Clockwork Boys

Classic fantasy adventure with a group. The story isn't complete, however – kind of left hanging right in the middle of things. Basically one book was chopped in two... so if that sort of thing pisses you off, you'll be mighty annoyed.

I've fallen in love with the writing style of T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon).

I don't like action and fantasy type deals that turn into annoying insta-love, “OMG, so complicated” romance bullshit. Sorry not sorry. I'm over the “she is not special but all the cool men are so into her because she is speshül”.
Life is too short for things like this, thanks, bye.

I am only a few chapters in and giggling so hard I need to blow my nose. Funny and interesting and keeping me up.

This book and its sequel [b:The Wonder Engine 38352077 The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War #2) T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517810851l/38352077.SY75.jpg 58381662] go together, so I'll review them together. After only one reading I'm unsure whether to give 3 or 4 stars, so I'll give 3 to one and 4 to the other. I reread books, so I may revise this later.I grew up on science fiction, and I like any weird stuff in a story to have an explanation. Some fantasy stories have magic with rules and limitations, and if the magic follows the rules I accept that as an explanation. This story is what I call wild fantasy: there are no rules, no limitations, and no explanation beyond “Well, magic”. So, not really my kind of fiction.But I read the whole two-volume story because I found it readable, it's fluently written and I liked the characters.There's a definite plot to it, the characters are on a very dangerous mission, and they go through various kinds of suffering. But their personal interactions seem to be the most important thing here. The fictional dangers and suffering in some stories make me uncomfortable, but here I managed to read on through all that without taking it too seriously. Is this good or bad? Some people seem to like feeling uncomfortable in that way, but I don't.The characters are diverse and engaging, and their interactions are amusing. Some reviewers have mentioned Terry Pratchett. Most of the time I wasn't particularly reminded of him, but there are some similarities to his work, and the gnoles do remind me of him.

My nose hurts at thinking about the immensely overwhelming smell of rosemary whenever Slate encounters magic or danger. And I, too, sometimes feel like reacting in demon speak and muttering in my sleep.

T. Kingfisher is quickly becoming a must-read author for me. Her characters are unique and have their own personalities quirks. The world building is amazing, leaving different ways to be explored and expanded upon in subsequent/future books.

Looking forward to reading the Wonder Engine (though I wish it hadn't been split into two).

Having read the Saint of Steel series first, I did enjoy getting more background on some of the stuff mentioned in those books, with more to come I'm sure.

This was a good listen, but really just a set-up for the next book I'm assuming. There is good character development and some action, and I hope it all leads to more in Book 2.

3.5 stars.

Sometimes you discover a new writer, love their work, seek out another of their books, and re-learn that crucial life lesson from Princess Bride: “Get used to disappointment.”

This is not that kind of story. I’m delighted to report that Kingfisher does not disappoint.

This book charmed and impressed me. Kingfisher is hella smart, emotionally as well as intellectually, and treats her reader as equally so. She also has a strong moral compass while also recognizing the realities of a messy world. And she’s funny. Not slapstick, just lovely dry wry lines once in a while, unexpected tingles in the middle of an otherwise serious situation.

The characters are complex, the story is as well. There’s magic and fantasy and drama and stuff I don’t usually care for... but it’s all original, clever, and I really love the way she writes it in: completely unexplained, no contrived rationalizations, just simple elements of that world which the characters take in stride. That kind of narration feels more genuine than attempts to create some set of rules. There’s adult sexual tension that also feels genuine: complicated and inconvenient but powerful. Subtle and thoughtful explorations of lookism. Pain and regret and soulsearching and lots of heart.

And a cutoff ending that had me purchasing and starting the next book in the series.

Podcast review in Swedish: http://lashart.podbean.com/e/t-kingfisher-clockwork-boys/

Full review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CO39hvvBjcT/

The plot follows a couple of criminals plus a monk who hates women, plus a 3ft tall badger-person (who is honestly so cute) as they go on a suicide mission.

T Kingfisher just writes really comfy fantasy with a dash of romance (usually with proper adults with issues instead of your more typical teen fantasy romance) and this was definitely more of the same but a good one!

It felt really hard to rate this one on its own, because it honestly felt like half a book with the way it ended on a cliffhanger. But it was compelling enough that I read the sequel back to back. Combined the two of them are 5 stars!!

DNF - PG 51

Why?

I hoped it was just a blip when guy 1 figured girl must be a lesbian because she wasn't interested in him.

I hoped it was just a blip when girl mentioned that she and guy 2 used to have a thing (or, maybe, be a thing) and she thought he wanted to get back together (or back in her bed).

I hoped it was a blip when girl was immediately turned on by guy 1 cleaning the four months of prison filth off himself.

I hoped it was a blip when guy 1 was pleased with the fact that he cleans up well enough to impress girl. And he makes a special note that now he doesn't think she's a big ol' lesbian because she's obviously turned on by him.

...

At this point, I realized that none of this was probably a blip - which is a shame because we have tattoos that will eat you if you don't follow through with your job. And that has to be one of the creepy-coolest things I've ever seen.

(Girl literally thinks ‘Raowr. Down Girl.' about guy 1. Literally. I - I - This is not what I sign up for in my fantasy books.)

(Also, between not-blip three and four we have a healthy dose of head hopping, because one crap-pile wasn't enough, we had to hop on over to guy 1 to get the second dose.)