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Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel
"[Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel] could not be more fun to read and definitely signals the entry of a new and exciting series into the Steampunk genre." ~SteampunkChronicle(dot)com
Stanford Parker has a choke-hold on the legalized slave industry. Breeding his brand of clones for whatever horror his clients may have in mind—from hard labor to spare organs—there’s no questioning his product’s quality. But his days may be numbered when someone hires the crew of the airship Masamune to put him out of business. the gun-slinging airship captain, a disgraced former Inspector, and a genius inventor struggling with a ‘pheta addiction, have a tall order in front of them in bringing down Parker’s heavily defended ranch. They have a plan, but a secret from one of their pasts will endanger the mission; tensions between Violet and Tibbs over differing moral ideals will heighten; and Moriarty’s inquisitive nature will draw him to why haven’t they met their client?
Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel is the first in a series of Steam Punk novellas and stories chronicling the harrowing post-apocalyptic adventures of the crew of the airship Masamune and the lives they touch along the way.
Stanford Parker has a choke-hold on the legalized slave industry. Breeding his brand of clones for whatever horror his clients may have in mind—from hard labor to spare organs—there’s no questioning his product’s quality. But his days may be numbered when someone hires the crew of the airship Masamune to put him out of business. the gun-slinging airship captain, a disgraced former Inspector, and a genius inventor struggling with a ‘pheta addiction, have a tall order in front of them in bringing down Parker’s heavily defended ranch. They have a plan, but a secret from one of their pasts will endanger the mission; tensions between Violet and Tibbs over differing moral ideals will heighten; and Moriarty’s inquisitive nature will draw him to why haven’t they met their client?
Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel is the first in a series of Steam Punk novellas and stories chronicling the harrowing post-apocalyptic adventures of the crew of the airship Masamune and the lives they touch along the way.
126 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 29, 2011
A good representation of steampunk. The Augmentation Society is creepy cool.
October 15, 2021
A quick adventure
While I did enjoy the story, I think at times the way back trips got really boring and were probably short stories in their own right, sometimes references in dialogue referred to recent statements never made. There was far too much gore, that kind of ruined the story, more like a graphic novel being described, maybe parents want to read it first. Otherwise it was a good piece of steam
While I did enjoy the story, I think at times the way back trips got really boring and were probably short stories in their own right, sometimes references in dialogue referred to recent statements never made. There was far too much gore, that kind of ruined the story, more like a graphic novel being described, maybe parents want to read it first. Otherwise it was a good piece of steam
January 31, 2019
Excellent steampunk adventure set in a dystopian future.
September 21, 2011
Exciting and cinematic, Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel was a blast to read.
This Steampunk novella (long for a novella but too short to be a novel I think) takes us on a fast-paced action adventure with a strong plot, woven together by a large (for the stories length) cast of characters. And in most areas the two authors, Elias Anderson and E.C. Belikov have pulled it off adeptly.
One thing I wanted to get off my chest though, is that I had this nagging feeling while reading it that this should have, or could have been the pilot episode for a TV show. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it follows a TV series type of formula.
The first chapter we're introduced to Violet, a sexy sky-captain (my term, she's never called this in the book), she's the primary character that is precipitating the central plot forward, we get some action with very little context for what's going on. In fact I didn't understand until way later that the first scene actually had anything to do with the plot. Thankfully it does.
Anyway next chapter we go back 6 months to see how this group came together. Each character is introduced in rapid succession but one at a time and as the story unfolds we get a taste of each characters backstory cleverly peppered through, but we never get their entire backstories. In fact, all the threads for the subplots are set-up for ongoing use while the primary plot is resolved within this installment.
It feels like a pilot episode and as much as I love literature I was wishing this was a TV show, not a book. Maybe that's just me wishing for something to fill the void Firefly's cancellation left me with and with it's interesting cast of characters and futuristic western tone, it feels like Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel could do it.
Anyway enough of my wailing and bemoaning about what will never be, and get back to reviewing the story that is.
As I kind of hinted at, this is an origin story both about our group of heros and a machine named Mob, with strong overtones of revenge and undertones of moral confrontation between two good people with different moral ideals. Other than the bit at the beginning that probably could have been told in a less ham-fisted way the plot is excellent, gets better with each chapter and makes you want more. It's told from 6 points of view in its short length and all but one we get a good sense of character. The one I speak of that was lacking is just some red-shirt schmuck who's only point is to give us a different view on a situation...poor Red-Shirt.
The prose is excellent, when it comes to characters, action and the weird technology (I particularly liked the way the robot programming was handled without modern tech). I found the setting and world building to be a bit vague in sections, it's kind of a nitpick, but I think slowing the pace a bit for more description of setting would have been a fair trade off. Still, though I could picture the environments well enough.
I wanted to talk about the ending for a moment as well, without giving any spoilers I would just say that it is satisfying and moving in a way I didn't expect when I started the story. It intertwines with a poem written by Thomas Wolfe from Look Homeward, Angel, and this story is prefaced with it. I skimmed over the poem at the start but I would definitely recommend after finished the last paragraph of the story to go back and reread the poem. I almost wonder if the authors wrote the entire story with that moment in mind it comes together so well.
[-150to+ 50] Professionalism (Cover/Formatting/Editing): 50 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Characterizations: 125 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Plot/Pace: 150 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Writing/Prose: 125 Tribbles
Total: 450 Tribbles
Note: I received a free copy of this book for review
This Steampunk novella (long for a novella but too short to be a novel I think) takes us on a fast-paced action adventure with a strong plot, woven together by a large (for the stories length) cast of characters. And in most areas the two authors, Elias Anderson and E.C. Belikov have pulled it off adeptly.
One thing I wanted to get off my chest though, is that I had this nagging feeling while reading it that this should have, or could have been the pilot episode for a TV show. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it follows a TV series type of formula.
The first chapter we're introduced to Violet, a sexy sky-captain (my term, she's never called this in the book), she's the primary character that is precipitating the central plot forward, we get some action with very little context for what's going on. In fact I didn't understand until way later that the first scene actually had anything to do with the plot. Thankfully it does.
Anyway next chapter we go back 6 months to see how this group came together. Each character is introduced in rapid succession but one at a time and as the story unfolds we get a taste of each characters backstory cleverly peppered through, but we never get their entire backstories. In fact, all the threads for the subplots are set-up for ongoing use while the primary plot is resolved within this installment.
It feels like a pilot episode and as much as I love literature I was wishing this was a TV show, not a book. Maybe that's just me wishing for something to fill the void Firefly's cancellation left me with and with it's interesting cast of characters and futuristic western tone, it feels like Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel could do it.
Anyway enough of my wailing and bemoaning about what will never be, and get back to reviewing the story that is.
As I kind of hinted at, this is an origin story both about our group of heros and a machine named Mob, with strong overtones of revenge and undertones of moral confrontation between two good people with different moral ideals. Other than the bit at the beginning that probably could have been told in a less ham-fisted way the plot is excellent, gets better with each chapter and makes you want more. It's told from 6 points of view in its short length and all but one we get a good sense of character. The one I speak of that was lacking is just some red-shirt schmuck who's only point is to give us a different view on a situation...poor Red-Shirt.
The prose is excellent, when it comes to characters, action and the weird technology (I particularly liked the way the robot programming was handled without modern tech). I found the setting and world building to be a bit vague in sections, it's kind of a nitpick, but I think slowing the pace a bit for more description of setting would have been a fair trade off. Still, though I could picture the environments well enough.
I wanted to talk about the ending for a moment as well, without giving any spoilers I would just say that it is satisfying and moving in a way I didn't expect when I started the story. It intertwines with a poem written by Thomas Wolfe from Look Homeward, Angel, and this story is prefaced with it. I skimmed over the poem at the start but I would definitely recommend after finished the last paragraph of the story to go back and reread the poem. I almost wonder if the authors wrote the entire story with that moment in mind it comes together so well.
[-150to+ 50] Professionalism (Cover/Formatting/Editing): 50 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Characterizations: 125 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Plot/Pace: 150 Tribbles
[-100to+150] Writing/Prose: 125 Tribbles
Total: 450 Tribbles
Note: I received a free copy of this book for review
June 20, 2012
I am so psyched that this book was really good. It's the first random kindle freebie that I've been super excited about.
Apparently this is sort of a teaser to get you hooked on more books in the series, and if so then bravo. I deeply enjoyed all the characters, the settings, and the plot. For such a short book there was a ton of back story and easy character building.
Overall, the whole thing reminded me a little bit of the show 'Firefly' but mixed with steampunk. I haven't read a lot of steampunk, but this is by far one of my favorites so far. This was short, sweet, and action packed. There were a few questions left unanswered, a big set up for future books, and a well fleshed out, interesting world.
I'm certainly looking forward to more of this story!
Apparently this is sort of a teaser to get you hooked on more books in the series, and if so then bravo. I deeply enjoyed all the characters, the settings, and the plot. For such a short book there was a ton of back story and easy character building.
Overall, the whole thing reminded me a little bit of the show 'Firefly' but mixed with steampunk. I haven't read a lot of steampunk, but this is by far one of my favorites so far. This was short, sweet, and action packed. There were a few questions left unanswered, a big set up for future books, and a well fleshed out, interesting world.
I'm certainly looking forward to more of this story!
August 2, 2012
I've never read any stories in the Steampunk genre before, but if this novella is any indication, I may have to search a few more good ones out. I really enjoyed this story. It read like a clockwork western. If this is the first book of a series, I'll most likely pick up the others when published. It was very entertaining, with characters I'd like to learn more about.
July 21, 2012
How the hell do I categorize this? Futuristic steampunk? That doesn't really make sense. Whatever. It wasn't good enough to give it its own shelf.
Pacing is good, characters fairly well-developed, plot utterly predictable.
Pacing is good, characters fairly well-developed, plot utterly predictable.
Want to read
March 4, 2012Kindle free download 3/4/12.
April 14, 2012
This apparently is a teaser to get you interested in the book(s) that are to follow with the same lead characters.
Hopefully, there will be more detail, character development, and plot to those.
Hopefully, there will be more detail, character development, and plot to those.
October 26, 2013
ok for a steam punk novel. a little predictable and a little boring. not bad for a free book though. mine has a better cover than this picture
July 13, 2016
If you like a steampunk adventure story in the vein of Jules Verne this might be for you. A fun read from start to finish.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews