The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century, #5)

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The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century #5)

by Cherie Priest (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 446 ratings · 103 reviews

Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage.

And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home. He’s been quietly breaking the cardinal rule of any good drug dealer and dipping into his own supply of the sap he sells. He’s...more

Paperback, 366 pages

Published November 13th 2012 by Tor Books

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Apr 21, 2013 Tim Hicks rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, fantasy

Disappointing.
I have really enjoyed this series, but this feels more like one of those "written by Great Author and Unknown Schlub."

It felt as if a third of the book was Rector whining and sulking and reminding us that he STILL doesn't have any $&@! gloves.
And he doesn't want to change mask filters because, um, well, because he's a world-class dick.

Another third went to boys stumbling back and forth through the city going "shhh!" and reminding us yet again that their masks are uncomfortable...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, sci-fi, alt-history, smart-nerdy, hipster, personal-favorite

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

The Inexplicables is the fourth book I've now read in Cherie Priest's remarkable "Clockwork Century" steampunk series, and in fact a quote from one of my earlier reviews ended up making the front cover of this one; and that surprised and delighted me but also felt very natural, because this is one of my fa...more (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

The Inexplicables is the fourth book I've now read in Cherie Priest's remarkable "Clockwork Century" steampunk series, and in fact a quote from one of my earlier reviews ended up making the front cover of this one; and that surprised and delighted me but also felt very natural, because this is one of my favorite genre series of all time by now, and I look forward to the point seemingly every year when Priest has a brand-new volume done and ready to come out. They all take place in a what-if Victorian America in the late 1800s with just layers upon layers of fantastical details piled on: there's a giant wall around the ruined remains of the former Seattle, for example, because a mad scientist once ruptured an underground cave during a bank heist and released a heavy gas that turns people into zombies; but like a first-person-shooter videogame, there are also miles of underground tunnels, businesses and residences under this gassed zombie wasteland, full of outlaws and Chinamen who take this gas and distill it into a heroin-like drug that is then shipped across America in giant armed dirigibles; and in the meanwhile, the Civil War is still going on decades after it did in real life, because here the South develops railroads, submarines and robots to help even out the fight; and in the latest development in this speculative universe, it turns out that none other than Bigfoot has managed to accidentally enter the walled wasteland of downtown Seattle, and that the poisonous gas is slowly turning him into an unstoppable force of violence. And that's what makes these books so delightful; for while her characterizations are not much more than minimally solid enough to pass muster, it's Priest's plotting skills that are her real forte, delivering exciting after exciting tale that in epic scope has now taken us all the way across the United States and back, this newest volume set back in the walled Seattle where the story began. Breathtaking in its pacing, and such a mega-pastiche that you'll be in awe simply over how well she melds it all together, this is the literal definition of an intellectual's guilty pleasure, and should be highly enjoyed by one and all if read with this attitude. Highly recommended, as are all her books.

Out of 10: 8.9, or 9.9 for steampunk fans (less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Ole Imsen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-history, steampunk

In this volume of her A Clockwork Century series, Priest takes us back to Seattle, the setting of the first book in the series, Boneshaker. It's a welcome return, both to the setting, and to the characters from the first book. As an added bonus for those who enjoy this series, there's also mention of the events of Dreadnought and Ganymede. And we get to see how Dreadnought's main character Mercy Lynch has settled into the walled city of Seattle.
There's always the danger when an author revisits...more In this volume of her A Clockwork Century series, Priest takes us back to Seattle, the setting of the first book in the series, Boneshaker. It's a welcome return, both to the setting, and to the characters from the first book. As an added bonus for those who enjoy this series, there's also mention of the events of Dreadnought and Ganymede. And we get to see how Dreadnought's main character Mercy Lynch has settled into the walled city of Seattle.
There's always the danger when an author revisits previous settings through new POV eyes that they tell too much of the setting for those that are familiar with it, and too little for those that are jumping in to a series. Priest manages to follow the narrow path of satisfying readers both old and new here. For me as a return reader, I didn't feel bogged down with information I already knew, but welcomed the reminders of what has gone before. And I can't say I can see a problem for a new reader to the series in following what is going on if they start with this book.

The story itself can be divided into three parts, Rector's journey, the mysterious creature, and the human intruders. But this is much more than three stories that are loosely connected, the three parts both feed off each other and add to each other, and creates a larger whole than the sum of the parts it consists of.
That the three strands of the story are quite different in nature, will mean that not everyone will have the same reaction to each one. For me the journey of Rector stood a little bit above the others, but I still very much enjoyed the other two story strands, and without them Rector's journey would have been much less than it ended up as.

As with the previous volumes, Priest is very adept at creating a tense atmosphere. The location, the walled city of Seattle, is described in such a way that it feels claustrophobic at times. Priest is very good at conveying the feeling that anything can happen, and it never feels like you have figured out exactly were you will be led by the novel. Even though I personally figured one element out very quickly, I was never sure I was right about it before much later, and it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story.

There is some action in the novel, but this isn't Steampunk-Action as much as it is Steampunk-Alternate History. -I must add, Steampunk-Alternate History with some very good worldbuilding.
Being a fan of Alternate History, I have enjoyed that element in the A Clockwork Century a lot, and this element doesn't disappoint here either. With each volume in the series Priest manages to subtly add to her alternate worlds texture, making it a little bit more solid, or real if you want, at the end of the novel than it was before you started it.

All in all I found this very much to my liking. It's an excellent follow-up to what has gone before, and as I mentioned above, it is possible to read it without having read any of the previous A Clockwork Century books.
Priest continues to be one of the great authors in the Steampunk subgenre of SFF. And as well as being a must for fans of Steampunk, this book deserves to be read by anyone who is a fan of well written SFF.

Review originally published on my blog: http://weirdmage.blogspot.com (less)

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Jan 13, 2013 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

*cue sing-song falsetto*
Awesome!
*ok, done singing now*
Once again Cherie Priest delivers a fully realized world, full of fully fleshed-out people (well, except for the zombies...), fully engaging my imagination.
In this book a young man we'd met briefly several books earlier in the Clockwork Century series, Rector "Wreck'em" Sherman is kicked out of the orphanage that he'd called home since the age of 2. Or at least the assumption was that he was about 2 at the time he was dropped off. Know one kn...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Larou added it

This is either the fifth or the fourth book (depending on whether you count Clementine in or not) in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series, and it differs from the previous ones in several aspects. The most obvious one is that it is the first that is not named after a piece of machinery, but instead after living beings (which do not even play that much of a central part in the novel). Another difference (or really several, but they belong together) is that it is the first that does not have a...more This is either the fifth or the fourth book (depending on whether you count Clementine in or not) in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series, and it differs from the previous ones in several aspects. The most obvious one is that it is the first that is not named after a piece of machinery, but instead after living beings (which do not even play that much of a central part in the novel). Another difference (or really several, but they belong together) is that it is the first that does not have a female point of view character, but that its single narrative consciousness is a male, and a (at least at the beginning) not very likeable one to boot. And finally, The Inexplicables is the first installment of the series that does not take us to new places, but instead leads us back to the location of Boneshaker, Seattle.

It is not surprising, then, that we meet many familiar names in The Inexplicables, including that of the novel’s protagonist Rector, who was a minor (and distinctly unsympathetic) character in Boneshaker. He has not grown any more likeable since then, and as a sap dealer who likes to dip into his own stack he has not much of a life expectancy either. The novel starts with him turning eighteen and getting turned out of the orphanage he has lived in all his life; and finding himself homeless but plagued by a (literally) haunted conscience, he attempts to turn his life around and make atonement by trying to find and bury the corpse of a friend who he thought he sent to his death. As that friend happens to be Zeke, readers of Boneshaker know right from the start that he is still alive, which makes for a nice tie-in with the earlier novel, something that Cherie Priest manages exceedingly well during the whole of this volume – we get to revisit lots of familiar faces and places but it never feels repetitive or a mere re-hash of Boneshaker.

The Inexplicables is a more focused novel than its predecessor Ganymede was, but it is also less of an adventure tale than any of the previous novels was – during the first two thirds of the novel not much is happening at all, it's mostly just Rector stumbling around and meeting people. But that is okay in this case, because The Inexplicables is above all a character story – the story of a man (really still a boy for the most part) attempting to redeem himself and become a better person. Character portraiture has always been a strength of Cherie Priest and her Clockwork Century novels and it is due to her deft hand at describing convincing and memorable characters that the lack of plot is barely noticeable – although I’ll have to admit that it is nice when things start to get moving in the novel’s final third and its two plot strands speed towards their respective finales. If I have any complaints about this novel then it is that those strands are not all that well connected to each other and run parallel for most of the time instead of intertwining; but as the main focus of The Inexplicables really is Rector’s road to redemption and the plot is mostly subordinate to that, it boils down to just a minor niggle that does not distract much from the general enjoyment of the novel.

And enjoyable it is, like all the novels in the series so far – it is great to see that Cherie Priest manages to retain her momentum and to keep Clockwork Century chugging along at a vigorous speed this many volumes in, at a stage where many other series begin to run out of steam. As in Ganymede, there are also hints about a greater, overarching plot to the series as a whole, and I’m very curious to find out where she will be going with that – judging by her previous work, it will likely not be along any worn-out tracks but in unexpected, new and exciting directions.(less)

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Feb 08, 2013 Inexplix (Random Reader) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Slightly less focused story then previous entries in Priest's Clockwork Century novels. Unless there is something I am missing, the title is misleading. That which is dubbed "The Inexplicables" is not that at all, and is really more of a side note with a weak presence in the overall narrative. The other major event, is also a bit of a side note, although it's given more attention than that which is referred to in the title. On the plus, side, it's nice to return to familiar territory inside the...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Melbourne on my mind rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, steampunk

There's a possibility that my feelings towards this book are in part coloured by the fact that I haven't read books 2-4 in the series. I have no idea if there are events in the other books that have any major bearing on the events here, because I didn't have any problems following the story. Most of the characters and the setting are the same as in the first book, and any differences/new characters are explained as the protagonist is new to the city.

As with the first book, I liked the steampunk...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Cherie Priest just gets better and better and has written a fast paced and moving fifth book in The Clockwork Century series, an alternate history of Civil War era late 19th century America. Priest has more developed characters and the story has greater depth than previous novels in the series. In The Inexplicables we clearly see that most people are neither fully good nor fully bad but are, instead, a mixed bag. We also see that some are driven by substances that override the normal internal ch...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Nathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alt-history, author-female, rated-3-star, read-2012, steam-punk

First posted here

'The Inexplicables' is the forth full length entry in the 'Clockwork Century' series, an alternate American history. In this alternate world the Civil War has been going for twenty years, with Texas on their own and the south freeing their own slaves to continue the war. In the first book of the series, 'Boneshaker', we learn that a gassy blight was released in Seattle, leading to the requisite steampunk zombies. A wall was set up to keep the blight in, but a lucrative side busi...more First posted here

'The Inexplicables' is the forth full length entry in the 'Clockwork Century' series, an alternate American history. In this alternate world the Civil War has been going for twenty years, with Texas on their own and the south freeing their own slaves to continue the war. In the first book of the series, 'Boneshaker', we learn that a gassy blight was released in Seattle, leading to the requisite steampunk zombies. A wall was set up to keep the blight in, but a lucrative side business has sprung from those who have learned to refine the gas into a highly addictive drug known as 'sap'.

Priest has taken a unique approach to this series, making the world itself the most consistent aspect between books, rather than follow one character or overall story arc. Each book has had a separate main character and taken place in different parts of the country. Each book could probably be read as a stand alone, though several story arcs are slowly coming together in the forth outing. Characters from each of the previous books are present in 'The Inexplicables', with the lead this time being a minor character from 'Boneshaker'. This book also goes back to where the series began, Seattle.

At the beginning of the book Rector is about to be kicked out of the orphanage he has been raised in. With zero work prospects and a nasty sap habit, Rector decides to go through the wall that keeps the blight in old Seattle, knowing a former acquaintance made it through in the past, but thinking him dead. From there he runs into rotters, takes a job from the crime lord who rules, and helps search for something unknown to the residences, something inexplicable.

I did enjoy the book. It was an incredibly quick read, quickly paced and fun. Rector is a nice character, someone who is turning his life around more from the help of others than any sort of will power. Yes, it is whiny and annoying at times, but in a city where everyone looks out for each other he is given time to work through his issues. Rector's friend Zeke has some great tender moments, and the return of the Princess gave the book its most compelling character. The discovery of what the new monsters living in the city are will intrigue some, and make others groan, but I liked it.

Though I enjoyed the book, it was unfortunately the worst in the series so far. While the smaller scale plot lines(no fight for the survival of the world in this series) worked well in the first three books, in 'The Inexplicables' almost nothing of note happened. Rector's mission was too easy and too short. Rector seemed to give up his drug habit easier than I could drop caffeine. The reasoning for Rector thinking he sees a certain character as a ghost is never explained, nor why he stopped seeing said ghost. The big 'battle' was laughable easy for the protagonist, and there was never really a feeling of danger for any character through the whole book. If I was to sum up the overall plot of this book it would be as such; Rector goes around Seattle meeting characters from the first three books. Name drops seemed to be the entire purpose of a full third of the book.

So for fans of the series, there is enough here to keep you interested and hoping the next in the series gets back to the same quality as the second and third books. But I don't foresee this book being listed as many peoples favorite in the series.

Pros: The world these characters live in still has me enthralled and wanting more. So very good relationships develop between a few characters. Some of the separate plot lines from previous books are starting to converge.

Cons: Very little suspense or movement of the story. Not a lot of focus.

3 Stars(less)

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Jan 04, 2013 Ms. Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars. There was so much to like about this one-its an interesting world Priest has built in her Clockwork Century books, and I think she develops and adds to it in interesting ways. I liked that she tells a complete story focusing on different characters, but still leaves suspense and room for more exploration of the world. I want to know what is going to happen, but I also feel satisfied with the story that was told.

I appreciated that she picked Rector, a sap addict, as the protagonist of...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Dan Lemke rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was not as exciting as the previous three entries to the Clockwork Century. There's not a lot going on in the plot, as least not directly. Unlike "Boneshaker" it's not a tale of terror and lacks the awe of a new world; unlike "Dreadnaught" and "Ganymede" it lacks the sense of adventure that made those two installments exciting. What Priest has done with "The Inexplicables" is create something of a stage-setter for further work in the series, which promises to have plenty of material to...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Shara (Calico Reaction) rated it 4 of 5 stars

The premise: ganked from BN.com: Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage.

And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home. He’s been quietly breaking the cardinal rule of any good drug dealer and dipping into his own supply of the sap he sells. He’s also pretty sure he’s being haunted by the ghost of a kid he used to know—Zeke Wilkes, who a...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Kim Ryser rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012booksread, steampunk

So the latest book in the Clockwork Century series. I enjoyed it. I bought the book at a signing with Cherie Priest so I actually heard her talk about it quite a bit before reading it. That probably influenced my reading of it a bit. I expected the main character, Rector, to be more of a drug addict, or at least for that aspect of his character to be more important than it was in the book. But I didn't find Rector to be unlikable, just realistic. It was nice getting to see more of Seattle and th...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk

I'm shocked with myself that I'm not giving this story five stars, or at least four. I'm a huge Mrs. Cherie Priest fan with her Clockwork Century. I think it is some of the best steampunk being written right now. That said, this, her latest novel in the series left me flat. The main character is a whiny, selfish character who bickers with everyone and I never liked him. That makes for a long read when you dislike the main character, especially since he's in every scene.

Besides that, one of the m...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Kwinks rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one is quite a romp. Maybe because the main characters of this Clockwork Century novel are younger, I was kind of reminded of Goonies through the entire reading. Each of the boys has a skill that helps to bring down two new big bads: a creature known only the "inexplicable" and something even more frightening to the residents of Seattle-outsiders. I found, for me, that this was Rector's book but it is Huey who shines. Rector is a bit of a whiner, but he is resilient. I was also stuck by how...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Jon Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, steampunk

It was nice to get back to Seattle and see some of what has happened to the city and characters since the first book. I find it a little ironic that the focus of the story returns to Seattle at the same time that the author is leaving the city.

The Inexplicables is a carries on the lineage of fine Steampunk adventures that the Clockwork Century has provided so far. I especially liked that there was less focus on the zombies and more on the dangers of the environment and society that Seattle repre...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

I thought this book started out a little slow, but then the story really began to pick up. Rector an orphan, now age 18 who had caused all sorts of trouble for Zeke in Boneshaker now returns with his own story. He's a troubled teen who has a serious death wish. He also believes that his friend Zeke is dead and he is the cause, since he's the one that told him how to get into the toxic city of Seattle. The first surprise when he gets to Seattle is Zeke is alive and the next is there is so much mo...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Alias Pending rated it 3 of 5 stars

Short review: Clockwork Century #5.

Less Short review: This tale is firmly rooted in Boneshaker's Seattle and features many of the familiar faces seen in previous books, but stars a new lead character, Rector, who is Priest's most interesting character to date. Rector is an unusual protagonist, unlikable and fascinating in a Breaking Bad sort of way. His struggle with his own moral equivocations provides a revitalizing element of suspense to what could have been just another zombie story.

Third B...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Jeremy Preacher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi

I was a little nervous about this book. I have liked every Clockwork Century better than the one before it, largely because I enjoy the expanding scope of the story, and returning to the literal bubble of Seattle wasn't all that appealing. But I was pleased to find it an excellent, tight adventure with engaging characters that very much reflected the larger picture, even though it stayed within the microcosm of Seattle. I am still dying for some of the major mysteries to be resolved - they very...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Rob rated it 2 of 5 stars

A really mediocre read in Cherie Priest's CLockwork Century series. One thing I'm always amazed at is how a good writer can take a premise that sounds a little silly from the outside, and turn it into something believable and engaging. That never happens with this novel, and without the willing suspension of disbelief "The Inexplicables" is a hard pill to swallow. Some of the characters from the past novels return, some that I like but none that I love, and the walled-in Seattle setting are the...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Steen Christiansen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: addiction, horror, gothic, living-dead, science-fiction, undead, zombies

Another good Clockwork Century novel, which unfortunately peters out at the end. Priest has a great setting, engaging characters and a good sense of pacing and drama, but these all come to naught when the characters are on the sideline of the main drama. The book would have benefited from either being longer or being clearer in its focus, in order to avoid the cursory climax we get.

Still, the Blight, the rotters, the walled-up Seattle is an evocative setting that you find nowhere else and remain...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Joe Informatico rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, alternate-history, bildungsroman, speculative-fiction, steampunk, zombies

Given how great the previous installments of this series have been this one was kind of a letdown. In the previous books we explored different regions of Priest's alternate-history 19th century United States, where the Civil War has been raging for 20 years and zombies are slowly appearing everywhere with the help of a new addictive drug. Each new stop introduced a whole new cast of interesting characters, while tying them to the growing plot arc of the entire series.

Here, we return to rotter-b...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had high expectations for this novel. It takes place, like the first in the series - Boneshaker, in Seattle once again. The Inexplicables is a little different from the other books in the series as well where it only focuses on one character and does not tell two separate stories that meet at some point.

The book moves along at a quick pace and doesn't take too much time on description. Several important areas are detailed but the town as a whole is glossed over. I can see this as a downside f...more

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May 11, 2013 Jason Bucky Roberts rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Yes

Cherie Priest delivers this installment in a way that is still refreshing. The usual cast of characters is there, plus a new teen protagonist. If this is your first venture into this alternate late nineteenth century, shame on you for not discovering it sooner! No worries, though, as there are enough mild explanations as to who the cast of characters are that you should be up to date in no time. For veterans of this blight filled Seattle, there is more history of revealed.

Perhaps because this st...more Cherie Priest delivers this installment in a way that is still refreshing. The usual cast of characters is there, plus a new teen protagonist. If this is your first venture into this alternate late nineteenth century, shame on you for not discovering it sooner! No worries, though, as there are enough mild explanations as to who the cast of characters are that you should be up to date in no time. For veterans of this blight filled Seattle, there is more history of revealed.

Perhaps because this story comes back inside Seattle, I felt The Inexplicables was the strongest since the original Clockwork Century novel, Boneshaker. The big twist here, without giving away too much, was a guest appearance by Sasquatch. While some may argue that the Sasquatch related elements could be removed without influencing the plot, I have a distinct feeling this character will be back. I've come to appreciate Ms Priest's storytelling and don't think she would introduce such an element unless there was a really good reason to bring that character in.

I am also coming to appreciate some of the underlying social commentary that runs through this Time That Never Was. In addition to advancing the Good Guys vs Bad Guys plot, we have a story of redemption. Rector Sherman, the newest character, lives in an orphanage and makes money on the side selling "Sap" . . . when he's not sampling from his latest batch. When we meet Rector, he is at the end of his time in the orphanage and possibly near the end of his life because of the drug usage. Through support of friends he finds physical redemption and by the time we leave him, he is well on the road to physical recovery. My compliments to the author for getting this across, without having to hit the reader over the head with this moral, while still advancing the rest of the plot.

The action is well paced and the dialog is well done. The development of the main characters is very well done. The flaws lie in the development of secondary characters. For the most part, they are confined to the wings: they are talked about, but there is no real history revealed about them and not much development of these secondary characters. While the science may be somewhat flawed, you just need to remind yourself, this is Steampunk. Science is reinvented and re-conceived as needed to fit the times.

Despite these misgivings, The Inexplicables is thoroughly enjoyable and a welcome addition to the Clockwork Century. Overall, I'll go four stars for this work. If you're a fan of this series, you need it for your collection. If you are new to Steampunk, the American twist is refreshing.

Did I like it? Absolutely. It had some well designed action and further detailed out the steam punk Seattle that Ms. Priest has so beautifully laid out. After I read it I wanted a little bit more though. I liked the angle of the blight getting out although the whole idea of the capture and illicit use of the blight got tiresome after a while. It became a drug war with zombies playing a bit part and the real bad guys being other drug manufacturers. Good villains no doubt but short lived ones at best.

So was it a good read? 100%. Was it as good as Boneshaker? Not quite. Would I still buy and read it? Absolutely. Was it fun. Unequivocally yes. (less)

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Feb 22, 2013 Tac Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love this series. Cherie Priest, the Queen of American Steampunk, has created this big wonderful world that keeps getting bigger and more wonderful.

In The Inexplicables, Cherie Priests brings us back to walled up, zombie infested, Seattle and this time there's no weapons of war, and only a few zombies but there's a new "something" (that which is the Inexplicable) and the main protagonist/anti-hero (which most of Priest's characters seem to be) Rector, is actually one of the first character's...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf, alternate-history, signed

I really, really wanted to like this book. I've been waiting for Cherie Priest to set another story in the messed up version of Seattle she created in Boneshaker, but she's only teased with dribs and drabs in other books. Finally, she's back in the Emerald City (now a putrid shade of yellow in the Boneshaker universe). But I was a bit disappointed. I'm giving this one three and half stars (but Goodreads won't let me add fractions).

Four stars once again for setting and characters and imagination....more

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Dec 18, 2012 Karissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the fourth book in the Clockwork Century series. It is a well done steampunk novel, but I had some trouble connecting with the main characters and staying engaged in the story.

The main character Wreck, is a sap-addicted orphan who's been thrown out of the orphanage after turning 19. He decides to head beyond the Wall to Seattle to try and find a job dealing sap. When he gets there he meets Zeke and Huey and ends up wrapped up in an adventure to save the city and discover what a strange c...more This is the fourth book in the Clockwork Century series. It is a well done steampunk novel, but I had some trouble connecting with the main characters and staying engaged in the story.

The main character Wreck, is a sap-addicted orphan who's been thrown out of the orphanage after turning 19. He decides to head beyond the Wall to Seattle to try and find a job dealing sap. When he gets there he meets Zeke and Huey and ends up wrapped up in an adventure to save the city and discover what a strange creature haunting the night really is.

This is very well written but just wasn't that engaging to me. Wreck is not a likable character; he is lazy and likes to take advantage of people...this made him hard to engage with. While it was nice to see Zeke in the story (he was in Boneshaker) I still had trouble engaging and relating with any of the characters in this story.

The story moves slowly and it takes quite a while to get to the point of the story. I just had a lot of trouble staying engaged in the story up until the last fourth of the book or so. My mind kept wandering. The first part of the book is basically about Wreck getting past the Wall and finding his way around Seattle amidst the zombifying gas and different factions.

This book is very steampunk; you have zombies, gas masks, steam driven power, and all things steampunkish. Priest is always spot on with the steampunk elements of her books.

The story is fairly predictable and, as I mentioned, I had a tough time staying engaged in what was going on. When it came right down to it the mysterious zombie disappearances and the mysterious creature in the night just weren’t enough to really drive this story and keep it interesting.

Overall an okay steampunk read. I thought earlier books in this series were better. Still, if you are a huge steampunk fan you might want to give this a read. The main character is just very hard to relate to. I’d recommend reading Boneshaker over this book, I would also recommend Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series as an excellent steampunk read.(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 the golden witch. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, alternate-universe-or-history, own-1st-edition, own, steampunk, scifi, best-of-12, reviewed, zombies, magical-reality, gods-and-monsters

Okay, so I admit I missed the last installment in this series previous to this one, but I was really relieved to find that I was able to pick right back up again and sink back into the world that is the "Clockwork Century" series without feeling lost or confused. This is definitely one of the best volumes yet, bringing together everyone from all of the previous books and novellas, and really making this world feel full and entirely whole. While I did have a few gripes, "The Inexplicables" delive...more Okay, so I admit I missed the last installment in this series previous to this one, but I was really relieved to find that I was able to pick right back up again and sink back into the world that is the "Clockwork Century" series without feeling lost or confused. This is definitely one of the best volumes yet, bringing together everyone from all of the previous books and novellas, and really making this world feel full and entirely whole. While I did have a few gripes, "The Inexplicables" delivers wonderfully, and leaves us on a a semi-cliffhanger, promising us more. At least, I hope that's what that epilogue was, anyway.

This isn't just Rector's story - for the first time, Priest was able to tell three stories at once with ridiculous ease. We have Rector, the last of the "Blight Generation", striking out on his own for the first time. We have the story of the "Inexplicables" - creatures from myth that wander their way into the walled city of Seattle. And finally, we have the story of what's left of a broken city uniting into one people against an invading bunch of marauders looking to take Seattle for their own. At first, it's hard to reconcile all of these different arcs and sub-plots - how do they fit in with each other? The answer is: really, quite easily. And the way Priest pulled this off really, really impressed me. And if anything, it makes me not only want to read the previous books and novellas (along with what I missed) again, but makes me rabid for another book in this series.

My biggest problem, I suppose, was the really, really slow pacing at the beginning, when we're introduced to Rector, his addiction, and getting booted from the Orphanage once he's reached the age of majority. It's a bit plodding, and at times, it feels like there's some infodumping going on (especially when it comes to how sap has played its part in his life, and in the economy outside of the Wall, etc), but once Rector finally gets into Seattle, things pick up, and everything more or less smooths itself out - until we come to Angeline and the boys trying to figure out what these "Inexplicables" are. Then it's a bit ploddy again, until we see how not only the creatures got in, but seeing a totally new threat to the city from the outside. So, I guess you could say that the transition between the sub-plots to make up the larger plot of this book were a little rough, but once the transitions have finished, everything is really smooth sailing until the climax and resolution near the end of the book.

And to the zombie fans of this series - a warning. You're not going to get a lot of hot zombie (rotter) action here, though we do get a rather nasty little look at how Yaozu's been running the city from the Station - but I won't spoil you any further there. Just know that the rotters, while easy to make, really don't appear in this book for more than a chapter here or there. This book is more about the said mysterious "Inexplicables" (whose real identity, once revealed, made me impressed that Priest was able to work in such creatures in such a multicultural mythological fashion as she did zombies), and not only trying to find out more about them, but to save them from themselves, and from those who would storm the city to take it for their own.

While we do have some new faces in this book (Rector, the most obvious), we still have all of our favorites from previous books (Zeke, Huey/Houjin, Briar, Miss Angeline, Miss Mercy, and Cly) helping along the story at its most important points. It was really gratifying to see how much screentime Miss Angeline got in this book - she was part of the larger cast for most of the previous books but never got a lot of the spotlight until this particular book. We learn more about pre-Blight Seattle as well as how the city name came to be, and more about Maynard Wilkes (Briar's father, Zeke's grandfather) and how he became the Hero of Seattle during the Blight itself. We get a lot of backstory details that we only got in bits and drops in previous books, and they way they were presented weren't quite as infodumpy as they were with setting up Rector's character, which felt better to read and was easier to slip into, which also made the world with its backstory more complete.

While the fight for Seattle isn't as grand as it could have been, I think the way Priest crafted things was for the best. It sets things up and leaves a lot of room for future bickering with outsiders over control of the city, and it was nice to see the Doornails, Chinamen, and those from the Vaults really come together to unite against this outside threat. The imagery is just as rich in this book, and really all comes together within the last 2/3rds of the book, making it a really surreal (but awesome) experience.

And now I want that next book, if just for that epilogue alone.

So if you're new to this series, you still might want to start at book one, "Boneshaker", but if you've already read the first book and might have missed a book or two inbetween wherever you left off and this book, I don't think you'll feel too confused as to what's happening and who everyone is, as long as you know about some of the past main protagonists. "The Inexplicables" is out now from Tor in North America, so be sure to check it out! It's one of my best of 2012 for sure, and its place on that list is well deserved indeed.

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)(less)

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Mar 16, 2013 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random-comments-review

...Priest delivered another strong volume in the Clockwork Century series. Like the previous volumes The Inexplicables is a fast, fun read. People who loved the previous books will want to pick up this one. Personally I get the feeling that Priest is steadily working towards a resolution of the overarching story but I don't think we'll see it in the next novel Fiddlehead, which is scheduled for release in November 2013 and will have Belle Boyd as the main character. Readers who have read Clement...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013

I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either. It seems to me that I get into a series and I like it but then the author gains popularity and with the deadline crunch the books are either less interesting or not written as well. I'm mostly talking to this author, Rowling, Megan Abbott, and Josef Delaney. I most likely will read your next book in the hope the writing improves or at least goes back to the old standard (except for you J. K., really, an English murder mystery as if that isn't o...more

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About Cherie Priest

CHERIE PRIEST is the author of twelve novels, including the steampunk pulp adventures Dreadnought and Boneshaker. Boneshaker was nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award; it was a PNBA Award winner, and winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Cherie also wrote Fathom and the Eden Moore series from Tor (Macmillan), and her novellas Clementine, Dreadful Skin and Those...more

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The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century #5)

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