As I mentioned earlier, I finished Clockwork Heart last weekend while out in the PA wilderness. Just being out in the woods made the book even better, I think. The highly industrialized culture of Pagliassotti’s steampunk fantasy was even more real to me since there was little resembeling a high tech society for miles. Even though the culture is advanced, the setting maintains the rusty, gritty feeling of a fallen age that is often invoked in steampunk fiction.
The two main male and female characters were great although Chris won out as my favorite of the two. There were so many wonderful little details worked into his character that made him endearing even if he was “very rarely sweet” in conversation. My favorite of which, was the fact that he wore glasses. You don’t often see heroes sporting those. It made him so human, always having to wipe them clean whenever they would fog up -wink wink-.
There was a romantic conflict woven into the plot, but it was done just right. There was never a time when I felt that the romance distracted from the main plot focus. It enhanced the story and the level of tension in it.
I had only one silly, little complaint. I say silly because this sort of thing doesn’t seem to bother most people. There were five blank sheets at the back of the book, that’s ten pages! That’s almost a whole signature! Couldn’t something have been done? An interview? An afterword? A sample? An ad? There was room for an extra scene somewhere! Maybe another moment of those cute kids driving Chris up the wall? It is frustrating when you enjoy a book so much, and then there are a pile of blank pages just sort of left there at the end to taunt you. It’s like they are laughing at you saying; “No more for you, but there could have been! Haha!” But then again, I might just be crazy. ^_^
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Matt’s Bookosphere 8/22/08 « Enter the Octopus // August 23, 2008 at 4:13 am |
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