A review by rosseroo
Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds, by I.N.J. Culbard, Ian Edginton
3.0
Didn't realize there was a fantasy/sci-fi subgenre called "clockpunk", but apparently that's what this is. I picked it up because of the top-notch production values -- I'm always happy to try out a good-looking European omnibus. This one collects a story originally published over several years in the British magazine 2000 AD. The basic premise is that there is a clockwork solar system that is dying, and only the efforts of a teenage girl might save it.
It's kind of a classic setup, in that there's a wise old man living a quiet life in exile, who passes world-changing secret down to his young granddaughter, who must use his journal to gather the pieces to a the key that will restart the sun and thus keep the planets alive. Off she goes on a grand adventure, joined early on by a monk her age who is part of a secret order dedicated to maintaining the system. They travel through the tubes of brass connecting planets, seeking out parts of the key, which seem to be bits of code.
At times it gets a little too trippy for my taste, especially near the end where the heroine is visited by a vision of the creator, who takes the form of someone who's either Mark Twain or Colonel Sanders, then Rod Sterling, and then Kurt Vonnegut. The main strength of the story is world-building, which is full of imagination and richness. Similarly, the artwork is at its finest when depicting structures and landscapes, and gets a little too flat and simple in depicting people.
Although it can be a bit ponderous at times, there are plenty of excellent scenes, and I was carried through the whole thing easily enough. However, it was a bit disappointing to realize toward the end that the story was nowhere near done, and another volume or two will need to come over the next 2-5 years to finish the story.
It's kind of a classic setup, in that there's a wise old man living a quiet life in exile, who passes world-changing secret down to his young granddaughter, who must use his journal to gather the pieces to a the key that will restart the sun and thus keep the planets alive. Off she goes on a grand adventure, joined early on by a monk her age who is part of a secret order dedicated to maintaining the system. They travel through the tubes of brass connecting planets, seeking out parts of the key, which seem to be bits of code.
At times it gets a little too trippy for my taste, especially near the end where the heroine is visited by a vision of the creator, who takes the form of someone who's either Mark Twain or Colonel Sanders, then Rod Sterling, and then Kurt Vonnegut. The main strength of the story is world-building, which is full of imagination and richness. Similarly, the artwork is at its finest when depicting structures and landscapes, and gets a little too flat and simple in depicting people.
Although it can be a bit ponderous at times, there are plenty of excellent scenes, and I was carried through the whole thing easily enough. However, it was a bit disappointing to realize toward the end that the story was nowhere near done, and another volume or two will need to come over the next 2-5 years to finish the story.