Clockwork Angels, the novel by Kevin J. Anderson from a story and lyrics by Neil Peart and with the art of Hugh Syme, published by ECW Press, is an exciting "steam-punk" adventure full of light hearted humor, daring optimism and scheme going very much awry. In a world where everything goes according to the Watchmaker's plan, there is a dreamer "foolish" enough to know his ordered and contented life cannot possibly be enough. Owen hardy can't stop thinking big and so his destiny becomes entwined with that of two polar opposites fighting for the application of their ideologies.
This novel parallels the story told in Rush's latest album of the same title, for which Neil Peart wrote the lyrics. Rush fans will recognize lyrics woven into the text from a broad spectrum of their works; spotting these references is almost comical and very fun. Fortunately, for the majority of you who aren't fans, you won't be missing anything if you don't understand the references.
I would surely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys adventure tales with compelling plots and rather fulfilling endings; Rush fan or not.
Well... I don't know. I'm kinda intrigued by Steam Punk...but the Rush connection really throws me. I am not sure if I'm adding this one to my short list or not. Any specific themes or characters that you think are strong selling points, or should I skip it? I know you say you recommend it but I'm still on the fence.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the connection to the band is truly unnecessary for the enjoyment of this novel, and I believe that quite honestly. The steam punk technology is very fun and, as far as I am aware, it seems quite unique. It takes the ideas of "good vs. evil" in a very original direction as well as it does with the dystopian aspect- and this is a very well thought out and intriguing aspect of the story. To put the negative aspects in perspective, I'll compare it to the "Hunger Games" series; I was incredibly unimpressed with the complexity of the writing in the series (though it did improve considerably as the series progressed). I would say that the writing in "Clockwork Angels" is more complex, though not quite as technically challenging as I would liked to have seen. Many of the scenes were inspired by natural scenes the author has witnessed on various hiking adventures and so his ability to depict beauty is remarkable. The plot, when looked at on the grand scale, is not the most original, and I would say it is less so than that of "The Hunger Games". That being said, there are many pieces of the story line that are relatively untold stories and the author finds delightfully sneaky ways of tossing in curve-balls. This book is actually a pretty quick read- and I consider myself a slow reader, so it isn't likely that you would lose track of anything in the book. It's a fun story that takes place in a fun world (fun for the reader that is) and has a refreshing amount of humor. I stand firmly by my recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow up here, I just saw it. Since you said it's a quick read, I'm going to go ahead and put it on the list. It is good for me to read something out of my comfort zone (I think.)
ReplyDeleteI hope that, at the very least, it will be refreshing.
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