The Clockwork Menagerie

This is a lovely short work, with very appealing characters and a clever steampunk-flavored plot.

Clement is an autosmith, a maker of mechanical creatures; he runs his own business, even though his real talent is in making artistic creations. There are a lot of details about how he makes his automatons. As with Elliot Cooper's book Junk Mage, the setting is not incidental. Everything in this story flows from who Clement is, as well as his goals and skills, and he and his profession really come alive. Clement's business is seriously struggling. He doesn't want his business to fail, and he also doesn't want to let down his assistant, Elsa, who has become his best friend.

I couldn't predict how the romance between Clement and his business rival would happen here, and I wouldn't have guessed the ending, either. It was very sweet, in a quiet sort of way, and was a satisfying conclusion to the story.

I thought the length was perfect, allowing the whole story to be told, with an intriguing plot and a good amount of character development for Elsa and Clement. Clement's love interest, Duke, is less developed, but certainly well-drawn enough. Duke also has a handlebar mustache, which is pretty great!

The plot works so well because Clement is easy to cheer for, with all his stubborn pride and dedication to his work. The writing style is very clear; descriptions are somewhat detailed, but nothing ever feels unnecessary. And the mechanical creatures were adorable!

I loved this book, and I'm very excited to read more of Elliot Cooper's work in the future.