Wonderful steampunk fantasy mystery!

This is the first book in the Clockwork Heart trilogy by Pagliassotti. I have had this book in my to read pile for a very long time and was excited to finally get around to reading it. It was a very enjoyable steampunk fantasy with a lot of mystery and some romance.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was well done. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying emotion and I enjoyed her voice. There were a few spots where it was hard to tell who was talking (the voices just weren’t different enough between characters) but aside from that I enjoyed listening to this.

Taya is an Icarus, she wears giant metal wings and flies messages around the great city of Ondinium. Her life changes when she spots a failing in the wire ferry lines and ends up rescuing a woman and child from the Exalted caste of citizens. In an effort to thank her the Exalted draws Taya into her life and Taya gains a celebrity-like status. Suddenly Taya finds herself not only embroiled in high level politics but also trying to solve a mystery involving murder and theft.

I really enjoyed this steampunk mystery. There are some wonderful steampunk elements in the story, the characters are engaging and interesting, and the world-building is well done. There is a complex caste system that was well described. I also really loved the city of Ondinium and how is has multiple layers and runs off of analytical engines.

The book is mostly a mystery. Taya is following a series of accidents and coincidences to try and figure out what is going on. There is a bit of a romance as well, but I didn't really feel like this book was a romance per-say (not sure why it is advertised as such).

Taya is an awesome character. She is curious and determined but never gets too serious. She doesn’t know when to stop and constantly runs herself into the ground trying to solve problems.

I also really enjoyed the character of Cristoff. He is an Exalted that left the caste to become a clockmaker among the lower caste. He is such a noble, honest, and geeky type that I just loved him.

This was an engaging read that I enjoyed. My only complaint would be that the story went a bit long, I think it would have worked better if it had ended earlier. There is some humor in here as well, which was fun.

I also have a very specific complaint as a chemist. At one point the character smells an ammonia-like smell and identifies it as methanol...totally not accurate. Methanol smells a lot like rubbing alcohol and absolutely nothing like ammonia. I know...I know a small quibble but it bugged me.

Overall this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. This book had some fantastic world-building, lots of fun steampunk elements, and very engaging characters. It is mostly a mystery with a bit of romance. I would recommend to fans of steampunk novels that involve a lot of political intrigue. I definitely plan on reading the last two books in this series.

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1 person found this helpful

It's Alright.

People are getting pickier about what they call Steampunk, so I’ll just hit the major points and you can pick out what sub-genre you want to file this under. The more fantastical element to the story is the lighter-than-air (anti-gravity?) metal that is used in the main character’s wings. It’s also bullet proof; which is amazing when you think of real world metals used in aircraft, like aluminum. On the more scifi steampunk side are the steam and gear computers that run on punchcards that are used in computations I doubt we could do today. However, if you require a Victorian culture to your Steampunk stories, you’ll not find that here.

The story is alright. It’s formulaic, which isn’t bad in itself, but that is partly the result of the bigger issue I have, which is how forgettable the characters are. They are static and a little flat at times. Changing situation and the exposing of different personality elements to the main character are used as a substitute for character development, and since the characters don’t change, you can easily predict how each new situation will play out.

However, it has romance, it has mystery (even if it was easy to figure out, but hey, who doesn’t like to feel smart), and it even touches a little on class struggle. The caste system dynamic is interesting and plays a central role to the story, but is sadly not explored in any depth.

And that really hits the heart of the matter; most folks who go in for SciFi/Fantasy novels love depth to both setting and character. This book has potential for both, but it just doesn’t explore those possible depths.

Still, if you want some fun steampunkish light reading then you could do a whole lot worse in this emerging genre.

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4 people found this helpful

Steampunk detecive romance

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. The romance part of this steampunk detective novel didn't give me much, but the world building is artistic and it's character vivid. Aerial rescues by our winged Icarus heroine set in a magnificent city of multiple levels of wires, clockwork machinery and lighter-than-air metals. The narration is great and quite pleasant to listen to, my only gripe with it is that in stressful situations Kate Rudd portrays Taya as somewhat whiny whereas I instead imagined her to be made of stronger stuff.

Listen to the Sample. It gives, unlike many other audiobooks, a very decent preview of the book.

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10 people found this helpful

Steam punk heven

Being a steam punker I enjoyed this a lot, I'm a fan of this particular narrator so that didn't hurt ,A steam punk heroin hit my spot if I had any complaints it would be it's just a little to long ,I hope Dru has some more books coming audible's way I would certainly give it a go.

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Exceeded Expectations!

Like with most of my audiobooks, I've read this one before listening. I wasn't sure how well this would actually translate to audio, but since it's one of my favorites I was willing to give it a try.

I would recommend this to everyone. It more than exceeded what I expected, and I will most likely re-listen to it again. It's worth the credit.

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just couldn't get into it

This looks like an interesting world but 2 chapters in and I just wasn't getting hooked. I turned it up to 1.5 speed as that sometimes perks up the narrative but it still wasn't enough for me to continue to listen.

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Steampunk Mystery with Some Romance

Any additional comments?

This is basically a mystery set in a steampunk universe ruled by an upper class who have been reincarnated many times. This ruling class has suppressed technology for many years and thus the need for the Icarus class, flying messengers with strapped-on wings.

The world in which the story takes place is interesting and a little frightening. The differences in the classes is a major feature of the plot. Characters are restricted in their daily lives by their membership in one class or another.

The heroine is a little too perfect, but the romance was fun, if not a surprise.

Ms. Rudd did a fine job with the reading, adding depth to some of the more flat characters.

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Could have been good, but performance detracts...

I believe the story could have been so much better if there was more steampunk and less gushy stuff. Adding the performance of Kate to it make it unbearable.
I have been trying for three months to get through this book now but my ears hurt from all the yelling. Why Kate thinks it is OK to do that in an audiobook is beyond me. There are tons of examples on how to handle situations were the sutuation calls for it.
A couple of pointers to anyone performing a book: We use ear/headphones to listen. If you change your voice, ie yelling or wispering, it makes it difficult on the ear. There are other methods to handle those situation. Please research them. This is not a perfomance on a stage...

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Reasonably Entertaing

Any additional comments?

I have a few nits to pick with this one, so I want to say first that I did like it, and likely will read the second book in the series.

I found the main character likeable and appreciated that she wasn't a whimp. I particularly found the idea of winged messengers very interesting and pretty unique. I was also pleased that although it appeared there may be a danger of a love triangle, one never really occurred. Overall I give this book a solid "I liked it".

I just think with some minor adjustments this story could have been so much better.

Genre: I see this book being promoted as "Steampunk", and many seem to consider it such. I do not. There are elements that would be at home in a Steampunk novel, but I would categorize this book as Sci Fi. In fact I think it would best fall into YA Sci Fi.

This story takes place in a fictional universe, in a fictional society. The setting is not Victorian, nor Victorian-like.

I say this not to debate what "Steampunk" is or what it isn't. I know there are various opinions on the matter, and the line can get blurry. I simply want to point it out for anyone who would consider the term implying this story has elements it does not really have.

I also see this book in places promoted as, or considered to be a Romance novel. I think those looking for a Romance would be pretty disappointed in this one. There is a bit of a romantic element woven through the story, but it doesn't really drive the story and isn't really a core plot point. Personally I liked this handling much better, but I know others prefer more romance in their Romances.

Although the main characters are not teens, there is often a very young feel to thoughts, actions and dialog. It's definitely appropriate for a YA audience, and I think those who don't enjoy YA might not like this one as much as those of us who do.

I've also seen a few people call this Fantasy, which completely boggles my mind. I don't see any elements of a Fantasy story here.

World Building: Here I think the story had some issues. I wish there had been a bit more description regarding the place and more shown regarding the society. Particularly since this is a place of the author's invention. There is some, but it's fairly sparse, and is typically there only when needed for the plot. I had trouble picturing the scene, and being able to feel I was right there. I think it could have used more atmosphere, sounds, sights, smells, description.

For example, characters take a "hack" to travel in the city a few times. There is mention of the driver. There is no mention of a horse or horses in the entire book. I wanted to be able to picture this scene in my mind. Was this hack horse driven? I don't know. It's possible in this place it was machine driven. I got no snorting of the horse, stamping of hooves, or petting of a velvet nose. But also nothing to imply it was machine driven either. This kind of thing bothered me, and I don't think would have taken too much to improve.

I could give a few other examples, but I think that gives an idea of what I mean.

Characters: I found the main character very likeable. She's not perfect and felt reasonably real. She isn't a whimp, but she cares about people. The main issue I had here was with dialog. It seemed clear to me that the author was going for some reluctant respect coupled with annoyance, but also some humor between the main character and the man I thought would turn out to be her love interest (I won't tell you if I was right on that, or not :D) But it fell short a bit. At times there was more anger than I thought made sense, at other times anger switched to humor too quickly to seem realistic. I happened to be listening to the audio version and I will say that I believe only part of my issue with dialog was due to the writing. I think the narrator also could have done a better job interpreting emotion a bit differently. I've seen witty banter and sarcastic humor done better, and I admit I'm a bit spoiled.

I did very much like the fact that the romantic element was allowed to grow out of not simply attraction, but friendship as well. There's no real insta-love here. And the love interest isn't gorgeous, but is a decent man. How wonderfully refreshing!

Overall I liked the main characters, and I cared about them reasonably enough. I think this is a good and entertaining story by an author who is one to watch.

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18 people found this helpful

Narrator vs. Story

The narrator did very well in capturing the essence of every character and chose well, in my opinion, to manipulate her voice accordingly. This is my first audio-book and I have enjoyed it more than I would have thought upon purchasing it. The story is quite predictable and at times difficult to follow along with all the odd names, but is an easy read and enjoyable. Thanks!

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