A review by ergative
The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk

4.5

This was such an imaginative take on the story of the mechanical Turk! The emotional arcs of all the characters were incredibly compelling; the description of the clockwork marvels was delightful; and the scene-setting of the bits of Constantinople made me feel almost nostalgic for an era in which international travel could truly open up such vastly different worlds that simply don't exist in today's era of airplanes and globalization. (Don't worry, the arrival of the plague soon put paid to that emotion.) In a way, this book would have worked very well--better, perhaps--if the titular second sight were never confirmed to be a real second sight. The fantastical element that tips this book into SFF is like the descriptions of Constantinople and clockwork peacocks: it adds colour, but is not really integral to the plot.