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Robin Snyder

Reads Like Part One of a Two Part Story. Be Ready to Read Wonder Engine Right After.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 1 April 2021

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A forger, a formerly possessed by a demon Paladin and an assassin head out on a journey of certain doom. There is also a scholar in this merry little group but he isn’t a criminal and doesn’t have a magical tattoo that will eat him if he goes off script.

I read Swordheart a few weeks ago and from that decided to jump into the rest of the stories set in the World of the White Rat. Clockwork Boys throws an unlikely crew together to march off together on a suicide mission. Their task is to make it through No Man’s Land to Anuket and find out how the ten foot tall metal monstrosities they are at war with are made.

Think of the Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine as one book really cut into two parts. This first part covers the team getting to know one another and making their way to Anuket city, while the second part covers figuring out the magic and mystery behind the Clocktaurs.

I really liked the characters in this. Slate is a master forger; she is funny and resourceful. She also tends to have an allergic reaction to anything magical, which is a nice early warning system for trouble. Brennen is an assassin and has no qualms about killing. Plus, he is great at it, so what else should he do. He and Slate have a little history between them.

***Her mother had always said you could tell a lot about a man by the way they conducted intimate business. The ones who thought they were amazing in bed, the ones who were afraid that they weren’t, the ones who expected you to do everything…
Brenner had been none of those. Brenner had made a very careful study of what her body responded to and then he had done it, quite ruthlessly, until Slate could hold nothing back at all. Then he would take his own pleasure, just as ruthlessly.
It had been exhausting and oddly transactional, very much like Brenner. It left her sated and a little bitter afterwards, as if they had used each other.***

Even though that is over it makes for some interesting moments. Especially as there might be a bit of a spark between our Forger Slate and Caliban the Paladin. Not that Caliban has any idea what to do with the heat between them. He is feeling a little uncomfortable with the dead demon living inside him, her former lover could easily kill him in his sleep and Slate herself, well she is not someone to be trifled with either. And then there is Learned Edmund, who comes from an order of monks that does not include any women. He is a little bit afraid of our Slate.

***Learned Edmund is apparently afraid that if he sleeps on your floor, your feminine exhalations will cause his genitals to wither and his bowels to turn to water. That’s a direct quote, by the way.”***

The journey is treacherous and if you get swallowed up by some magical hills along the way, that is just how things work sometimes in this many god world. One of may favorite characters comes in late in this book. Grimehug, a gnole (kind of a Badger looking creature with more fur), is a really fun addition to the story. Even though he gets more page time in the next book I really liked how he joined up with the doomed crew in this one.

I was thoroughly entertained while reading this book and jumped directly into the Wonder Engine right after. It has been a while since I found a new fantasy writer that I’ve had this much fun with. The dialogue is great, the characters complex and the world interesting with gods, demons, badger people, steampunk death engines and magic traveling hills that take you when they feel like it. Since this is really part one of a two part book there isn’t a big climax per say but more of a feeling of transition to the story from the getting to the city, to the next book where they figure out what to do now that they are there.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Another great work from Kingfisher!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 7 January 2023

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Intriguing, well written (as always), exciting, funny, interesting world, and hard to put down!
On to the 2nd in the series to see what those clockwork boys are!

Waites Family

*Review from The Illustrated Page*

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 2 October 2018

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My brief, elevator pitch description of Clockwork Boys is “Dungeons and Dragons meets Suicide Squad, but written by the illustrious and talented Ursula Vernon.” Seriously, I had no idea what Clockwork Boys was about when I picked it up… all I knew was that it was by Ursula Vernon, and she’s literally never written a story that I haven’t loved.

Turns out, Clockwork Boys follows a group of criminals (and one teenage scholar/monk) who were selected by the Duchess of their country to sneak into a neighboring city-state and discover the origins and means to destroy their army of clockwork soldiers. Said neighbor is currently at war with pretty much everyone around them and winning, as the clockwork soldiers are as large as a house and almost indestructible. No one expects our heroes to succeed, themselves least of all, but if they do and somehow survive they will get full pardons.

Said heroes consist of Slate, a woman skilled at document forgery and creative accounting; Caliban, a paladin who was possessed by a demon and slaughtered a bunch of nuns before he could be exorcised; Brenner, an assassin and Slate’s ex-lover; and Learned Edmund, a nineteen-year-old scholar who’s practically never left his misogynistic monastery. The POV switches between Slate and Caliban, and they are the central protagonists of the novel.

I liked both Slate and Caliban. Slate’s down-to-earth and no-nonsense, and she’s also got severe allergies which are partly magical in nature. Whenever danger approaches, she gets hit with the smell of rosemary and can’t stop sneezing. Caliban is Vernon’s response to the paladin character type, which she says in the afterword kept annoying her. Caliban’s lost his god, his order, and everything he knew. Now he’s out in the real world and basically stuck working with a bunch of criminals… of which he is one.

The plot structure and world is very Dungeons and Dragons, with a group of mostly strangers thrown together on a traditional quest. That said, there are some interesting twists and turns along the way, and the pacing is fantastic. The story practically zips by, and I had trouble putting the book down. In a large part, this is aided by Vernon’s delightful writing, which is by turns emotionally charged and humorous. Sometimes both at the same time. Seriously, there’s some wonderful banter here.

As an example of the humor, I really loved the realism of two city folk (Slate and Brenner) having to ride horses for essentially the first time, for entire days… and what that feels like afterward. Weirdly, that never seems to come up in fantasy novels.

I have maybe two criticisms of Clockwork Boys. The first is that I wished there were more women. Slate’s great, but she’s the only significant female character and she’s interacting with mostly dudes. I’m pretty tired of science fiction and fantasy stories having only one girl on the team. I was hoping this would improve in the sequel… but it didn’t to any substantial degree.

Secondly, Clockwork Boys isn’t a complete story or even a story with its own arc. It’s literally the first half of a larger book — Vernon was worried that Clockwork Boys + The Wonder Engine would be too long, so she chopped them in half. Honestly, I would have preferred a giant, whomping fantasy novel. I can deal with those. As is, I immediately headed into book two, so I was essentially reading it as one novel.

While I might have had a couple of quibbles, overall Clockwork Boys was utterly delightful and tons of fun. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a book quite this much.

36 people found this helpful

Mary Soon Lee

Thoroughly enjoyable. I'm rapidly becoming a Kingfisher fan.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 11 July 2021

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This book is the first in a fantasy duology set in the same world as "Swordheart" and "Paladin's Grace." As with both those books, it combines humor, sympathetic characters, romance elements, and fantastical elements. I found it thoroughly enjoyable, if not quite as wonderful as either "Swordheart" or "Paladin's Grace." The humor and warmth are beautifully done, but the shadows that make the brightness stand out are less resonant than in "Paladin's Grace."

Spoilers ahead. In both this book and "Paladin's Grace," one of the central point-of-view characters is a paladin. Both paladins are guilt-wracked, haunted by past atrocities. But whereas I liked Caliban, this book's hero, I loved Stephen (hero of "Paladin's Grace"). I was also mildly peeved by the artifice of withholding important information about a point-of-view character, to whit the heroine, Slate. The book repeatedly indicates that something terrible happened to Slate or was done by her in Anuket City, but although Slate thinks of this, the reader is never allowed to know what it is.

Other plus points: I like it when fantasy settings contain technology, and here there are mysterious opponents with mechanical aspects, as well as mysterious artifacts from a past civilization. I also enjoyed several of the secondary characters, particularly Brenner, the ruthless and sarcastic assassin, and, late in the book, the gnole Grimehug. Gnoles have played a small part in all three Kingfisher novels that I've read, and they appeal to me greatly. I'd be delighted to read a novel centered on them.

Four out of five clockwork stars. I'll be proceeding straight to book two in the duology.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

One person found this helpful

K Reviews

Tropey Good Fun - Part 1 of the Story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 5 September 2021

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This is my third T. Kingfisher book and I'm a huge fan. Her writing always moves along at a good pace and has a wry sense of humor that absolutely works for me. I find myself smiling and chuckling my way through her books and I am here for that.

The only reason this book is a 4 star and not a 5 is it really feels like a Part 1 of a book. In fact, I'm pretty sure this book and the sequel, The Wonder Engine, might really be better as one long book.

In this first novel in the series, our ragtag band of criminals (and one overly-prissy priest) gets together as the Plan C (or maybe Plan E, F, or G) of a kingdom being attacked by mysterious clockwork soldiers. They are supposed to infiltrate the enemy capital and figure out how the clockwork soldiers are made, what they are exactly, and most importantly, how to stop them.

Most of what we get in this novel is the traveling adventures of getting to the capital city (Anuket) but not the meat of the quest. That being said, the traveling adventure show is a good one. The character interactions, snarky commentary, and the trite but fun love triangle evolving is a great read.

I love that Slate, an adult female, is put in charge of this quest. The side characters (other members of our trope-tastic party) are also fantastic - the assassin with a prior romantic entanglement with Slate, the demon-possessed disgraced Paladin, and one misogynistic scholar/priest, Learned Edmund.

This book is set in the same universe as my favorite T. Kingfisher book (Swordheart) and we do see the Vagrant Hills make an appearance as part of the setting. I don't think there's really any other overlap, so you really don't need to read one book or the other first and you don't lose out on any backstory by not having read the other book.

John George

T. King Fisher's Clockwork Boys: Original, creative fantasy.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 12 September 2022

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With the author's characteristic humor,this novel follows the travels of four people on a spy mission to discover the origins and weaknesses (if any) of the murderous and destructive Clockwork Boys, eighth foot tall centaur automatons winning the war for their city's enemies.
Carefully drawn and sympathetic characters and an engaging plot make this a winner. My only quarrel is that it ends too soon. Buying the sequel next!

Joy Merriett

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 20 August 2022

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This was a very cozy fantasy story with a focus on a quest. If you enjoy the trope of an unlikely group of people going on an impossible quest, then this is the book for you.

I’m picking up book 2 immediately.

Deanna R.

Amazing!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 20 July 2021

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I really loved this book. I bought the second as well so this review is more for both than just this first book, hence the four stars.

Overall, I think the author created this amazing in depth and complex world that is slowly revealed as the story goes on. The characters are all unique and the author really captures their interactions well. They behave in a believable manner given their respective backstories and the romance develops fairly naturally.

My only real issue with the first book is that it is too short. The book ends with their arrival at their destination. So basically, the entire book is about their 60 mile journey. Don't let that dissuade you, because it is packed with discovery and intrigue and action, but it is about their 60 mile journey lol. Subsequently, the second book almost seems to be a 90 degree pivot in regards to the setting and their goals, but the author actually does a good job of sensibly plotting out their investigation and motivations.

Overall, these books are clever and intriguing, the setting has depth and the characters are believable and decently fleshed out. My review doesn't really do the writing and plot justice, so all I can say is - give it a try, and you will be sucked in!

BookWyrm

Fun, quick read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 10 October 2020

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Clockwork Boys was a quick, fun read. I liked the world it was set in, and the characters were a lot of fun. I actually like the randomness of the magic system, where it's not so much that people can do magic, as some people find they can do one magical thing. I liked our lead character's musings on what weird circumstances much have lead people to discover the very odd and specific talent that they have.

My biggest complaint is that the story felt a bit short. We do see character development and plot movement over the course of the story. But the character development felt pro forma, done because of course the characters would develop in this way for a good book, rather than something natural. And it was a bit of a surprise to get to the end of the book and realize we were done. While my head acknowledges that it was a decent spot to end a book, while reading it felt like the story of the book wasn't completed yet.

Overall, there were overtones of YA in the book, specifically in how superficial all the development seemed and how quickly the plot moved, but at the same time there were bits that pulled it more toward New Adult or just plan adult.

I did enjoy this book, and do plan on reading the 2nd book that goes with it.

Maija

A fun, fresh take on the traditional high fantasy quest novel

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 5 July 2019

Verified Purchase

The first part of T. Kingfisher's/Ursula Vernon's high fantasy Clocktaur War duology, which is more like one book split into two parts. The second book in the duology is called The Wonder Engine.

This tells about a group of criminals who are sent on a suicide mission to a nearby kingdom to try to find out the secret behind their unstoppable soldiers, these mechanical creations called Clockwork Boys. The criminals - a forger, a disgraced paladin, and an assassin - are accompanied by a scholar and a sort of badger-like being called a gnole.

I read this book because I've loved pretty much all of Vernon's work I've read, so I always pick up whatever she publishes, and I thought her witty writing style worked well with a fantasy quest adventure novel. While this is a traditional high fantasy adventure or quest story, it has a fresh feel and a fun take on the characters.

I really enjoyed the character dynamics. There are two POV characters, the forger Slade, who was my favourite, and the Paladin, Caliban. I didn't like the scholar, Learned Edmund, at the start, because he had been taught to be very misogynistic by his brotherhood, so he was very tiring (and I just have a low tolerance for that these days), but he becomes much more tolerable in the second book as he is changed by the journey.

The only thing I didn't like was this weird chapter at the end of their journey to Anuket City, which I wasn't sure matched the rest of the book. I'm also not a big fan of nonsense a la Alice in Wonderland and similar, and that chapter was just very random. Otherwise, what an enjoyable and fun book! I'm happy that I don't only enjoy Vernon's fairy tale retellings, but her high fantasy as well.

One person found this helpful

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5 star		61%
4 star		30%
3 star		7%
2 star		1%
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