Review of: Clockworkers by Ramsey Isler
Clockworkers by Ramsey Isler
Ramsey Isler is an author, screenwriter, software developer, and designer who lives in Los Angeles. He loves books, anything with circuits and wires, and cats.
For fiction, Ramsey usually writes urban fantasy that blends elements of science fiction and suspense. His stories feature young protagonists that are often unsure of themselves, but they find the strength to persevere when faced with extreme circumstances. Ramsey does not write traditional “evil” villains or black-and-white morality tales; he instead opts for antagonists and anti-heroes who have viewpoints and ideals that pose difficult moral challenges for the protagonists, and the worlds they inhabit.
Clockworkers is a delightful, whimsical tale about a young woman who encounters an elf, originally a friend of her late father’s.
The elf, whose name is Piv, is clever, and — as it turns out — he has a lot of little elf friends. Together, they apply their singular skills to help the young woman, Sam, build a thriving luxury watch company.
But Sam is headstrong, stubborn, and singleminded — to the eventual detriment of the enterprise. Although, it’s not her fault when, about halfway through the book, things take a decidedly dark turn involving the bossy senior partner in the watch venture.
Without giving too much away, let me just say that one of the elves turns out to not be as jolly as his compatriots, and grim results ensue.
I liked Clockworkers a lot. It’s well-written and edited perfectly, and the plotline moves along nicely, keeping the reader engaged to the very end. Oh, and did I mention that it’s also a love story?
The novel is a cautionary look at what happens when we get what we wish for sometimes, as the old saying goes. Sam is a fully fleshed-out character with plenty of flaws — as any good protagonist should be, for credibility’s sake.
There are several good lines:
“Sarah’s couch was narrow and leathery, and it had serpentine curves that were pleasing to the eye, but tortuous on the human spine. Sleeping on it was like resting on the belly of a malnourished crocodile with scoliosis.”
And another:
“It’s the American way,” Sam said. “Steal the best ideas from other cultures, remix them and make them your own.”
The book is set in the Detroit area, not exactly known for its beauty, but the author somehow imbues the settings for the novel in ways that make me wish I could visit the area sometime. The elves love woods and flowers above all other settings, and all they could ever want are found right there in the middle of what I always thought was the Rust Belt. Who knew?
