The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (Burton & Swinburne, #2)

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The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (Burton & Swinburne #2)

by Mark Hodder (Goodreads Author)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 901 ratings · 127 reviews

It is 1862, though not the 1862 it should be...

Time has been altered, and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the king’s agent, is one of the few people who know that the world is now careening along a very different course from that which Destiny intended.

When a clockwork-powered man of brass is found abandoned in Trafalgar Square, Burton and his assistant, the wayward poet Alg...more

Paperback, 359 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Pyr

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Mar 24, 2013 Mell Moore rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-read

This is a summary of a much longer review. I have many thoughts!

The links to the previous book are present from the beginning which in my brain makes this more of a sequel than part of a series, which I really prefer. I find books that are just interchangeable blocks on a vague timeline less impressive somehow than ones that weave themselves together over a series. We hear of John Hanning Speke, malaria, Africa and the rest. Like the last book too there’s a surreal blend of stuff that actually e...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Wayne rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the second installation in the Burton and Swinburne adventures. It takes place in a steampunky London. I'd give a brief synopsis of the plot, but I don't know how possible that is.

This book was pretty good, but not as good as the first. It seemed to drag on a bit too long. There were a number of logical problems I had with it. I bought into the whole steampunk aspect, but even so... I'm not an authority on 19th century England, but there were things that just felt wrong with this, even t...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Jimm Wetherbee rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you think you know what class warfare is, think again. A bit of perspective, let us take a look at that sensation of Victorian England, The Tichborne Affair. Roger Tichborne was the son of the baron, Sir James Tichborne, and heir to the estate. Roger was lost at sea in 1854 and presumed dead, save that his mother would not accept this. In 1862 (after Sir James' death) Arthur Orton, a bankrupt butcher from Australia, came forward to claim the title . Never mind that Orton barely resembled Roge...more If you think you know what class warfare is, think again. A bit of perspective, let us take a look at that sensation of Victorian England, The Tichborne Affair. Roger Tichborne was the son of the baron, Sir James Tichborne, and heir to the estate. Roger was lost at sea in 1854 and presumed dead, save that his mother would not accept this. In 1862 (after Sir James' death) Arthur Orton, a bankrupt butcher from Australia, came forward to claim the title . Never mind that Orton barely resembled Roger Tichborne or knew precious little of what one one expect Roger to know, the mother accepted him. Upon her death, Orton sued to be recognized as Roger (and lost) and then in turn was sued for fraud and perjury (and again lost). It was the most expensive set of trials to date and held that title for over a century. To top the expense is that the facts of the case seemed to be of little import to the public at large. The aristocracy would not believe that one of their own would ever sink to being a common butcher, and the working class saw the upper crust betraying one of their own simply because he had found an honest way to survive. Convictions were set in stone and facts be damned. A near riot ensued upon the conclusion of the second trial as it seemed the mob would attempt to rescue Orton from prison.

Mark Hodder uses this event to bring Sir Richard Burton and Alegernon Swinburne into another steampunk adventure. If you will recall from The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, what we would call the Victorian period has been dashed when a certain historian from the future intervened to foil a failed assassination attempt on the Queen and failed beyond his wildest nightmares with the death of Victoria. To compound matters, he planted the seeds for technology to run amok and for the development of social norms to spin wildly out of hand.

Although the historian is now dead and gone, he is still causing trouble. Not only is technology galloping at a laissez-faire pace but the very technology Spring Heeled Jack introduced is causing rifts in time. It seems that Sir James' father brought back from South America and hid under his estate a fragment of what Burton knows to be the Eyes of Naga. Never heard of the Eyes of Naga? Well they are the stuff of myth and legend and won't be unearthed from the Tichborne estate until sometime later this century—in this timeline. Jack, however, used these precious stones to power and control his time machine. His fragment is now (in the world Burton and Swinburne currently find themselves in) interacting with fragments across the world. The stones seems to have telekinetic powers and allow the past and future to interfere with each other.

This all makes life more difficult for Burton and Swinburne but far easier for Hodder, to the point where one might feel he is cheating. Things are harder for Burton and Swinburne because most of the stones are now embedded in the Tichborne Claimant. The stones magnify the near riot of history to a frenzy that would make the riots of Watts and Detroit and the confusion of New Orleans utterly inconsequential. Hodder also uses the stones to explain all the nightmare creature he could not possibly have included in his previous book. One could almost understand the werewolves of London in his last book as maybe a scientific possibility. However, having run out of the improbable, Hodder is left with the fantastic. Now there are ghosts and walking undead (the term “zombie” would be anachronistic here). There is even free-floating ectoplasm and fairies. Well, fairies don't count. It seems that there are fairies, but the stones simply make them apparent. Now they don't just torture Charles Doyle figuratively, but actually. It should also be mentioned that Hodder nicely insures that one cannot have zombies without ghosts.

As one might expect, the introduction of ghosts and the undead elevates the great riot to a zombie apocalypse. On the one hand this illustrates a problem often faced with sequels. The Clockwork Man is very much Spring Heeled Jack turned up and more contrived. On the other hand, Burton and Swinburne gel much better here. Oh, and while not quite Sean of the Dead, the undead are fairly entertaining.

One troubling theme that began weakly in Spring Heeled Jack but is much more prominent in The Clockwork Man is that of technological determinism. In the former, the social deviation of the Libertines and the Rakes seemed to have a life of their own until co-opted by the technological classes. Now these social movements are simply dominated by technology. It is also interesting that while Herbert Spencer plays a pivotal and favorable roll, Hodder provides a glimpse through to the early 20th century, one where Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche is ruler of Germany and Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin of Russia. Note only does this seem out of character for Nietzsche1, but Hodder seems to ignore the line of though and social development that runs from Kant to Hegel and then Marx. It is hard to believe that the time Hodder has created would be less hospitable to communist ideology than the one we know. The conceit here not only does technology shape ideology but that ideology has no affect on the technology we choose to pursue. The best he can come up with (as seen in the Eyes of Naga) is that there is something trumps mechanical determinism. He may, however, find himself trapped in the sort of quantum mysticism that some science fiction writer become prey to.

Hodder finishes The Clockwork Man with a promise of yet another tale (indeed it is already out). This volume suggests a collapse between this timeline and our own. Perhaps the third installment will deliver.(less)

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Jan 12, 2012 Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in this series, and the alternate world of Albertian England (Victoria was killed before she could assume the throne and her husband was chosen to reign as her successor) becomes stranger and stranger. The streets are full of mechanical animals and insects that are used for transportation and labour, the air is filled with steam and mechanical men are starting to be seen. The newspapers are full of the story of the Tichborne Affair in which a missing Aristocrat returns ho...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Kim Ryser rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011booksread, steampunk

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I also enjoyed this one. But not as much as the first. This one was still a page-turning steampunk adventure, but the plot and ideas felt more all-over-the-place and messy. In addition to mechanical and genetic advances to science, this volume adds supernatural factors that differentiate this version of 19th century Britain from the historical version. This story dealt with Spiritualism, mediums, astral projection and other such topics. But eve...more I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I also enjoyed this one. But not as much as the first. This one was still a page-turning steampunk adventure, but the plot and ideas felt more all-over-the-place and messy. In addition to mechanical and genetic advances to science, this volume adds supernatural factors that differentiate this version of 19th century Britain from the historical version. This story dealt with Spiritualism, mediums, astral projection and other such topics. But everything was so jumbled together that it never really felt like a coherent plot to me.

But I still enjoyed it for what it was. My second complaint deals with the continued TOTAL ABSENCE of any significant female characters. There are three total female characters in this book otherwise crowded with distinct characters: the housekeeper, one of the villians who only appears in one scene, and a really neat female scientist/animal caretaker who may get a total of two actual lines.

The latter character perfectly illustrates my annoyance. At the beginning of the book the two heros visit this lady's animal organization to borrow some swans to travel to the country (the Swans are huge and propel flying machines.) They meet the lady who trains them and then they take her new assistant, a formerly homeless man, to take care of the swans. This man goes on to become an important part of the rest of the book and I suspect a future permanent part of the team. Why couldn't the female swan-trainer be the one drawn into the plot? There's a perfectly good reason for her to go along to look after the swans and then they would have had someone I suspect would be a kick-ass female character. But no, it's the random homeless guy instead. (I'm not complaining about his character, which I like, but it's an example of how easy it would have been to have a central female character, if only the author made it a priority.)

Anyway, despite all this, I've still given it 4 stars. Maybe I shouldn't, but it was a compulsive read, and the world is fascinating enough to make it a must-read for steampunks. And I wouldn't be bothered so much by its faults if I didn't otherwise enjoy it. (less)

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May 27, 2011 Forrest rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cbriii

Mark Hodder’s tales of Burton and Swinburne are some of the least focused but most entertaining steampunk novels out there. Book two of the series does little to improve on the formula of its predecessor, but the electricity is crackling away. The Clockwork Man is a messy, fundamentally flawed adventure, which nevertheless keeps you turning the pages until the very end. It is steampunk fluff, but if you can deal the lack of literary merit, its still a fun little romp through Hodder’s twisted pas...more Mark Hodder’s tales of Burton and Swinburne are some of the least focused but most entertaining steampunk novels out there. Book two of the series does little to improve on the formula of its predecessor, but the electricity is crackling away. The Clockwork Man is a messy, fundamentally flawed adventure, which nevertheless keeps you turning the pages until the very end. It is steampunk fluff, but if you can deal the lack of literary merit, its still a fun little romp through Hodder’s twisted past.

The meddling of Spring Heeled Jack has left Richard Burton’s world radically altered from its intended course. London is flooded with the ever stranger mad science of its Technologist cadre and the very fabric of society is beginning to chafe under the ministrations of the revolutionary Rakes. Burton, in his role as King’s Agent, has taken on the strangest mysteries of these strange times to defend King and Country.

Hodder’s second detective story is just as fragmented as his first novel. The story takes wild leaps, not only in subject matter, but in time and place as well. Unnecessary timeskips and flashbacks plague what should be a relatively straightforward adventure romp. Hodder takes advantage of the artificial leaps in time to showcase his bizarre vision of Victorian England, complete with giant millipede husks, fitted with steam engines taking the place of London’s iconic double-deckers (itself nothing but a lead in for a truly hideous pun on Volkswagen’s Beatle). Or the blight ravaged Ireland being turned into a man-eating jungle by overzealous eugenicists. And Hodder’s added a third force that’s radically reshaping history, the powers of mesmerism: fully realized psychic abilities.

And at the center of everything, a ret-conned piece of Deus ex Machina which is literally used to explain everything that happened in the first book and the second AND goes on to drive the plot of the forthcoming third book. This is probably the most annoying aspect of The Clockwork Man. The Eyes of Naga are easily the most egregious use of a plot device I’ve ever seen. These little pretties have unraveled the very fabric of time not once but three times (so far). Hodder unapologetically uses them as carte blanche to turn history on its head.

But that is what we came here to see, so I can’t fault him for his product, just his methods. The original mystery has the same problems as Spring Heeled Jack in having too many starting points and not enough endings. A new character, Herbert Spencer, is introduced, and does quite well for himself until the last two chapters when they turn him into another plot device. The clockwork man in questions is the definition of a fake MacGuffin, which deeply annoying because Hodder explicitly set up the plot device to be used on said MacGuffin in the first 30 pages.

The addition of mesmerism and psychic abilities makes a nice platform for the new story. The historical characters-as-villains theme that Hodder has created here is really fun. And the historical postscript is still interesting, although it does get a bit bogged down in some of the details. Again, the story evokes enough interest in the real life figures to prompt some outside research.

And it’s a page turner. It’s hard to recommend a book just based on its ability to get you to read it, but ultimately if all you want from a steampunk novel is some shiny gears and a plot involving zombies (zombfied nobility for extra hilarity) then The Clockwork Man is an excellent novel. I don’t hate it. I dislike that it works, but I don’t hate it.

As a final note, the cover my copy of The Clockwork Man was riddled with odd pixilation flaws of the text. The image itself was fine, but the title’s drop shadows and the beveling of the main font were both jagged and boxy. I’m curious if this is a common problem with Pyr books, as the extra price I paid for their pretty cover art seemed ill-spent on this poorly proofed product. (less)

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Sep 22, 2012 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another exciting romp through this much altered Victorian London!
Or, in actual fact, an extended stay; as I read this second book straight after the first so it just feels like one long story instead of the two. There are few books that interest me enough to do that, normally I will jump from one series, one genre, one book to another just to keep things fresh. However with Burton and Swinburne the setting and characters may be the same but they are developed and used in such a way that the stor...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Ian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ironically, given that the novels of Verne and Wells that inspired them were the original "hard" SF, a lot of contemporary steampunk tends to be a sort of olla podrida of Victorian-flavored SF, horror, and fantasy, often thrown together with no regard for their ultimate plausibility. This is a fairly serviceable example of the subgenre -- decent enough as far as it goes, with the admittedly highly amusing idea of turning the explorer Sir Richard Burton and the poet Algernon Swinburne into a sort...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Benjamin Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, alternate-history, steampunk

I actually enjoyed this one more than The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, the first in this alternate history - steampunk - gaslight trilogy. I love the way the author takes real historical characters such as Sir Richard Francis Burton and Algernon Swinburne (as well as a host of others such as Charles Babbage, Herbert Spencer, and even a young Oscar Wilde) and weaves them into a fascinating steampunk plot taking place in London, 1862. I love me some good Sherlockian atmosphere when combin...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars

450 pages of sheer joy. The author's debut was The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack and book two won't make sense unless you read that first. In book one a time traveller from the future goes back to the victorian era to try and change the past. His suit goes wrong and he gives too much information about modern technology to Isambard Kingdom Brunel who turns the victorian period we know into a bizarre and unfamiliar steampunk world. Into which, Sir Richard Burton and Algernon Swinbourn are a...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Spencer by: Annecdavis

First off, I must declare my want to grow a proper mustachio. Or are they mustachios? Whatever they are, mine should be proper, what what! Fast paced and brilliantly visual. My mother-in-law pegged me for this one, and she was precisely correct in her recommendation as well as her comment "reads like a graphic novel." This series is a great, uh, riff on historical personalities and the character arcs are have much more curve than many of Ye Olde mysteries. Putting this one back on the shelf near...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Daniel Guajardo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Es la continuación de The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack. Ocurre al poco tiempo que termina el anterior y como los leí uno después del otro, se sintió como si recorriera un nuevo capítulo de la misma novela.

Las bases asentadas en la primera novela ahora se expanden y agrega nuevas explicaciones al porqué de los sucesos que les convierten en una versión del mundo derivada de la nuestra, pero donde es posible la creación de autómatas, manipulación genética y la creación de tecnologías impres...more Es la continuación de The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack. Ocurre al poco tiempo que termina el anterior y como los leí uno después del otro, se sintió como si recorriera un nuevo capítulo de la misma novela.

Las bases asentadas en la primera novela ahora se expanden y agrega nuevas explicaciones al porqué de los sucesos que les convierten en una versión del mundo derivada de la nuestra, pero donde es posible la creación de autómatas, manipulación genética y la creación de tecnologías impresionantes en el equivalente de la era Victoriana.

En este libro el autor se relaja un poco, o esa impresión me queda al terminar de leerlo. El humor y las situaciones "absurdas" son más comunes, principalmente al contraponer una cualidad moral y valores de la primera mitad del siglo XIX con los sucesos extraordinarios que son relatados en la obra. Fantasmas, zombies, autómatas y manipulación genética, van a la par con un estilo de vida que incluye chaperonas, caballeros educados y mucho té, cigarros y brandy, moral decimonónica y etc.

Me entretuvo, sí, pero no me fascinó como el primero. Aquí se ofrece una explicación, casi llegando al final de la novela, en torno a los sucesos de la primera novela y por qué este mundo es tan distinto del "original". Y esa explicación no me convenció. Sirve para los objetivos de la historia y se justifica en su contexto, no la puedo criticar por eso, pero la necesidad del autor agregar una nueva capa de explicaciones al trasfondo de la novela, no aumentó mi fascinación sino que la disminuyó.

Dato aparte, y esto no es un spoiler, se menciona Chile muchas veces, Melipilla y otras zonas que son familiares para los chilenos. Cada vez que se mencionaba, me obligué a visualizar un Chile decimonónico, así que la imagen no fue para nada romántica. Aún así, este detalle contribuyó positivamente a mi percepción de la historia y del autor, que hizo un esfuerzo por ampliar el mapa hacia las zonas "exóticas" del planeta.

A pesar de mi pequeña decepción, procedo a leer la continuación ahora mismo. Y sí, para quienes leyeron la primera novela, recomiendo totalmente que lean la segunda.(less)

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Apr 19, 2011 Kevin Hearne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Before I get to the novel's contents, I just have to say these books have some of the most awesome covers I've seen. Kudos to PYR.

The book: I liked it even more than Spring Heeled Jack. The incredibly polite undead Rakes who apologized as they killed you—or protested if you killed 'em back, as in, "I say, this isn't at all cricket!"—cracked me up.

Clockwork Man probably isn't the place to start if you haven't read Spring Heeled Jack, but it's a great follow-up and I'm now hooked on the series. Gr...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was my second Burton/Swinburne steampunk adventure, having read Springheel Jack about a year ago, this time opting for the audiobook version. Gerard Doyle's narration is superb; I wish I could say the same about the book. To me, it was too long and contained too much: Steam-powered clockwork machines, bio-engineered animals, ghosts, zombies, time-travel, mind-control, seances, cyborgs. I'm sure there's a kitchen sink in there, too, although I don't recall if it's steam-powered or a genetica...more

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Jul 01, 2011 Aspen Junge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ripping-good-yarns

I suppose it is inevitable that steampunk will rely on the tropes of Victorian lit; particularly Sherlock Holmes. In my opinion, steampunk works well as a setting for the plot; a bad steampunk book (and I have read a few) will be full of golly-gee-whizbangery about the tech and suffer through weak plots and characterization. This book does not suffer from that flaw.

It is a mystery novel, and does suffer from the other irritating steampunk habit of name-dropping; in this case the main character i...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011_release_read, review_fbc, genre-sf, read_2011, t1_recommended_2011

The Clockwork Man continues and expands on the Spring Heeled Jack story with which the author debuted; in a quite changed world of 1862, Sir Francis Burton now king's investigator and his assistant Algernon Swinburne, plus a motley cast including beggar/philosopher Herbert Spencer, various policemen and special agents of the Crown have to deal with new threats to "life as we know it" different from the events in the first volume, but related in subtle ways .

Starting innocuously with a robbery,...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although this was not slated to be my next book, I couldn't wait any longer with this book staring at me from my shelf. I started this book on my plane ride from Portland to Atlanta yesterday afternoon and just finished it this evening. I could not put it down. It is just as interesting and innovative as the first book (but does have some parts near the end not for those with sqeamish stomachs). I would recommend this book to all steampunk and clockpunk fans. Can't wait to pick the next in the s...more

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May 24, 2011 Viccy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal

The year is 1861 and a claimant to the Tichborne estate has arrived from South America. Is it the real Roger Tichborne presumed drowned several years ago or a false claimant? Sir Richard Francis Burton, along with his stalwart assistant, the poet, Algernon Swinborne, must investigate at the behest of King Albert. Burton already knows history has been altered due to the interference of the man from the future he dealt with in their first adventure. In this action-packed sequel, Burton must try ag...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Catherine Siemann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: neovictorians

Hodder continues his entertaining alternate history series; I do enjoy the way he plays with various Victorians and their alternate futures. I very much want to know why the parakeets are so fond of Herbert Spencer, and I was amused by the Very Polite Zombies. And as someone who's interested in the legal history of 19th century England, I could hardly failed to be interested in Hodder's take on the Tichborne Claimant. However, I was dismayed by his take on working class rebellion, which was pure...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Natalia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: have, favorite, steampunk

Historia zmieniła swój bieg…

Mark Hodder to najpopularniejszy amerykański autor, specjalizujący się w powieściach z gatunku steampunk. Trylogia Burton & Swinburne przyniosła mu nie tylko rozgłos, ale także i nagrodę im. Philipa K. Dick’a. Zdumiewająca sprawa Nakręcanego Człowieka to już drugi tom tej trylogii. Obecnie autor mieszka w Hiszpanii, a w zeszłym roku wyszła kolejna jego powieść, której fabuła także została osadzona w świecie, który łączy ze sobą elementy steampunku oraz science-fic...more Historia zmieniła swój bieg…

Mark Hodder to najpopularniejszy amerykański autor, specjalizujący się w powieściach z gatunku steampunk. Trylogia Burton & Swinburne przyniosła mu nie tylko rozgłos, ale także i nagrodę im. Philipa K. Dick’a. Zdumiewająca sprawa Nakręcanego Człowieka to już drugi tom tej trylogii. Obecnie autor mieszka w Hiszpanii, a w zeszłym roku wyszła kolejna jego powieść, której fabuła także została osadzona w świecie, który łączy ze sobą elementy steampunku oraz science-fiction.

Jest rok 1862, ale zupełnie tak jakby go nie było, ponieważ w rzeczywistości wszystko powinno być inaczej… Jednak zabawy Skaczącego Jacka, z podróżowaniem w czasie doprowadziły do nieoczekiwanych zmian, a losy historii potoczyły się w zupełnie innym kierunku. Tę prawdę zna niewielu, lecz tylko jeden człowiek zdaje sobie sprawę z konsekwencji tego stanu rzeczy. Jest nim sir Richard Francis Burton. Niestety nie wiele może na to poradzić, dlatego bez problemu podejmuje kolejną misję zleconą mu przez ministra Palmerston’a. Jednak po kolei…

Na Trafalgar Square zostaje znaleziony dziwny i tajemniczy robot wykonany z mosiądzu. Szybko okazuje się, że jest to tak zwany Nakręcany Człowiek. Jednak Burtona intryguje najbardziej czym jest i co skrywa ten mechanizm, a także co go łączy z kradzieżą kolekcji czarnych diamentów uważanych za odłamki lemuriańskiego Oka Nagi, inaczej mówiąc meteoryty, który w czasach prehistorycznych uderzył w Ziemię. Jednak nim przyjdzie mu odkryć te sekrety, będzie musiał rozwiązać jeszcze jedną sprawę dotyczącą mniemanego pretendenta do majątku Tichborn’ów, a także tego co skrywa w sobie rodowa posiadłość. Jaki będzie finał? Tego koniecznie musicie dowiedzieć się sami.

Z niecierpliwością czekałam na odpowiedni moment, aby zabrać się za kolejną powieść Marka Hoddera, który podbił moje serce swoją debiutancką powieścią. Lektura tego tomu jeszcze pogłębiła tą fascynację. No i przecież jest to gatunek literacki, który naprawdę mnie interesuje i ciekawi.

Autor po raz kolejny nas na uliczki wiktoriańskiej Anglii gdzie zaskakujące odkrycia mechaniczne i genetyczne przeplatają się z historycznymi faktami i postaciami. Taki stan rzeczy dla mieszkańców steampunkowego Imperium Brytyjskiego są normalnością. Ludzie poruszają się dorożkami ciągniętymi przez wielkie koni parowe, welocypedami, latającymi rotofotelami, a ostatnio także niesamowicie przerośniętymi owadami przerobionymi na odpowiedniki dzisiejszych autobusów z mechanicznymi silnikami. W nocy ulice przemierzane są przez kraby śmieciarzy, które pożerają wszystkie nieczystości, a później oczyszczając wszystko strumieniami gorącej pary. Atmosfera w mieście jest więc ciężka od pary i różnych wyziewów. Wszystko to składa się na naprawdę mroczny, niemal gotycki, i przyprawiający o lekki dreszczyk niepokoju, klimat, który aż bije z każdej strony tej powieści.

Mark Hodder charakteryzuje się naprawdę wielką wyobraźnią i istną skarbnicą ciekawych pomysłów, co przekłada się na słowo pisane. W doskonały sposób wykorzystuje historyczne fakty, które modyfikuje i dostosowuje do potrzeb tworzonej historii. Co ciekawe autor wplata w fabułę także sporo paranormalnych sytuacji, które, jak się później okazuje, mają swoje racjonalne wytłumaczenia. Nic nie jest pozostawione zwykłemu przypadkowi. We mnie, każdy taki moment, jeszcze bardziej rozbudzał ciekawość i wprost nie mogłam się doczekać kiedy poznam jego prawdziwe podłoże, oraz człowieka, który za tym stoi. Kolejnym elementem fabuły wzbudzający moje zainteresowanie, to wszelkiego rodzaju opisy, tak dobrze czytacie, czy to krajobrazu czy też mechanicznych „cudów” nauki. Są one do granic szczegółowe, a mimo wszystko wcale nie nużą. Jest wręcz odwrotnie, wszystkie przykuwają uwagę. Akcja rozwija się stopniowo, co jest już chyba domeną tego pisarza. Jest nią także rozwijanie równocześnie kilku, pozornie nie powiązanych wątków, które dopiero na sam koniec zaczynają układać się w jedną spójną całość. W ten sposób można kontrolować wzrost napięcia, poziom rośnie z rozdziału na rozdział. Samo zakończenie to dosłownie czysta kwintesencja tego słowa, za co należą się naprawdę największe słowa uznania.

Podsumowując. Zdumiewająca sprawa Nakręcanego Człowieka to nie tylko niesamowita powieść fantastyczna, ale także interesująca lekcja historii, a także zniewalająca okładka. To właśnie ona daje nam przedsmak tego czego możemy spodziewać się w środku. Gorąco, a nawet jeszcze bardziej, polecam!(less)

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May 07, 2013 Thomas McBryde rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fantastical book to read and my first foray in the steampunk genre of novels. This is actually the second book in the series, the first one being Spring Heeled Jack. If you are a fan of anything Victorian, then this type of novel is for you. It blends sci-fi elements together and sets the reader in an alternate Victorian Era where steam still rules the machines, but other sciences and technologies have blended in. Genetic scientist, robots, mutated animals for travel, would-be immortals, and d...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Fred Hughes rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great story about Sir Richard Francis Burton and his assistant Algernon Charles Swinburne

Set in the Victorian period Burton is an explorer whose biggest quest was the find the headwaters of the Nile. Which he never accomplished due to a case of Malaria which still attacks him on a regular basis.

Burton is summoned by the King and becomes his agent to deal with affairs that are best kept from the public’s eye or are so far out of reality as to defeat conventional policing work.

Swinburne...more

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Jan 22, 2012 AmandaSOTP rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

Hodder recently won the Phillip K. Dick Award for the first in this series, The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack, and it is no wonder that this is a worthy follow-up to the first book. The story continues the tale of Sir Francis Burton, and his pals, as they become involved in the mysterious missing diamonds. The title character, one Clockwork Man, starts off this adventure, but other than a bit part, he doesn't play too heavily into the story. This is something I would have liked to see cha...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not quite as enjoyable as the first book in the series, mostly due to repetition between the two books. I get easily annoyed when authors try to recap too much of the previous book(s) in the sequel(s). The overall mystery was very intriguing, and I like the way the author plays with alternate versions of real historical people and events, but the pacing seemed uneven. Parts of the book just dragged for me, and I admit I skimmed large portions of certain chapters because they didn't really seem t...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Steam-punk fans

Shelves: steam-punk, science-fiction

I got this at a Border's Going-out-of-Business sale (solely because it has the coolest cover art I've ever seen), only to later realize it was the second in a series, so I had to read the first one before reading this one. After finishing the first book, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, I was even more excited to read this sequel.

It picked up right where the first left off, with a new case that echoed back to the events in the first book. Where the first book was a steam-punk book with...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, supernatural, steampunk

I have read many books that I've finished in a short amount of time--most of these were for a number of reasons: length, lack of talent on the author's part, too much free time, etc. However, I do believe--especially out of the Steampunk books I've read so far--Clockwork Man has been the only one that I've read fast because I was thoroughly enjoying it.

The writing not bogged-down by completely needless explanations of the technology (if he had any of those, I didn't notice them), and only sporad...more I have read many books that I've finished in a short amount of time--most of these were for a number of reasons: length, lack of talent on the author's part, too much free time, etc. However, I do believe--especially out of the Steampunk books I've read so far--Clockwork Man has been the only one that I've read fast because I was thoroughly enjoying it.

The writing not bogged-down by completely needless explanations of the technology (if he had any of those, I didn't notice them), and only sporadically bogged down by the physical descriptions of recurring characters, Clockwork Man read fast because it was, quite literally, one gigantic action scene. Their enemy was something that's always given me the shivers--the idea of Legion. Though I must say it's not in the literal sense, that is just how it seemed to me while I was reading. Not only that, but it was an unstoppable tide. The conflict was amped up quite nicely because of the antagonists-in-collective, leaving the protagonists to run for their lives nearly the entire span of the novel.

Something else that proved to me that the book didn't sucketh because I read fast was that I still have vivid images in my head (to which I've assigned snippets of movie scores out of boredom...)from the entirety of the book. I assure you, it's nothing like reading certain final books of trashy supernatural series/tree murders where you finish the book and wonder what just happened to the last hour of your life.

Don't get me wrong, though--I'm not saying this book has its faults. Rememeber how I mentioned that Burton was a Victorian James Bond sort of character? Well, he still is. It's been toned down a bit since Spring-Heeled Jack, but it's still there if you know where to find it. Not only that, but Clockwork Man has something in common with almost all Greek dramas: a seer tells you exactly what's going to happen. It's in code, mind you--not as blunt as what the Ancient Greeks gave us--but it's there. And, if you pay attention, it helps set up what the rest of the series will, potentially, be about. As of this point in time, I don't know if this is something I should bring more attention to, or not. However, I will wait until the next book (to see what Hodder has planned) before I really start picking apart this particular little flaw.

Actually, it's probably insulting to Mr. Hodder to even mention one of those books in this review, but I'll keep it here for comparison and effect.

Either way, Hodder has actually improved since Spring-Heeled Jack, and very much so. While I enjoyed the first Burton and Swinburne book (despite its many faults), I enjoyed this one more. Hodder has made the steampunk subgenre worth reading for me despite the shortcomings of a number of other authors that left me despairing of it.(less)

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Feb 14, 2012 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

This second installment of the Burton & Swinburne series most definitely lives up to the promise of its predecessor, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack. This story picks up shortly after the conclusion of the first and continues the primary plot of the alternate course of history for London in 1862, a path created by the title character in the first novel whose ill-fated time-travelling mission to the past (or Burton & Swinburne's present) in an attempt to correct a crime committed...more

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May 27, 2011 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(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.)

I always have to tread lightly when it comes to reviewing novels written in the steampunk style; because this is a genre I'm a real sucker for, which means that I will give even subpar books in this genre a higher score than a lot of people feel they deserve, simply because I enjoy wallowing in the tech-me...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars

I vacillated between three and four stars on this one. Mr. Hodder gets the mood right and the story kept my attention but I have a couple problems. First, and this is a good problem for a novel to have, is that it isn't long enough. Events move along a bit too quickly and the climax arrives before the plot is ripe. The other problem I have is that Mr. Hodder is ratcheting up the weird bio-science a bit much for my tastes. Avoiding spoilers the best I can, the first novel introduced a plot elemen...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1800s, adventure, alternate-history, england, fantasy, favorites, hero, historical-fiction, history, london, male-author-hero, male-author, man-2-dark-angular-angry, mystery, pyr, read-2011, series, steampunk, zombies, looks-like-old-book, sf, time-travel, victorian

This book is an excellent follow-up to the first book in the series, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne #1). More than just a sequel, it continues themes and storylines, answers questions, and ties up some threads from the first book that I hadn't even thought of as incomplete, because the first book was so satisfying.

The story continues in the wonderful alternate universe created in the first book, with many of the same characters and plenty of new ones as well. Ri...more This book is an excellent follow-up to the first book in the series, The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne #1). More than just a sequel, it continues themes and storylines, answers questions, and ties up some threads from the first book that I hadn't even thought of as incomplete, because the first book was so satisfying.

The story continues in the wonderful alternate universe created in the first book, with many of the same characters and plenty of new ones as well. Richard Burton is assigned another case to investigate: that of the Tichborne Claimant. This is an interesting bit of history even in our universe, but it becomes more exciting in the Albertian England where technology is advancing faster than even the tech-savvy can keep up with it and the supernatural is actually possible. Always entertaining, at times hilarious, and with multiple intriguing mysteries going at once, this book is a fantastic read. There are ingenious inventions and innovations, fascinating differences between this universe and ours, and wonderful characters anyone would love to read about. And since the story is full of actual historical figures and events, this book might possibly be even more fun for those who know a lot about the time period.

The writing is just as strong and funny in this second book book as it was in the first, although since the story takes place over a much longer stretch of time, there are periods and events that are skipped over in the telling, which was a bit disconcerting. Even so, I truly enjoyed every page of this book, and desperately hope there will be more in the series. I picked up the first one because the cover looked cool on the front and beautiful on the back--and I ended up with a new favorite author and a new favorite series! I can't say how excited these books make me without sounding like a teenage girl, but I genuinely do love this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who's read the first book.

Here are some of my favorite bits:
The zombie rakes very politely trying to eat people (sadly, I didn't copy any of my favorite lines from this part, and I'm moving soon and have already packed the book away).
Parakeet message:

"'Message from that dung-squeezer, Detective Inspector Trounce. Message begins. Word has reached me that you're back on your feet, you dirty shunt-knobbler. I'll call round at eight this evening. Message ends.'"

There are of course plenty of Oscar Wilde quotes:

"'Ah, well now, whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.'"

"'It seems to me that the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.'"

"'Have you seen the news yourself, sir?' 'Not yet. I've had my nose in books.' 'Then you must be the exception that proves the rule, for I have it in mind that the difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read!'"

Herbert Spencer's philosophizing:

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation; contempt carved from the immovable rock of faith."

"'It isn't possible to know if the reality you perceive is all there is. You can only deal with what you are cognizant of.'...'Knowledge is phenomenal?'...'We might only be aware of a small portion of reality, but it is reality nevertheless, so however we apprehend it, that apprehension has validity. Existence is, then, I posit, a continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations.'"

"Resistance to aggression is not simply justified, but imperative."

A conclusion:

"In fact, I contend not only that anyone can do it, but that we all do! Destiny is not fixed. It is the ever-changing consequence of uncountable actions--actions undertaken by every single person of the face of the planet...even the most obscure, uneducated, unimaginative nobody can, and does, make a difference."

And one more parakeet:

"'I think I can safely predict that this attempt will be a great deal less traumatic than the last!' Pox let loose a terrific shriek: 'Bollocks!'"

(less)

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About Mark Hodder

British writer living in Valencia, Spain.

Mark Hodder is the creator and caretaker of the Blakiana: The Sexton Blake Resource web site, which he designed to celebrate, record, and revive Sexton Blake, the most written about fictional detective in English publishing history.

A former BBC writer, editor, journalist, and Web producer, Mark has worked in all the new and traditional medias and was based...more

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Books by Mark Hodder

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (Burton & Swinburne, #1)

Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (Burton & Swinburne, #3)

Great Great Great (And So Forth) Uncle Dragoslav

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