A review by namaenani
Clockwork Lives by Neil Peart, Kevin J. Anderson
3.0
So... the worldbuilding in this book is lovely, and the individual vignettes are great, but I just can't get past the premise.
The idea that this man had a fortune hidden away, and allowed his daughter to make her life smaller and smaller in order to take care of him, then used his will to forcibly evict her from her home after his death is...bad.
If he had this fortune, and wanted her to travel, why does he need an ultimatum and a magic book? Hire a nurse to do home care, then send Marinda out to have adventures. He could even tell her it's what he would have done with his life if he could have, and all he wants is for her to bring back tales to tell. It would have opened her world before his death, and not felt like an ASTOUNDINGLY cruel dismissal of his daughter's agency and autonomy.
Regardless of how much Marinda ended up enjoying her adventures, I could not get past the fact that she was forced out of her home mere days after her father's death and told only that it was for her own good.
Ew.
The idea that this man had a fortune hidden away, and allowed his daughter to make her life smaller and smaller in order to take care of him, then used his will to forcibly evict her from her home after his death is...bad.
If he had this fortune, and wanted her to travel, why does he need an ultimatum and a magic book? Hire a nurse to do home care, then send Marinda out to have adventures. He could even tell her it's what he would have done with his life if he could have, and all he wants is for her to bring back tales to tell. It would have opened her world before his death, and not felt like an ASTOUNDINGLY cruel dismissal of his daughter's agency and autonomy.
Regardless of how much Marinda ended up enjoying her adventures, I could not get past the fact that she was forced out of her home mere days after her father's death and told only that it was for her own good.
Ew.