not think a big computer should decide everything, and the countries around wants the technology. Who can she really trust?
By saving the woman she gets a thank you from a man she delivers a message too, the woman's cousin. Alister, handsome, a flirt, and a great programmer. And his brother, the dark, brooding, Christof who has given up everything and lives with the poor fixing clocks.
Guess who I fell for, oh yes Christof, I had too, he was dark, angry, brooding, like this Rotchester/Darcy mix without the pride part of course. He yells at people, contradicts, and he is not that nice to her when she tries to be friendly. He has a big chip on his shoulder. While his brother is sweet, nice and such a flirt. Not to mention a total hunk. Taya is of course very attracted to him, but at the same time after meeting Christof a few times, well there is something there. Love triangle, I love that.
When I understood how the city worked then I liked this book. I did get disappointed half way through, but had a change of heart. But then again at the end, well it kind of dragged, and suddenly there was more to tell. I do not know, perhaps I lost interest for a few pages cos I just wanted to know how the romance would end. That part may have lost the solid 4 I had thought of given this book.
But it still was a great book, and I just read that she is making more. I will totally read that. This is a great standalone novel, but the world is so fascinating that I wanted more. And if that source was correct then that is the case. I want to read more about Taya, and how ever she will choose, or chose, I am not telling ;)
There is murder, a mystery about who is trying to sabotage the big computer, and the program Alister wrote. And do not forget the romance part. The title is the name of the program Alister has written, btw.
Blodeuedd's Cover Thoughts: Now I know people on covers are not real, but the sometimes do look real, this girl just looks like she is from a computer program like Final Fantasy. Oh and Taya would not show her breasts like that.
Reason for reading. Own copy (thanks Amy C for recommending this one!!)
Final thoughts: A fascinating tale about a woman who flies with iron wings. Romance and terrorism.
audreyintheheadphones's review
4.0
Once I got past the fact that the figure on the cover, shirt open to her navel, in no way resembles Taya Icarus (who dresses modestly unless kidnapped by Jayce the rogue straight n’ sassy dressmaker, and who has short, curly hair which makes sense for stuffing under a flight cap), I was able to enjoy the dickens out of this book.
But I’ll admit I’m picky that way.
There’s really so much to like about this book, and it made me wish that English had a word for re-reading a book you tend to think of as pretty good and remembering that it’s awesome. There’s so much stuff to like about it. I love Ondinium’s cobbled streets and that it clings to the side of a mountain so steep it requires airway tram service and icarii to get around. I love the concept of the icarii, the skill set, the outfit and the culture. I love that they live in aeyries together with terrible meddling house-mothers named Gwen.
I find the whole Alistair vs Cristof romantic set-up early in the book to be really technically well executed, mainly in that at no point does Pagliasotti whang us over the head with Taya's infatuation with Cristof. I use that term in more of a "she is fascinated/irritated by him" rather than "she's all swoony", but look lady, if you're out on a date with a guy and all you can think about is his brother, you might want to look into who you'd really like to be with. Seriously. Every time Taya’s with Alistair, she keeps on thinking about Cristof. It made me giggle.
Also it’s interesting that as a couple, Taya and Cristof’s first physical interactions involve fighting: fighting off her Alzanan attackers and then later just whaling away on each other like kindergartners. Awesome.
I love the holistic quality of the metal-related language in the text and how it keeps gently re-tying you back to the theme of the forge: scrap as a swearword, Fireforged as a swearword for exalteds, a slagging pain in the tailset. I don’t know, I just found the whole system elegant.
(The one linguistic thing I didn’t get was Ondinium; is it the name of the city and the country? And why aren’t the citizens called Ondinians?)
Also, holy bananas but Alistair was a giant toolbag. On fire.
Anyway, there's this moment as Taya's sneaking out to fly Cristof up to the Council's palace on the cliffs -- for which they could and possibly will both be arrested and charged with murder -- where Taya writes:
Now, while I was reading Clockwork Heart, I took a break to look up something in Daphne Gottlieb's first collection of poems, Why Things Burn. I forget what it is I went there to look up, but I do know I read the poems "incubus/succubus", "sanctuary" and "convertible" before getting overwhelmed and having to stop.
Don't get me wrong, I love Gottlieb's work. It's unsettling and uncomfortable and frightening and painful -- everything good poetry should be**. I recognize her anger and her weariness both from the anger and the things that cause it, which in her work at least is so often violence against women, both sexualized and other. And those three particular poems, which I read at random just before I read about Taya filing a flight plan in her best friend's purse before running off to help this mysterious jackass by doing something illegal that carries with it the risk that she'll be killed.
And I realized that I was looking at an all-too-infrequent-in-books form of Survival Skills for Ladies**.
Of COURSE she'd let her best friend know where she was going. Even MORE SO because the errand was so risky. And it made me wonder: why don't we see this type of safety planning more often in books? Is it because we don't want to think about danger when we're indulging in escapist reading? Because it's depressing to think about heroines taking risks and NEEDING that type of safety net? But heroines in steampunk and other types of books are often imperiled; kidnapped, stabbed, menaced, dropped from airships, or, as here, investigating a crime in a way that could lead to arrest, blinding and death.
I don't have an answer. I'm hoping y'all will answer in the comments.
And at this point I don't even remember what I was going to look up in Why Things Burn. It'll come back to me eventually.
But this is complicated by the next lines, which read:
Y’all I just. I just. *deep breath* There’s the whole gun/phallus thing, there’s the whole echo of false rape accusations, and the dismissal of the heroine’s agency thing, and, I quite honestly don’t know what to make of that moment. Even if it’s just off-the-cuff, why was it necessary?
Yeah I know I know: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
One minor complaint and then I guess I should shut up about this book but I did think the Kyle/Lars setup was hella contrived. There’s no other indication about homosexuality in Ondinium, but with such a rigid caste system, I’m not surprised to see it not being explicitly prevalent. But there’s no discussion of what the possible repercussions of that match-up might be. It’s just treated as this juvenile prank by the computer program that conveniently matches up with reality. Very confusing.
*Daphne Gottlieb will always be my first choice for poet laureate. Discuss.
**Which is not at all related to the recent twitter meme #safetytipsforladies. But is related in a snarky, snarky way.
But I’ll admit I’m picky that way.
There’s really so much to like about this book, and it made me wish that English had a word for re-reading a book you tend to think of as pretty good and remembering that it’s awesome. There’s so much stuff to like about it. I love Ondinium’s cobbled streets and that it clings to the side of a mountain so steep it requires airway tram service and icarii to get around. I love the concept of the icarii, the skill set, the outfit and the culture. I love that they live in aeyries together with terrible meddling house-mothers named Gwen.
I find the whole Alistair vs Cristof romantic set-up early in the book to be really technically well executed, mainly in that at no point does Pagliasotti whang us over the head with Taya's infatuation with Cristof. I use that term in more of a "she is fascinated/irritated by him" rather than "she's all swoony", but look lady, if you're out on a date with a guy and all you can think about is his brother, you might want to look into who you'd really like to be with. Seriously. Every time Taya’s with Alistair, she keeps on thinking about Cristof. It made me giggle.
Also it’s interesting that as a couple, Taya and Cristof’s first physical interactions involve fighting: fighting off her Alzanan attackers and then later just whaling away on each other like kindergartners. Awesome.
I love the holistic quality of the metal-related language in the text and how it keeps gently re-tying you back to the theme of the forge: scrap as a swearword, Fireforged as a swearword for exalteds, a slagging pain in the tailset. I don’t know, I just found the whole system elegant.
(The one linguistic thing I didn’t get was Ondinium; is it the name of the city and the country? And why aren’t the citizens called Ondinians?)
Also, holy bananas but Alistair was a giant toolbag. On fire.
Anyway, there's this moment as Taya's sneaking out to fly Cristof up to the Council's palace on the cliffs -- for which they could and possibly will both be arrested and charged with murder -- where Taya writes:
That morning, she'd done what she could to set up her own advantages. She'd left a note in Cassi's purse containing Kyle's letter and describing where she was going and why. She didn't know what Cassi would do when she found it, but no icarus flew without filing a flight plan.
Now, while I was reading Clockwork Heart, I took a break to look up something in Daphne Gottlieb's first collection of poems, Why Things Burn. I forget what it is I went there to look up, but I do know I read the poems "incubus/succubus", "sanctuary" and "convertible" before getting overwhelmed and having to stop.
Don't get me wrong, I love Gottlieb's work. It's unsettling and uncomfortable and frightening and painful -- everything good poetry should be**. I recognize her anger and her weariness both from the anger and the things that cause it, which in her work at least is so often violence against women, both sexualized and other. And those three particular poems, which I read at random just before I read about Taya filing a flight plan in her best friend's purse before running off to help this mysterious jackass by doing something illegal that carries with it the risk that she'll be killed.
And I realized that I was looking at an all-too-infrequent-in-books form of Survival Skills for Ladies**.
Of COURSE she'd let her best friend know where she was going. Even MORE SO because the errand was so risky. And it made me wonder: why don't we see this type of safety planning more often in books? Is it because we don't want to think about danger when we're indulging in escapist reading? Because it's depressing to think about heroines taking risks and NEEDING that type of safety net? But heroines in steampunk and other types of books are often imperiled; kidnapped, stabbed, menaced, dropped from airships, or, as here, investigating a crime in a way that could lead to arrest, blinding and death.
I don't have an answer. I'm hoping y'all will answer in the comments.
And at this point I don't even remember what I was going to look up in Why Things Burn. It'll come back to me eventually.
But this is complicated by the next lines, which read:
”Don’t worry.” Cristoff tapped his bulging coat pocket. “You can always say I forced you at gunpoint.”
Y’all I just. I just. *deep breath* There’s the whole gun/phallus thing, there’s the whole echo of false rape accusations, and the dismissal of the heroine’s agency thing, and, I quite honestly don’t know what to make of that moment. Even if it’s just off-the-cuff, why was it necessary?
Yeah I know I know: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
One minor complaint and then I guess I should shut up about this book but I did think the Kyle/Lars setup was hella contrived. There’s no other indication about homosexuality in Ondinium, but with such a rigid caste system, I’m not surprised to see it not being explicitly prevalent. But there’s no discussion of what the possible repercussions of that match-up might be. It’s just treated as this juvenile prank by the computer program that conveniently matches up with reality. Very confusing.
*Daphne Gottlieb will always be my first choice for poet laureate. Discuss.
**Which is not at all related to the recent twitter meme #safetytipsforladies. But is related in a snarky, snarky way.
lacependragon's review
4.0
4.5 Stars
Clockwork Heart was one of those books I was hesitant about, knowing my dislike of books which forgo plot for romance. I've come across many of these in the past and the title and synopsis of this book made me... leery, to say the least. That said, I was pleasantly surprised! I never felt as though the plot was cast aside for romance, and while there were a few things that did not work, in the grand scheme of things, I still think this book is solid and enjoyable.
One of things I want to bring up is the antagonist. I won't give away who it is, but I loved the fact that the antagonist was a person, not just a force of evil or a random corporation. The fact that the antagonist was an actual character, one with motive and feelings and reasons made the story better for me. It also made me hate the antagonist and root for Taya, our protagonist, even more.
Another thing I loved about this book was the world building. The city of Ondinium (I think that's how you spell it.) is beautiful. While the import/export system is... flawed, to say the least, I felt like the world building was mostly solid. I got a great idea of what the city was like and while the fact that the smog didn't move was weird, it was cool. The floating metal was always fascinating, and is something I play with myself in fantasy worlds. The Icarii and their world really sold me on this steampunk setting, and left me grinning over all the different kinds and how they all worked.
Taya was an amazing character. She was a bit of a tomboy, but she was allowed to be girly. There was no shaming of other girls, and the more feminine best friend, Cassi, was never said to be less of a character for being feminine. There were also other girls in the story and all of them were treated with respect as well. This made me immensely happy, as many of the YA books I come across love to employ Other Girl Syndrome. The fact that Taya could be both physically strong, masculine, feminine, and have weaknesses and feelings, really made her stand out to me from many other protagonists in novels.
Speaking of characters: Lars and Kyle might be my favourite side characters ever. They were sweet, they were adorable, and their progression, while subtle, left me touched.
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who loves Steampunk, fantasy, awesome female characters, and a decent love story that is constantly changing.
Clockwork Heart was one of those books I was hesitant about, knowing my dislike of books which forgo plot for romance. I've come across many of these in the past and the title and synopsis of this book made me... leery, to say the least. That said, I was pleasantly surprised! I never felt as though the plot was cast aside for romance, and while there were a few things that did not work, in the grand scheme of things, I still think this book is solid and enjoyable.
One of things I want to bring up is the antagonist. I won't give away who it is, but I loved the fact that the antagonist was a person, not just a force of evil or a random corporation. The fact that the antagonist was an actual character, one with motive and feelings and reasons made the story better for me. It also made me hate the antagonist and root for Taya, our protagonist, even more.
Another thing I loved about this book was the world building. The city of Ondinium (I think that's how you spell it.) is beautiful. While the import/export system is... flawed, to say the least, I felt like the world building was mostly solid. I got a great idea of what the city was like and while the fact that the smog didn't move was weird, it was cool. The floating metal was always fascinating, and is something I play with myself in fantasy worlds. The Icarii and their world really sold me on this steampunk setting, and left me grinning over all the different kinds and how they all worked.
Taya was an amazing character. She was a bit of a tomboy, but she was allowed to be girly. There was no shaming of other girls, and the more feminine best friend, Cassi, was never said to be less of a character for being feminine. There were also other girls in the story and all of them were treated with respect as well. This made me immensely happy, as many of the YA books I come across love to employ Other Girl Syndrome. The fact that Taya could be both physically strong, masculine, feminine, and have weaknesses and feelings, really made her stand out to me from many other protagonists in novels.
Speaking of characters: Lars and Kyle might be my favourite side characters ever. They were sweet, they were adorable, and their progression, while subtle, left me touched.
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who loves Steampunk, fantasy, awesome female characters, and a decent love story that is constantly changing.
greymalkin's review
5.0
Very enjoyable steampunk lite. There's much talk of gears and armatures but not much in the way of a variety of inventions. The world is well thought out and the characters are interesting and more complex than I was expecting.
singinglight's review
4.0
by Dru Pagliossotti
The story of Taya, the icarus (basically just a winged messenger), and the unexpected turns her life takes after she rescues an Exalted.
I wasn’t expecting to love this book. The cover art was bad, it seemed like it might veer in a kind of trashy direction. Anyway, whatever the reasons, I was expecting to read it and not be highly impressed.
I was wrong. While it never astounded it me, it was an entirely enjoyable story, with some very well-written bits. I especially enjoyed the main characters. The mystery aspect wasn’t incredibly strong, but I’m not sure that it was meant to be. Instead we were given the growing relationship between two people from very different backgrounds (but different in a way that worked, as opposed to inducing eye-rolling and exclamations of “Oh, come on“).
And then there was the worldbuilding. It was fantastic. From the first introduction of the city and society I believed it. I believed the caste structure, I believed the language and the different groups which had developed. Pagliossotti sold her creation like crazy. In fact, as much as I enjoyed the story and the characters, I think the worldbuilding was what made the book for me.
I did also appreciate that, while there are mentions of lovers and this clearly is not a chaste society, that didn’t necessarily mean that we had to have steamy explicit scenes.
I very much hope that we’ll have a sequel to this some day, or at least another book set in the same world.
Book source: public library
Other links: Leila’s review; review at Angieville; book’s page
Book information: Juno Books, 2008
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Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliossotti: This may be the book that surprised me the most for the year. I was expecting it to be okay, maybe, and instead I ended up really liking it and immediately going back to re-read the best bits. I loved the world Pagliossotti created, and I’m really happy to hear that there’s a sequel in the works. [2010 in books]
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Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliossotti: A re-read, because I enjoyed it the first time. Enjoyed it again. I believe there’s a sequel in the works, which is nice, as long as it’s good. [March 2011]
The story of Taya, the icarus (basically just a winged messenger), and the unexpected turns her life takes after she rescues an Exalted.
I wasn’t expecting to love this book. The cover art was bad, it seemed like it might veer in a kind of trashy direction. Anyway, whatever the reasons, I was expecting to read it and not be highly impressed.
I was wrong. While it never astounded it me, it was an entirely enjoyable story, with some very well-written bits. I especially enjoyed the main characters. The mystery aspect wasn’t incredibly strong, but I’m not sure that it was meant to be. Instead we were given the growing relationship between two people from very different backgrounds (but different in a way that worked, as opposed to inducing eye-rolling and exclamations of “Oh, come on“).
And then there was the worldbuilding. It was fantastic. From the first introduction of the city and society I believed it. I believed the caste structure, I believed the language and the different groups which had developed. Pagliossotti sold her creation like crazy. In fact, as much as I enjoyed the story and the characters, I think the worldbuilding was what made the book for me.
I did also appreciate that, while there are mentions of lovers and this clearly is not a chaste society, that didn’t necessarily mean that we had to have steamy explicit scenes.
I very much hope that we’ll have a sequel to this some day, or at least another book set in the same world.
Book source: public library
Other links: Leila’s review; review at Angieville; book’s page
Book information: Juno Books, 2008
-----
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliossotti: This may be the book that surprised me the most for the year. I was expecting it to be okay, maybe, and instead I ended up really liking it and immediately going back to re-read the best bits. I loved the world Pagliossotti created, and I’m really happy to hear that there’s a sequel in the works. [2010 in books]
-----
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliossotti: A re-read, because I enjoyed it the first time. Enjoyed it again. I believe there’s a sequel in the works, which is nice, as long as it’s good. [March 2011]
panxa's review
2.0
While I enjoyed the setting and the basic idea of the plot, a lot of the character interactions felt off to me. SPOILERS Alister gave me the creeps immediately, and I didn't understand how Taya (who is supposed to be good at reading people) couldn't sense something wrong. Her attraction to him felt weird and forced, which meant that I was expecting him to do something evil from their first meeting.
kimberlybea's review
4.0
Clockwork Heart is a fantasy* that brings in elements of steampunk, romance, and mystery to create a terrific escapist read. Taya is an icarus, a courier who flies above the city of Ondinium on lighter than air wings. When she saves the life of an Exalted, a member of the highest caste in Ondinium, she is entangled in a mystery involving terrorism and treason. Also involved are two very different brothers, scions of the exalted Forlore clan: charming and brilliant Alister, who works on the Great Engine, and the awkward, sarcastic Cristof, who voluntarily lives in the poorest sector fixing clocks. The world-building here is solid: social classes do not mix in Ondinium, and the Exalteds do not even expose their faces to the lower classes, instead walking about robed and masked. It's a caste system kept rigidly in place by the belief that the Lady rewards the virtuous by moving them up the social ladder in their next lives. I really like the interaction between Taya and the Forlore brothers, which reminded me of the "romantic suspense" novels I used to love in my misspent youth. The plot moves quite quickly, with plenty of excitement and a healthy dose of social criticism. If there is one false note in this tale, it is in the mystery itself, the clues to which came to light a bit too easily, in my opinion. But I was willing to overlook that (or maybe excuse it, since I was reading on the plane, and that's not my best reading environment) for the sake of the imaginative world-building, intriguing characters, and exciting plot.
*If you see the word "fantasy" and think wizards and dragons, Clockwork Heart will defy your expectations. There is no magic here, except for ondium, a lighter than air metal. So maybe it's science fiction? All I know is I liked it!
*If you see the word "fantasy" and think wizards and dragons, Clockwork Heart will defy your expectations. There is no magic here, except for ondium, a lighter than air metal. So maybe it's science fiction? All I know is I liked it!
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