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Clocktaur War #1
Clockwork Boys
A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher’s new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager’s city.
If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.
If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 21, 2017
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32063 people want to read
About the author
T. Kingfisher
57 books24.8k followersT. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon. In another life, she writes children's books and weird comics, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections.
This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups.
When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.
This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups.
When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.
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December 7, 2017God I love T Kingfisher. I think I've read everything of hers this year. Superb, understated writing, glorious humour, wild imagination, and the kind of deep kindness and humanity that comes with an uncompromising view of right and wrong. One of those writers who just makes the world a better place, if only for the duration of a book, but sometimes that's all we have.
This is really the first half of a book, rather than book 1 of 2, so thank goodness the second half will be along soon. It's a classic fantasy quest: a rogue accountant, a haunted knight, an assassin and a religious fanatic set off on a suicide mission to stop an automaton army. (NB this isn't steampunk, despite the title.) The joy is in the growing friendships that happen despite themselves, and the hugely enjoyable dialogue, as well as the marvellously imaginative world. Great fun.
This is really the first half of a book, rather than book 1 of 2, so thank goodness the second half will be along soon. It's a classic fantasy quest: a rogue accountant, a haunted knight, an assassin and a religious fanatic set off on a suicide mission to stop an automaton army. (NB this isn't steampunk, despite the title.) The joy is in the growing friendships that happen despite themselves, and the hugely enjoyable dialogue, as well as the marvellously imaginative world. Great fun.
February 21, 2023
"Would you like to go on a suicide mission?" she asked.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she'd seen all day.
"I would be honored," he said.
So, I don't know if you guys remember but I let my boyfriend pick my next read and he chose this one because
-it looks cool.
-but have you read the blurb?
-no, but I trust the cover.
-yeah, wrong move.
-you're weird. and I rest my case.
And you know what? I should let his instinct pick my books more often.
Clockwork Boys really caught me by surprise, and I love it when books do that.
It's not only a tale written for those who are tired of stereotyped main characters and repetitive plots, but it's also the funniest book I've ever read so far this year.
I went into it with very low, if not zero, expectations, and now I'm almost glad I did. This is the kind of book you'd like to discover by yourself, page after page, like a gift to unwrap.
It's also one of those books I can see myself rereading in the future.
Slate, Caliban, Brenner and Learned Edmund are non-traditional anti heroes that you can't help but love despite their wits and quirks. They're the real heart and star of this book.
The writing is very simple and probably not award-winning, but among the hilarious and entertaining dialogues (the characters banter is a total 10/10), you can find some hidden gems. Especially when horse riding is involved. Lol.
The story is interesting, unpretentious and presented to the reader the way it is. Call it a heist story, an adventure novel, but it's much more than that.
Sure, you won't find many twists and gory jaw-dropping moments, but it will leave you satisfied enough to want to keep reading and wanting to know what's going to happen next.
Unfortunately, the pacing is a little too rushed and it leaves little space to descriptions. It becomes a problem when you'd like to know more about something and the authors tells you about it rather than showing it to you, instead.
I guess this is to blame to the fact that this is the first part of a story that's been cut in two halves, or maybe the author simply wanted to focus on the characterization of her amazing protagonists, so I'm really not going to count it as a flaw.
I can't wait to read the second part of this story and I couldn't recommend this enough to you guys. If you have the chance, give it a try. Its humor and freshness will put you in a great mood, especially if you're feeling a little blue.
T. Kingfisher, Ursula Vernon or whatever name you like to be called
I usually don't do this, but I just have to end this review by sharing with you guys some of my favorite dialogue bits and sarcastic lines, because sharing is caring and because I love them so much, in case you haven't noticed.
What a pair they'd make -a short little criminal leading a blind, shambling wreck of paladin. The Dreaming God wasn't known for his sense of humor, but sometimes you had to wonder.
"You planning on killing our Slate some night on the road, Sir Caliban?"
The knight simled sourly. "Not if you're closer."
Apparently this was the right response. Brenner slapped him on the back and went back to his chair. "Excellent! At least we'll all go to hell in good company."
"My legs will never close again," she muttered.
"That would be music to my ears if I wasn't dying," said Brenner, a step below her.
"You better not snore," she grumbled into the dark.
"I don't snore."
"Good."
"I gibber in demonic tongues."
"I've nver met an assassin before," said Learned Edmund to Brenner, after thay had been several days on the road.
"Speaking on behalf of assassins everywhere, we were perfectly happy with that."
And these are not even the funniest/coolest ones, because I don't want to spoil all the fun for yooz.
But still, as you can see, the cover might not be the most beautiful, the plot might not be the most original, but you know what they say.
If a book that makes you laugh out loud, it can't be nothing but The One.
ACTUAL RATINGS 4,5/5
March 22, 2018
Well, that suited my reading mood.
Be it noted, this and its second half, The Wonder Engine, is one story, cut in half for length -- well, more like one-third/two-thirds -- not two. I read both together, so this review covers both. Don't think of it as the author charging you twice for one tale, but rather, as giving you a low-cost-low-risk chance to test-drive it before you fully commit.
It is very D&D-ish, which are its attested roots -- the writer having it out with an array of genre tropes that annoyed her. T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) wins the arm-wrestle, here. As she says memorably in her Afterword, "Inspiration knocks now and then, but spite bangs on the door all year long."
Briefly, a ragtag bunch of misfits -- a disgraced paladin, a ninja forger, an assassin, and a geeky Temple scholar -- are sent out as spies to penetrate an enemy city-state which has been sending forth squads of magical-mechanical monsters against its neighbors, to try to discover their source and how to stop them. Nothing goes as planned.
Something of the same mode of a mix of fantasy tropes, send-ups of same, a serving of horror, cogent human observation, and humor, as in her prior short novel I read, Nine Goblins, but longer this time, and with more romance. (I don't think it's the same fantasy universe, though.) I feel Vernon is sharper-edged at short lengths -- her short story "Toad Words" is unforgettable -- but one can't keep up that sort of thing at long lengths, any more than one could run a whole marathon at sprinter speed.
("Toad Words" may be found, logically enough, in the e-collection Toad Words and Other Stories, under the T. Kingfisher pen name that Vernon uses for her adult-aimed work.)
Ta, L.
Be it noted, this and its second half, The Wonder Engine, is one story, cut in half for length -- well, more like one-third/two-thirds -- not two. I read both together, so this review covers both. Don't think of it as the author charging you twice for one tale, but rather, as giving you a low-cost-low-risk chance to test-drive it before you fully commit.
It is very D&D-ish, which are its attested roots -- the writer having it out with an array of genre tropes that annoyed her. T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) wins the arm-wrestle, here. As she says memorably in her Afterword, "Inspiration knocks now and then, but spite bangs on the door all year long."
Briefly, a ragtag bunch of misfits -- a disgraced paladin, a ninja forger, an assassin, and a geeky Temple scholar -- are sent out as spies to penetrate an enemy city-state which has been sending forth squads of magical-mechanical monsters against its neighbors, to try to discover their source and how to stop them. Nothing goes as planned.
Something of the same mode of a mix of fantasy tropes, send-ups of same, a serving of horror, cogent human observation, and humor, as in her prior short novel I read, Nine Goblins, but longer this time, and with more romance. (I don't think it's the same fantasy universe, though.) I feel Vernon is sharper-edged at short lengths -- her short story "Toad Words" is unforgettable -- but one can't keep up that sort of thing at long lengths, any more than one could run a whole marathon at sprinter speed.
("Toad Words" may be found, logically enough, in the e-collection Toad Words and Other Stories, under the T. Kingfisher pen name that Vernon uses for her adult-aimed work.)
Ta, L.
April 13, 2020
Clockwork Orange boy. Different and yet somehow alike.
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
The plot of T. Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys is of the “misfit company of strangers on a dangerous mission” type. Their country has been invaded by the so-called Clockwork Boys, nearly unstoppable, 10-foot-tall centaur-like creatures who are laying waste to the countryside. (I like the allusion to the out-of-control gang of boys in A Clockwork Orange.) The Dowager Queen has previously sent soldiers and spies to distant Anuket City, from which the Clockwork Boys regularly emerge, to investigate and try to stop these artificially created creatures, but these prior groups have all disappeared without a trace. So the Dowager has now landed on the idea of sending a group of criminals, perhaps with the thought that it’s no great loss if they don’t return.
The group is led by Slate, a 30-year-old brown-skinned woman with serious forgery and lock-picking skills and a small amount of magic: the smell of rosemary magically guides or warns her at key moments. The rosemary scent leads Slate to Sir Caliban, a handsome paladin (knight) who specializes in killing demons that have possessed people or animals, but who is in prison after he himself was possessed and committed mass murder. The demon’s spirit is now dead, at least mostly, but is still lurking within Caliban. Slate and Caliban are joined by Brenner, a skilled and rather heartless assassin and Slate’s former lover, and Learned Edmund, a scholar whose religion teaches that women are poisonous to men’s souls.
Unfortunately for the group, this is almost certainly a suicide mission. No one ― neither the Dowager who sends them on their mission, the soldiers they meet along the way, or the four team members themselves ― expects them to survive. But if they beat the long odds, full pardons await. So they begin the long, dangerous journey to Anuket City.
A group of recently-met companions going on a hazardous mission is a familiar fantasy plot, but Kingfisher excels at drawing flawed but appealing characters. Much of the focus of the story is on their interpersonal relationships, and each member of the group is a unique and memorable character. Kingfisher also fills the pages of this novel with wry humor, witty observations and fascinating details. To prevent the group members from abandoning their assignment, the criminals (Slate, Caliban and Brenner) are given tattoos of a small toothy creature biting into their arms. If they start to go off-mission, the tattoo gives them a painful bite. Fail to return to the mission, and the tattoo will entirely devour you.
Slate wondered vaguely where they’d found [the tattoo artist]. Minor wonderworkers were common enough, often possessing very specific talents. Still, what kind of turns did a life have to take before you discovered that your personal gift from the universe was making carnivorous tattoos?Clockwork Boys is a solid, enjoyable fantasy adventure, with a slight whiff of steampunk to it, but it’s only the first half of the overall story. The conclusion of this tale is in The Wonder Engine, published in 2018 and a Locus Award nominee. There are some surprising twists in the second half of this adventure; it’s well worth reading.
September 10, 2024
A solid vacation read. A party of disreputable adventurers is tasked with heading to a nearby city, discovering the secret of the automaton Clockwork soldiers, and saving their queendom. The lead is Slate, a master forger: Brennan, an assassin; and Caliban, a former paladin who murdered a number of nuns while possessed; and a couple of others. It takes a little bit for the band to come together, and there’s some decent character-building while it happens. The queendom appears to be facing dual threats from an invading army and an deadly disease.
While this one has strong similarities to Swordheart (and is apparently set in the same world), there’s a number of differences that make it more palatable to me. T. Kingfisher tends to have the same narrative voice in most of her books, despite the age of the lead. This is a thirty-year-old female, so the experience and worldview works better than the teenage heroines in other stories. She’s also more self-possessed and confident, which I appreciate, as well as being consistent with the lead character. Like Swordheart, the narrative occasionally swaps into one of the male leads, in this case a fallen paladin. I thought his tortured psyche was handled very well. Because there are only the two narratives, it is evident that she is developing a slow-burn, romantic storyline similar to Swordheart. This one varies in that a third member of the part was a former lover, setting up mild love triangle situations, while the fourth is a dedicated incel–excuse me, monastic scholar. I enjoyed the addition of the fifth party member.
However–and this is a big one–it does end on a cliffhanger. Kingfisher explains herself in the afterword, how one part of the story was written, then stalled, and when she came back to it, she wrote an additional 140k word part of the story and discovered it was far too long. I would say there is absolutely nothing in this book that counts as a completed storyline in terms of personal growth, overall plot, or romance, (although a major incident is partially resolved) so I’d consider going straight ahead and buying the second book. I did, the very next morning.
While this one has strong similarities to Swordheart (and is apparently set in the same world), there’s a number of differences that make it more palatable to me. T. Kingfisher tends to have the same narrative voice in most of her books, despite the age of the lead. This is a thirty-year-old female, so the experience and worldview works better than the teenage heroines in other stories. She’s also more self-possessed and confident, which I appreciate, as well as being consistent with the lead character. Like Swordheart, the narrative occasionally swaps into one of the male leads, in this case a fallen paladin. I thought his tortured psyche was handled very well. Because there are only the two narratives, it is evident that she is developing a slow-burn, romantic storyline similar to Swordheart. This one varies in that a third member of the part was a former lover, setting up mild love triangle situations, while the fourth is a dedicated incel–excuse me, monastic scholar. I enjoyed the addition of the fifth party member.
However–and this is a big one–it does end on a cliffhanger. Kingfisher explains herself in the afterword, how one part of the story was written, then stalled, and when she came back to it, she wrote an additional 140k word part of the story and discovered it was far too long. I would say there is absolutely nothing in this book that counts as a completed storyline in terms of personal growth, overall plot, or romance, (although a major incident is partially resolved) so I’d consider going straight ahead and buying the second book. I did, the very next morning.
August 21, 2025
"Would you like to go on a suicide mission?" She asked instead.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she'd seen all day.
"I would be honored," he said.
Slate, a practical migrant forger, has to gather a team of convicts with diverse skills - Brenner, a flippant assassin and Caliban, a former knight and current guilty demon corpse host - togo on a suicide mission infiltrate the city of Aniket and figure out the deal with the automatons called the Clockwork Boys, oh and protect the designated survivor priest Edmund who's a clever scholar but also thinks women are distractions and can't be scholars.
T. Kingfisher's droll humour adds a lot to this adventure as the team learns to work together and not stab each other out of exasperation. The world-building is a mixture of arcane magic and mysterious automatons, with a dash of politics as subtext. The focus of the novel is on the plot as the team journeys to the city, surviving demon magic and seeing clockwork wonders, and of course exasperating and surprising each other.
Recommended for fans of T. Kingfisher as well as anyone looking to try out one of her smaller series.
“...it was occasionally nice to talk to someone who did not have a sardonic comment for every occasion.”
🌟🌟🌟1/2🌟
[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; 3/4 star for the characters and their growth; 3/4 star for the world-building; 3/4 star for the plot and themes; 3/4 star for the writing - 3 1/2 stars in total.]
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she'd seen all day.
"I would be honored," he said.
Slate, a practical migrant forger, has to gather a team of convicts with diverse skills - Brenner, a flippant assassin and Caliban, a former knight and current guilty demon corpse host - to
T. Kingfisher's droll humour adds a lot to this adventure as the team learns to work together and not stab each other out of exasperation. The world-building is a mixture of arcane magic and mysterious automatons, with a dash of politics as subtext. The focus of the novel is on the plot as the team journeys to the city, surviving demon magic and seeing clockwork wonders, and of course exasperating and surprising each other.
Recommended for fans of T. Kingfisher as well as anyone looking to try out one of her smaller series.
“...it was occasionally nice to talk to someone who did not have a sardonic comment for every occasion.”
🌟🌟🌟1/2🌟
[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; 3/4 star for the characters and their growth; 3/4 star for the world-building; 3/4 star for the plot and themes; 3/4 star for the writing - 3 1/2 stars in total.]
August 9, 2024
My kind of book completely. Our heroes are Caliban, a former Paladin and murderer, Brenner, an assassin and a criminal, Slate, a forger and a criminal, and The Learned Edmund, a scholar who is not a criminal. The four are sent on a fact-finding suicide mission to find out about the Clockwork Boys, unstoppable killing machines who are making war over all the surrounding area.
The humour is brilliant. Consider that Slate and Brenner can barely ride at all when they set off on a mission requiring many hours a day in the saddle. The pain is eye watering, the dialogue is hilarious!
They are attacked by vegetables, meet dancing headless rats, deal with reindeer like people one of whom has a very nasty demon, (where did it go? - I have my own ideas about this!) and magically end up where they were intended to be in Anuket City.
End of book! Now I have to go out and grab the next one very quickly!
The humour is brilliant. Consider that Slate and Brenner can barely ride at all when they set off on a mission requiring many hours a day in the saddle. The pain is eye watering, the dialogue is hilarious!
They are attacked by vegetables, meet dancing headless rats, deal with reindeer like people one of whom has a very nasty demon, (where did it go? - I have my own ideas about this!) and magically end up where they were intended to be in Anuket City.
End of book! Now I have to go out and grab the next one very quickly!
November 16, 2025
He had prayed in the cell for hours Days. He had kept vigil on his knees, praying. Not for forgiveness, not for mercy - he deserved neither - but simply for a death.
The god had not answered. The hollow place in his soul stayed empty. Weeks had stretched to months, and he had stopped believing that there would ever be an answer. His faith had turned to bitterness and bile.
And then a little brown sparrow of a woman had come to the cell door and begun to sneeze.
I feel so bad for having left this one on my TBR for so long - I enjoyed every moment of it, and it's my own damn fault I waited so long. The extract above is quite serious, but the overall tone of the book matches that seriousness with the best kind of fantasy humour. There's high stakes, and a quest to save the world, but along the way people get to be people - and there's a lot of ways that can be amusing.
It's all too easy to throw around the words "rag-tag band" and "certain death" and "rich fantasy world", but there they are anyway, because this book hits on some of the better fantasy tropes, without ever feeling like anything that's come before it. Real life is allowed in - the first few days of riding are absolute hell for the characters not used to it, camping is mostly soggy and cold, and the only thing worse to deal with than the horses are the mules - Mules were like horses who could plan.
It actually reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett - not in writing style, because they're completely different - but in the ability to take relatively familiar, or at least similar, fantasy races and themes, put them in a vivid and beautiful world, marry them with humour, use that humour to let you tackle some hugely heavy issues without weighing the book down in the slightest, and have the whole thing balance itself out into a complete delight that forms an emomtional attachment to the reader. This reader, at least, in case that wasn't clear enough from that massive run-on sentence!
Onto the next. And hip hooray for books like this!
Edit on reread - a whole ton of T. Kingfisher books later, and revisiting the first two in this series because they're just so good. What a delight of a story!
The god had not answered. The hollow place in his soul stayed empty. Weeks had stretched to months, and he had stopped believing that there would ever be an answer. His faith had turned to bitterness and bile.
And then a little brown sparrow of a woman had come to the cell door and begun to sneeze.
I feel so bad for having left this one on my TBR for so long - I enjoyed every moment of it, and it's my own damn fault I waited so long. The extract above is quite serious, but the overall tone of the book matches that seriousness with the best kind of fantasy humour. There's high stakes, and a quest to save the world, but along the way people get to be people - and there's a lot of ways that can be amusing.
It's all too easy to throw around the words "rag-tag band" and "certain death" and "rich fantasy world", but there they are anyway, because this book hits on some of the better fantasy tropes, without ever feeling like anything that's come before it. Real life is allowed in - the first few days of riding are absolute hell for the characters not used to it, camping is mostly soggy and cold, and the only thing worse to deal with than the horses are the mules - Mules were like horses who could plan.
It actually reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett - not in writing style, because they're completely different - but in the ability to take relatively familiar, or at least similar, fantasy races and themes, put them in a vivid and beautiful world, marry them with humour, use that humour to let you tackle some hugely heavy issues without weighing the book down in the slightest, and have the whole thing balance itself out into a complete delight that forms an emomtional attachment to the reader. This reader, at least, in case that wasn't clear enough from that massive run-on sentence!
Onto the next. And hip hooray for books like this!
Edit on reread - a whole ton of T. Kingfisher books later, and revisiting the first two in this series because they're just so good. What a delight of a story!
April 30, 2022
Hours passed, like a kidney stone.
The glibness and occasional punchy line in Clockwork Boys are almost the only things that worked for me in this story, the first part of a duology that has the dubious honor of being my least favorite T. Kingfisher work so far.
If you'd told me I would end up two-star-ing a Kingfisher book featuring an allergic heroine who sniffles her way through acts of courage and ingenuity, I - a fellow allergy sufferer who loves the flowers (but man, do they not love me back) - would have been astonished. Unfortunately, our main character Slate's most memorable trait is her allergies, and the other characters - the paladin, the assassin, the clergyman - are even tropier. Clockwork Boys is also not a complete story on its own: it ends abruptly mid-adventure after setting up the suicide mission (find out what's creating mechanical centaurs of mass destruction and destroy). There's lots of traveling including some painful adventures with horses, internal squabbling, and brief but vibrant glimpses of the creepy mindfuckery that is so exuberant in other Kingfisher books.
Alas, there is also a lot of what I can best describe as 100% unsuccessful and awkward efforts to create sexual tension between at least two and probably three of the main characters. Look, no one needs lessons in how to create sexual tension from an asexual, but I'm pretty sure this book could function as a primer in how not to do it: start with characters in their 30s, sexually experienced and unopposed to casual sex. Then send them out on a suicide mission together. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the logical response would be to just have sex already and get it out of your system so you can maybe think about, oh, you know, not dying.
Instead, we have pages of this kind of maundering.
You haven't bathed or shaved in a season. A woman hardly has to prefer her own sex not to find you attractive. You're not exactly the elite Knight-Champion of the Dreaming God anymore, if you haven't noticed. Perhaps she's simply not attracted to mass murderers.
From both perspectives. In italics. As if it were a romance featuring insecure 30-year-olds with nothing in common instead of a fantasy heist. It astounds me that Kingfisher, who is so good at writing about friendships with animals and fantastical creatures and also very good at depicting failed relationships, could be so completely terrible at romance.
If I hadn't bought both books in the duology at the same time, I wouldn't be continuing. Clockwork Boys was more eye-rolling than enjoyable, and it made me want to make focaccia (thanks to all the mentions of rosemary, which is what magic smells like to Slate) more than I wanted to keep reading.
April 11, 2018
4.5 stars. This was very good. There are some very funny scenes in this book, especially when two of the characters are trying to ride horses! A disparate group set out to complete an impossible mission. We meet some strange creatures, gnoles and runes (green deer things), zombie vermin, demons, mandrakes, wonder engines, clocktaurs and a giant stone fish. I’m really looking forward to the second half of this story. Recommended.
September 24, 2023
4.5 stars - I know technically there are pacing issues with this book, but I don't care. I love it and cannot wait for the rest of the story.
January 9, 2021
3.75 stars.
Before I begin my review, I'd just like to state a change in my rating system as of 2021. So since we all know, our dear Goodreads does not have an option for "half" stars and if I decide to rate a book, say 3.5 stars, I have to end up rounding off. Now it is either going to be 3 or 4. I usually see which one goes with the book better. If 3 seems too less for the kind of 3.5 I have in mind then I do 4 and vice versa. So I have decided to scrap 3.5 altogether and instead rate books in terms of .25 or .75 which would help me round them off much more easily.
****
Ooh, this book was a lot of fun. I think this was my first time reading anything under "Steampunk genre".
This was also my first time reading anything by T. Kingfisher, which is her "Adult" pseudonym for Ursula Vernon, her actual name.
I was greatly intrigued by the premise set by the blurb - an unlikely group of criminals - a disgraced ex-demon possessed mass murderer paladin, a hilarious assassin, a ninja accountant with some 10000 allergies, and a misogynistic 19-year-old scholar set on a suicide mission. They all know they are not going to make it back but it is that or being hung by the State for their crimes. Except for our dear scholar, Learned Edmund, who had willingly volunteered to join this espionage (he is the only one who is not a criminal).
To be honest, not a whole lot happened In this book. Yes, our friends met with a few unfortunate accidents along their journey but there were no "Oh my god" moments. Except for the funny ones maybe. And I guess, that is what saved and made the book. I love books that make me laugh. And I will hand that to Clockwork Boys.
We have a very interesting group of people here, who do anything but mesh well together. So it's all rather funny to see them having to adjust with one another. Especially with Slate and Learned Edmund. I just could not.
First of all, all our characters are arrogant jackasses in some way or the other. Caliban is proud and arrogant in his hot, chivalrous knightly way.
Slate is arrogant in her cool, badass way. She can't stand being in a weak position. Brenner, well, everything about him screams arrogant. And I love it. And as far as Learned Edmund is concerned, well, the fact that he won't sleep in the same room as Slate because he thinks her feminine exhalations will make his genitals wither and turn his bowels into liquid, sort of tells you everything you need to know.
There were a few scenes that I enjoyed way too much. Especially the horse riding bit with Slate and Brenner. I almost cried because the entire thing was so hilarious.
And then when the two of them were literally dying after the horse riding, I died.
And of course, I loved all interactions between Slate and Caliban. I sense a romance coming in the next book, maybe. A bit of a love triangle too, I guess. But I do not think it is going to be very heavy, the love triangle, I mean.
We do see a bit of character development. Our characters do warm up a little to another. They might even call each other friends. Even Slate and Edmund (miracles do happen after all). Despite all of that, I don't think I particularly fell in love with any character. They were plenty interesting and funny. I liked them a lot, definitely. All of them on different occasions had also managed to make me want to smash my book on their faces repeatedly. So it was a fun journey. But I still did not feel that connection with any of them. At least not yet. We have another book to go so I am hoping we will see some lovely character development there.
The plot is interesting, but not mindboggling. There aren't any insane plot twists. But it serves a tremendous scope for a great sequel.
Before I begin my review, I'd just like to state a change in my rating system as of 2021. So since we all know, our dear Goodreads does not have an option for "half" stars and if I decide to rate a book, say 3.5 stars, I have to end up rounding off. Now it is either going to be 3 or 4. I usually see which one goes with the book better. If 3 seems too less for the kind of 3.5 I have in mind then I do 4 and vice versa. So I have decided to scrap 3.5 altogether and instead rate books in terms of .25 or .75 which would help me round them off much more easily.
****
Ooh, this book was a lot of fun. I think this was my first time reading anything under "Steampunk genre".
This was also my first time reading anything by T. Kingfisher, which is her "Adult" pseudonym for Ursula Vernon, her actual name.
I was greatly intrigued by the premise set by the blurb - an unlikely group of criminals - a disgraced ex-demon possessed mass murderer paladin, a hilarious assassin, a ninja accountant with some 10000 allergies, and a misogynistic 19-year-old scholar set on a suicide mission. They all know they are not going to make it back but it is that or being hung by the State for their crimes. Except for our dear scholar, Learned Edmund, who had willingly volunteered to join this espionage (he is the only one who is not a criminal).
To be honest, not a whole lot happened In this book. Yes, our friends met with a few unfortunate accidents along their journey but there were no "Oh my god" moments. Except for the funny ones maybe. And I guess, that is what saved and made the book. I love books that make me laugh. And I will hand that to Clockwork Boys.
We have a very interesting group of people here, who do anything but mesh well together. So it's all rather funny to see them having to adjust with one another. Especially with Slate and Learned Edmund. I just could not.
First of all, all our characters are arrogant jackasses in some way or the other. Caliban is proud and arrogant in his hot, chivalrous knightly way.
"Would you like to go on a suicide mission?" she asked instead. He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she had seen all day.
"I would be honored," he said.
Slate is arrogant in her cool, badass way. She can't stand being in a weak position. Brenner, well, everything about him screams arrogant. And I love it. And as far as Learned Edmund is concerned, well, the fact that he won't sleep in the same room as Slate because he thinks her feminine exhalations will make his genitals wither and turn his bowels into liquid, sort of tells you everything you need to know.
There were a few scenes that I enjoyed way too much. Especially the horse riding bit with Slate and Brenner. I almost cried because the entire thing was so hilarious.
"Brenner, who had never been on a horse in his life, had taken out his dagger and was showing it meaningfully to his mount. The horse did not look impressed."
And then when the two of them were literally dying after the horse riding, I died.
"My legs will never close again," she muttered.
"That would be music to my ears if I wasn't dying," said Brenned, a step below her,
"Do you think we will make it to Anuket City?"
"I don't know if I will make it to my room."
And of course, I loved all interactions between Slate and Caliban. I sense a romance coming in the next book, maybe. A bit of a love triangle too, I guess. But I do not think it is going to be very heavy, the love triangle, I mean.
We do see a bit of character development. Our characters do warm up a little to another. They might even call each other friends. Even Slate and Edmund (miracles do happen after all). Despite all of that, I don't think I particularly fell in love with any character. They were plenty interesting and funny. I liked them a lot, definitely. All of them on different occasions had also managed to make me want to smash my book on their faces repeatedly. So it was a fun journey. But I still did not feel that connection with any of them. At least not yet. We have another book to go so I am hoping we will see some lovely character development there.
The plot is interesting, but not mindboggling. There aren't any insane plot twists. But it serves a tremendous scope for a great sequel.
May 13, 2025
this was very fun and such a quick read. characters were funny and enjoyable, the plot was entertaining as well!
April 8, 2018
So, stop me if you’ve heard this one; a demonically possessed paladin, a misogynistic teenage scholar, a criminal forger with a magic nose, and a portly assassin walk into a tavern...
I don’t even remember when or how I first heard about Clockwork Boys, but I’m thinking it was a recommend through my local bookclub. Regardless of the how, I am thankful that it was put on my radar, as I had never heard of T. Kingfisher before, and likely would never have stumbled across this book on my own.
And what a shame that would have been, as Clockwork Boys is a deftly written and surprisingly funny entry in the ever crowded high fantasy genre. After reading a hefty amount of gritty fantasy novels where there are epic battles galore and political squabbles up the wazoo, it’s actually refreshing to spend time with a smaller cast of characters on a smaller-scale adventure. And did I mention that it’s funny? Because holy hell does this book bring on the chuckles!
”Not much to tell. My mother was a very high-class courtesan who counted her fertile days by the moon. Her beauty was impeccable, her math skills were not.” She swept a hand at herself. “And here I am.”
As with all my reviews, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. If it’s not discussed in the official book synopsis, I’ll do my level best to avoid mentioning it here.
While Clockwork Boys isn’t lacking in ideas or drama, it’s the cast of characters that really sells the tale. Each of our protagonists has their own reason for being sent on what everyone thinks is a suicide mission...and only one of them really wants to be there. As such, tempers are high and our heroes are almost always bickering and sniping at each other, usually with comic results.
“My legs will never close again,” she muttered.
“That would be music to my ears if I wasn’t dying,” said Brenner, a step below her.
While we have four main characters to follow, the forger Slate and the paladin Caliban take the majority of the page time. Which is just as well, as they are more interesting than the assassin Brenner and the scholar Edmund.
Slate slightly edges out Caliban for number of pages from her point of view, and that’s totally fine with me. She is a rather non-traditional fantasy hero, with her allergies, self-defeating outlook, and decidedly niche talent for document forging. It takes a special kind of author to make a character like that work, but T. Kingfisher is more than up to the task. With her determination, wry and sarcastic sense of humor, and desperate desire to maybe do something good for a change, she captured my attention from the get-go. Nearly every other line of her dialogue was funny in some way or another, and I always looked forward to her chapters.
”Brenner said you were some kind of…guerrilla accountant.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Did he? Damnit.”
As for Caliban, he is a cool twist on the usual, and overdone, “holier than thou” paladins. And this is coming from a guy who loves the paladin concept, and generally plays as one in tabletop gaming. As someone who was possessed by a demon and subsequently lost touch with his holy calling, Caliban has much to learn about life without the usual trappings of celebrated church service. I really liked the idea of a paladin who had to learn to get the stick out of his ass and live a little and as his gruff and rigid exterior began to melt away, I found myself enjoying his character more and more.
”Not a god, just a paladin,” he muttered, then belied his irritated tone by waiting patiently while she used his shoulder as a stepladder and ascended the heights of Mt. Equine.
Brenner, the assassin, is a decent character, but we just don’t get enough time with him to really connect or learn what makes him tick. Maybe that will come in the next book? He had a few decent moments to shine, but is largely overshadowed by Slate and Caliban. The same goes for Learned Edmund, the scholar who actually volunteered for the mission, making him potentially crazier than any of the other characters. Again, we don’t spend enough time with him to really know him, but he does get a bit of character growth, which helps.
What makes these characters really fun is that, Learned Edmund aside, they are all criminals and lowlifes, not the usual “save the world” fare. It puts a unique twist on the story, and forces us readers to maybe reevaluate what it means to be a hero.
There wasn’t much food, but Caliban insisted on leaving coins to pay for what they took. Slate glanced at Brenner, gave a quarter of a nod, and he pocketed the coins when the paladin wasn’t looking.
Aside from the quirky and memorable characters, T. Kingfisher has crafted a tale that doesn’t quite play out like you think it will. There are some true surprises in store, and while the world building plays second fiddle to the character interactions, the story is never dull and the locations are varied. The plot also moves along at a good clip...this book is never boring.
And beneath all the humor and the anti-heroism and the strange plot twists, there’s a bit of real heart to this story. Nothing that’ll make a reader weepy, but a few great character interactions and observations that give our characters further dimension and depth.
It seemed to be a cue to speak again. Learned Edmund sighed. “Those poor people.”
“Nothing we could do, priest.” Brenner reached out and slapped him on the shoulder. Learned Edmund started, and then offered him a tentative smile.
“I don’t know why we even bother having wars,” muttered Slate. “The world’s trying to kill us fast enough as it is.”
Caliban gazed between his horse’s ears, and said nothing at all.
Though it’s nowhere near the level of George R.R. Martin’s writings, there is a bit of gore and naughtiness thrown in, but only in small doses. It’s definitely not kid friendly, which I can admire, but nothing too terrible. Again, most of anything that comes up, gore or sexiness included, is tinged with humor.
Blood had painted her skin with a thin, irregular layer of clotted red. As an object of erotic interest, her breasts currently rated somewhere below a dead flounder.
Caliban stared at him. And reached down. And drew about an inch of steel.
Oh my god, they’re really doing it.
They’re really going to have a goddamn dick-measuring contest right here in the woods with a bunch of murderous deer-people after us.
Sadly, there are a few areas where the book suffers some missteps. Things are mentioned to the characters several times in one chapter, and in the very next chapter they seem to have forgotten and it gets brought up again. Also, because the book is so event and interaction driven, we don’t always get a full sense of what the larger scheme of things is like, who the people in power are, or even how the various locations relate to each other. And it seems like the last push to Anuket City was basically just T. Kingfisher’s way of just getting them there with minimal fuss or description, because this part of the book seemed tonally different than the rest. It’s like she had nothing left in her for this portion of the book, and just was like “screw it” and threw in some weirdness to hide the fact.
My only other gripe is that the book is over too fast. It seems like we finally get a major event under our belts, the characters are finally starting to find a bit of cohesion, and then BAM...the end. It’s not even a cliffhanger so much as an unexpected application of the brakes on a wide open highway.
But, those nitpicks aside, this is solid and entertaining reading, and I will definitely be checking out the next book when it comes out. I enjoyed the time spent with our motley band, and can’t wait to see what crazy shenanigans they get up to when we revisit them!
I don’t even remember when or how I first heard about Clockwork Boys, but I’m thinking it was a recommend through my local bookclub. Regardless of the how, I am thankful that it was put on my radar, as I had never heard of T. Kingfisher before, and likely would never have stumbled across this book on my own.
And what a shame that would have been, as Clockwork Boys is a deftly written and surprisingly funny entry in the ever crowded high fantasy genre. After reading a hefty amount of gritty fantasy novels where there are epic battles galore and political squabbles up the wazoo, it’s actually refreshing to spend time with a smaller cast of characters on a smaller-scale adventure. And did I mention that it’s funny? Because holy hell does this book bring on the chuckles!
”Not much to tell. My mother was a very high-class courtesan who counted her fertile days by the moon. Her beauty was impeccable, her math skills were not.” She swept a hand at herself. “And here I am.”
As with all my reviews, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. If it’s not discussed in the official book synopsis, I’ll do my level best to avoid mentioning it here.
While Clockwork Boys isn’t lacking in ideas or drama, it’s the cast of characters that really sells the tale. Each of our protagonists has their own reason for being sent on what everyone thinks is a suicide mission...and only one of them really wants to be there. As such, tempers are high and our heroes are almost always bickering and sniping at each other, usually with comic results.
“My legs will never close again,” she muttered.
“That would be music to my ears if I wasn’t dying,” said Brenner, a step below her.
While we have four main characters to follow, the forger Slate and the paladin Caliban take the majority of the page time. Which is just as well, as they are more interesting than the assassin Brenner and the scholar Edmund.
Slate slightly edges out Caliban for number of pages from her point of view, and that’s totally fine with me. She is a rather non-traditional fantasy hero, with her allergies, self-defeating outlook, and decidedly niche talent for document forging. It takes a special kind of author to make a character like that work, but T. Kingfisher is more than up to the task. With her determination, wry and sarcastic sense of humor, and desperate desire to maybe do something good for a change, she captured my attention from the get-go. Nearly every other line of her dialogue was funny in some way or another, and I always looked forward to her chapters.
”Brenner said you were some kind of…guerrilla accountant.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Did he? Damnit.”
As for Caliban, he is a cool twist on the usual, and overdone, “holier than thou” paladins. And this is coming from a guy who loves the paladin concept, and generally plays as one in tabletop gaming. As someone who was possessed by a demon and subsequently lost touch with his holy calling, Caliban has much to learn about life without the usual trappings of celebrated church service. I really liked the idea of a paladin who had to learn to get the stick out of his ass and live a little and as his gruff and rigid exterior began to melt away, I found myself enjoying his character more and more.
”Not a god, just a paladin,” he muttered, then belied his irritated tone by waiting patiently while she used his shoulder as a stepladder and ascended the heights of Mt. Equine.
Brenner, the assassin, is a decent character, but we just don’t get enough time with him to really connect or learn what makes him tick. Maybe that will come in the next book? He had a few decent moments to shine, but is largely overshadowed by Slate and Caliban. The same goes for Learned Edmund, the scholar who actually volunteered for the mission, making him potentially crazier than any of the other characters. Again, we don’t spend enough time with him to really know him, but he does get a bit of character growth, which helps.
What makes these characters really fun is that, Learned Edmund aside, they are all criminals and lowlifes, not the usual “save the world” fare. It puts a unique twist on the story, and forces us readers to maybe reevaluate what it means to be a hero.
There wasn’t much food, but Caliban insisted on leaving coins to pay for what they took. Slate glanced at Brenner, gave a quarter of a nod, and he pocketed the coins when the paladin wasn’t looking.
Aside from the quirky and memorable characters, T. Kingfisher has crafted a tale that doesn’t quite play out like you think it will. There are some true surprises in store, and while the world building plays second fiddle to the character interactions, the story is never dull and the locations are varied. The plot also moves along at a good clip...this book is never boring.
And beneath all the humor and the anti-heroism and the strange plot twists, there’s a bit of real heart to this story. Nothing that’ll make a reader weepy, but a few great character interactions and observations that give our characters further dimension and depth.
It seemed to be a cue to speak again. Learned Edmund sighed. “Those poor people.”
“Nothing we could do, priest.” Brenner reached out and slapped him on the shoulder. Learned Edmund started, and then offered him a tentative smile.
“I don’t know why we even bother having wars,” muttered Slate. “The world’s trying to kill us fast enough as it is.”
Caliban gazed between his horse’s ears, and said nothing at all.
Though it’s nowhere near the level of George R.R. Martin’s writings, there is a bit of gore and naughtiness thrown in, but only in small doses. It’s definitely not kid friendly, which I can admire, but nothing too terrible. Again, most of anything that comes up, gore or sexiness included, is tinged with humor.
Blood had painted her skin with a thin, irregular layer of clotted red. As an object of erotic interest, her breasts currently rated somewhere below a dead flounder.
Caliban stared at him. And reached down. And drew about an inch of steel.
Oh my god, they’re really doing it.
They’re really going to have a goddamn dick-measuring contest right here in the woods with a bunch of murderous deer-people after us.
Sadly, there are a few areas where the book suffers some missteps. Things are mentioned to the characters several times in one chapter, and in the very next chapter they seem to have forgotten and it gets brought up again. Also, because the book is so event and interaction driven, we don’t always get a full sense of what the larger scheme of things is like, who the people in power are, or even how the various locations relate to each other. And it seems like the last push to Anuket City was basically just T. Kingfisher’s way of just getting them there with minimal fuss or description, because this part of the book seemed tonally different than the rest. It’s like she had nothing left in her for this portion of the book, and just was like “screw it” and threw in some weirdness to hide the fact.
My only other gripe is that the book is over too fast. It seems like we finally get a major event under our belts, the characters are finally starting to find a bit of cohesion, and then BAM...the end. It’s not even a cliffhanger so much as an unexpected application of the brakes on a wide open highway.
But, those nitpicks aside, this is solid and entertaining reading, and I will definitely be checking out the next book when it comes out. I enjoyed the time spent with our motley band, and can’t wait to see what crazy shenanigans they get up to when we revisit them!
May 21, 2018
The first half of a two-part novel which features a desperate (and probably suicidal) fact-finding mission to a country that's deploying monstrous centaur-like clockwork monstrosities in battle with its neighbors. It's at times very funny, and very serious, and always brilliant.
The group on the mission include a fallen paladin, a guerilla accountant, an assassin and a not-very-worldy priest of knowledge. If "guerilla accountant" doesn't grab you, I'm not sure I know what attracts people to fantasy books ... (the author was describing the book as her ninja accountant book for a long time).
The group on the mission include a fallen paladin, a guerilla accountant, an assassin and a not-very-worldy priest of knowledge. If "guerilla accountant" doesn't grab you, I'm not sure I know what attracts people to fantasy books ... (the author was describing the book as her ninja accountant book for a long time).
April 1, 2021
A forger, a formerly possessed by a demon Paladin and an assassin head out on a journey of certain doom. There is also a scholar in this merry little group but he isn’t a criminal and doesn’t have a magical tattoo that will eat him if he goes off script.
I read Swordheart a few weeks ago and from that decided to jump into the rest of the stories set in the World of the White Rat. Clockwork Boys throws an unlikely crew together to march off together on a suicide mission. Their task is to make it through No Man’s Land to Anuket and find out how the ten foot tall metal monstrosities they are at war with are made.
Think of the Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine as one book really cut into two parts. This first part covers the team getting to know one another and making their way to Anuket city, while the second part covers figuring out the magic and mystery behind the Clocktaurs.
I really liked the characters in this. Slate is a master forger; she is funny and resourceful. She also tends to have an allergic reaction to anything magical, which is a nice early warning system for trouble. Brennen is an assassin and has no qualms about killing. Plus, he is great at it, so what else should he do. He and Slate have a little history between them.
Even though that is over it makes for some interesting moments. Especially as there might be a bit of a spark between our Forger Slate and Caliban the Paladin. Not that Caliban has any idea what to do with the heat between them. He is feeling a little uncomfortable with the dead demon living inside him, her former lover could easily kill him in his sleep and Slate herself, well she is not someone to be trifled with either. And then there is Learned Edmund, who comes from an order of monks that does not include any women. He is a little bit afraid of our Slate.
The journey is treacherous and if you get swallowed up by some magical hills along the way, that is just how things work sometimes in this many god world. One of may favorite characters comes in late in this book. Grimehug, a gnole (kind of a Badger looking creature with more fur), is a really fun addition to the story. Even though he gets more page time in the next book I really liked how he joined up with the doomed crew in this one.
I was thoroughly entertained while reading this book and jumped directly into the Wonder Engine right after. It has been a while since I found a new fantasy writer that I’ve had this much fun with. The dialogue is great, the characters complex and the world interesting with gods, demons, badger people, steampunk death engines and magic traveling hills that take you when they feel like it. Since this is really part one of a two part book there isn’t a big climax per say but more of a feeling of transition to the story from the getting to the city, to the next book where they figure out what to do now that they are there.
I read Swordheart a few weeks ago and from that decided to jump into the rest of the stories set in the World of the White Rat. Clockwork Boys throws an unlikely crew together to march off together on a suicide mission. Their task is to make it through No Man’s Land to Anuket and find out how the ten foot tall metal monstrosities they are at war with are made.
Think of the Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine as one book really cut into two parts. This first part covers the team getting to know one another and making their way to Anuket city, while the second part covers figuring out the magic and mystery behind the Clocktaurs.
I really liked the characters in this. Slate is a master forger; she is funny and resourceful. She also tends to have an allergic reaction to anything magical, which is a nice early warning system for trouble. Brennen is an assassin and has no qualms about killing. Plus, he is great at it, so what else should he do. He and Slate have a little history between them.
Her mother had always said you could tell a lot about a man by the way they conducted intimate business. The ones who thought they were amazing in bed, the ones who were afraid that they weren’t, the ones who expected you to do everything…
Brenner had been none of those. Brenner had made a very careful study of what her body responded to and then he had done it, quite ruthlessly, until Slate could hold nothing back at all. Then he would take his own pleasure, just as ruthlessly.
It had been exhausting and oddly transactional, very much like Brenner. It left her sated and a little bitter afterwards, as if they had used each other.
Even though that is over it makes for some interesting moments. Especially as there might be a bit of a spark between our Forger Slate and Caliban the Paladin. Not that Caliban has any idea what to do with the heat between them. He is feeling a little uncomfortable with the dead demon living inside him, her former lover could easily kill him in his sleep and Slate herself, well she is not someone to be trifled with either. And then there is Learned Edmund, who comes from an order of monks that does not include any women. He is a little bit afraid of our Slate.
Learned Edmund is apparently afraid that if he sleeps on your floor, your feminine exhalations will cause his genitals to wither and his bowels to turn to water. That’s a direct quote, by the way.”
The journey is treacherous and if you get swallowed up by some magical hills along the way, that is just how things work sometimes in this many god world. One of may favorite characters comes in late in this book. Grimehug, a gnole (kind of a Badger looking creature with more fur), is a really fun addition to the story. Even though he gets more page time in the next book I really liked how he joined up with the doomed crew in this one.
I was thoroughly entertained while reading this book and jumped directly into the Wonder Engine right after. It has been a while since I found a new fantasy writer that I’ve had this much fun with. The dialogue is great, the characters complex and the world interesting with gods, demons, badger people, steampunk death engines and magic traveling hills that take you when they feel like it. Since this is really part one of a two part book there isn’t a big climax per say but more of a feeling of transition to the story from the getting to the city, to the next book where they figure out what to do now that they are there.
December 29, 2020
🤧 It's All about the Handkerchiefs Buddy Read (IAatHBR™) with Fluffy, Karen and Kate over at the MacHalo Asylum and stuff 🤧
Actual rating: 4.5 stars.
Guerilla accountants and murderous knights and heartless assassins and hilariously misogynistic monks, oh my! + rosemary and allergies (gesundheit!) + carnivorous tattoos + possessed cows + quite very dead nuns + savage vegetables + hahahahahaha those dialogues + withering genitals and liquefying bowels 😂😂 (don't ask) + dancing headless zombie rats (I have it on good authority they like conga best) + “squiickrunch” (reminds of Jojo Cabal's “SNAP!” that) + yummy (if rotting) demons and their super enlightening, on point—or not—gibberish (pretty sure we've got Ghylspwr's third cousin thrice removed here) + Fantasy meets Steampunk, yay! + hahahahahaha thoseevil bastards horses (their sole purpose in life is to make puny humans' lives miserable, methinks) + crosses between badgers and haystacks who reek of garbage and old goat (and double as crutches) + handkerchiefs (never leave home without them) + slightly homicidal deer people + chivalry not being that dead + hahahahahaha those internal monologues + crazy ladies with crazy friends = me feeling kinda sorta a little like...
👋 To be continued and stuff.
· Book 2: The Wonder Engine ★★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
Oh my fish, that was unexpectedly Super Extra Entertaining and Fun and Hilarious and Stuff (SEEaFaHaS™)!
Don't ask
Review to come and stuff!
Actual rating: 4.5 stars.
Guerilla accountants and murderous knights and heartless assassins and hilariously misogynistic monks, oh my! + rosemary and allergies (gesundheit!) + carnivorous tattoos + possessed cows + quite very dead nuns + savage vegetables + hahahahahaha those dialogues + withering genitals and liquefying bowels 😂😂 (don't ask) + dancing headless zombie rats (I have it on good authority they like conga best) + “squiickrunch” (reminds of Jojo Cabal's “SNAP!” that) + yummy (if rotting) demons and their super enlightening, on point—or not—gibberish (pretty sure we've got Ghylspwr's third cousin thrice removed here) + Fantasy meets Steampunk, yay! + hahahahahaha those
👋 To be continued and stuff.
· Book 2: The Wonder Engine ★★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
Oh my fish, that was unexpectedly Super Extra Entertaining and Fun and Hilarious and Stuff (SEEaFaHaS™)!
Don't ask
Review to come and stuff!
May 12, 2019
THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. It's T. Kingfisher writing a heist novel! What more could I want?? Alex alerted me to the presence of this book two weeks ago, and it was honestly a mistake to wait so long to start it. I am really not sure what I was thinking.
This is really the first of a two-part book, not a standalone novel. For now, I'll say that this is an interesting and unique fantasy world, which is why T. Kingfisher is an auto-buy every time, and the writing is charming and funny without lowering the stakes. The inversion of tropes is particularly good.
This is really the first of a two-part book, not a standalone novel. For now, I'll say that this is an interesting and unique fantasy world, which is why T. Kingfisher is an auto-buy every time, and the writing is charming and funny without lowering the stakes. The inversion of tropes is particularly good.
July 5, 2023
“Would you like to go on a suicide mission ? ”
Primera parte de esta duología. La descubrí poco después de haber acabado “The Paladin of Steel”. No voy a negar que necesitaba más y estaba devastada. Sin embargo, en esto que comienzas a indagar por GR y encuentro “World of the White Rat” haciendo alusión al universo con tres libros más. No saben mi santa felicidad, lo juro.
“-Have you ever considered giving up killing people and becoming a tailor?
+Oh, yes.
-And?
+I don’t like people unless I’m stabbing them. ”
Antes de comenzar la reseña quería comentar que esta novela me la he leído en inglés. No cuenta con traducción en español, por desgracia. Su nivel de idioma oscila entre el B1-B2 y cuenta con un poco de vocabulario especifico de la novela y el mundo medieval. El único problema que yo me encontré fueron los primeros capítulos, pero, no fue por el idioma sino por el contexto y que no entendía que sucedía. A partir del segundo-tercer capitulo ya todo cobró sentido y fue coser y cantar. Además, destacar que la autora escribe claro y no se anda por las ramas.
“Do you believe in miracles, paladin ?”
No quiero decir mucho de la novela sin destriparla. Lo poco que quiero decir es que los acontecimientos que se narran son década antes de “Paladino of Steel”, y lo que más hay que destacar son los personajes los cuales llegan a parecernos grises por sus acciones.
“My mind hasn’t been my own, and now my flesh isn’t either. At least they’re a matched set. ”
En fin. Poco tengo que decir aparte de recomendar por todos lados a esta esta autora y universo.
“Because three can keep a secret if two of them are dead!”
Primera parte de esta duología. La descubrí poco después de haber acabado “The Paladin of Steel”. No voy a negar que necesitaba más y estaba devastada. Sin embargo, en esto que comienzas a indagar por GR y encuentro “World of the White Rat” haciendo alusión al universo con tres libros más. No saben mi santa felicidad, lo juro.
“-Have you ever considered giving up killing people and becoming a tailor?
+Oh, yes.
-And?
+I don’t like people unless I’m stabbing them. ”
Antes de comenzar la reseña quería comentar que esta novela me la he leído en inglés. No cuenta con traducción en español, por desgracia. Su nivel de idioma oscila entre el B1-B2 y cuenta con un poco de vocabulario especifico de la novela y el mundo medieval. El único problema que yo me encontré fueron los primeros capítulos, pero, no fue por el idioma sino por el contexto y que no entendía que sucedía. A partir del segundo-tercer capitulo ya todo cobró sentido y fue coser y cantar. Además, destacar que la autora escribe claro y no se anda por las ramas.
“Do you believe in miracles, paladin ?”
No quiero decir mucho de la novela sin destriparla. Lo poco que quiero decir es que los acontecimientos que se narran son década antes de “Paladino of Steel”, y lo que más hay que destacar son los personajes los cuales llegan a parecernos grises por sus acciones.
“My mind hasn’t been my own, and now my flesh isn’t either. At least they’re a matched set. ”
En fin. Poco tengo que decir aparte de recomendar por todos lados a esta esta autora y universo.
“Because three can keep a secret if two of them are dead!”
January 16, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
I liked it, but I hate when books just end without giving you a satisfying plot arc! This is almost entirely the leadup to things happening and I really think it maybe should have just been one book. That said, the characters are entertaining and the plot is relatively interesting. The idea of putting together a ragtag group of criminals and a formerly demon-posessed paladin for a suicide mission is great.
I'll have to sit on my feelings with this one, but the abrupt ending like this is a personal pet peeve. I think if it hadn't done that my rating would be higher.
I liked it, but I hate when books just end without giving you a satisfying plot arc! This is almost entirely the leadup to things happening and I really think it maybe should have just been one book. That said, the characters are entertaining and the plot is relatively interesting. The idea of putting together a ragtag group of criminals and a formerly demon-posessed paladin for a suicide mission is great.
I'll have to sit on my feelings with this one, but the abrupt ending like this is a personal pet peeve. I think if it hadn't done that my rating would be higher.
July 28, 2021
4 Stars for Clockwork Boys (audiobook) by T. Kingfisher read by Khristine Hvam.
I enjoyed this story. It has some interesting characters and a great adventure.
I enjoyed this story. It has some interesting characters and a great adventure.
February 26, 2021
“Would you like to go on a suicide mission?” she asked instead. He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen all day. “I would be honored,” he said.
This was my second attempt at getting into Kingfisher's work and initially it was working really well for me. The first few chapters fly by as they set up the main plot with our cast of good characters and some great humor. Unfortunately my interest/enjoyment starting waning and by the end of the book I was just glad to be done (well not quite done, as this doesn't really tell a complete story and I maybe feel compelled enough to read the second one).
I think the biggest issue for me was how uninteresting the journey is and how low the stakes are. The journey from the Dowager's Kingdom to the city-state Anuket City is set up to be really interesting because the two are at war and the area between is supposedly rife with danger but of the three main encounters, only one of them has any real excitement. Plus there's just not a lot of description of what the world looks like and I feel like if you're going to make a long horseback journey interesting for a reader you should maybe you should describe the landscape and make it impressive (just an idea!). As for the low stakes, that maybe seems just plain wrong since it's setup as a suicide mission and a war hinges on their success, but it's all artificial. There's never any real threat to the characters and so the whole thing feels really low stakes.
My next biggest issue was with the world-building, it's like Kingfisher just threw a bunch of random ideas into a pot and then dumped that pot into the book without really connecting or expanding upon the ideas. There's a weird plague that gets mentioned a couple of times, there are living machines that maybe aren't alive or maybe they aren't machines, there are people who look like deer, there are people who look like badgers, there's demons that possess people, there are machines that randomly perform minor miracles. All of these ideas and more are crammed into this 230 page book with little link between them and for me it just created a messy sketch of a world when a more simplified, clearer world could have been much more interesting.
And lastly was the entirely pointless romance. I didn't like Paladins Grace which is a Romance book set in this same world, so it's no surprise that I don't like the romance here. The two characters who sort of have feelings for each other have very little chemistry imo and the whole thing just feels very forced. There's also a very weak kind of will-they-won't-they thing running through it but it's just not compelling. I liked the characters as individuals, I even liked the banter between them, but there was just no foundation for any kind of romance between them.
This was my second attempt at getting into Kingfisher's work and initially it was working really well for me. The first few chapters fly by as they set up the main plot with our cast of good characters and some great humor. Unfortunately my interest/enjoyment starting waning and by the end of the book I was just glad to be done (well not quite done, as this doesn't really tell a complete story and I maybe feel compelled enough to read the second one).
I think the biggest issue for me was how uninteresting the journey is and how low the stakes are. The journey from the Dowager's Kingdom to the city-state Anuket City is set up to be really interesting because the two are at war and the area between is supposedly rife with danger but of the three main encounters, only one of them has any real excitement. Plus there's just not a lot of description of what the world looks like and I feel like if you're going to make a long horseback journey interesting for a reader you should maybe you should describe the landscape and make it impressive (just an idea!). As for the low stakes, that maybe seems just plain wrong since it's setup as a suicide mission and a war hinges on their success, but it's all artificial. There's never any real threat to the characters and so the whole thing feels really low stakes.
My next biggest issue was with the world-building, it's like Kingfisher just threw a bunch of random ideas into a pot and then dumped that pot into the book without really connecting or expanding upon the ideas. There's a weird plague that gets mentioned a couple of times, there are living machines that maybe aren't alive or maybe they aren't machines, there are people who look like deer, there are people who look like badgers, there's demons that possess people, there are machines that randomly perform minor miracles. All of these ideas and more are crammed into this 230 page book with little link between them and for me it just created a messy sketch of a world when a more simplified, clearer world could have been much more interesting.
And lastly was the entirely pointless romance. I didn't like Paladins Grace which is a Romance book set in this same world, so it's no surprise that I don't like the romance here. The two characters who sort of have feelings for each other have very little chemistry imo and the whole thing just feels very forced. There's also a very weak kind of will-they-won't-they thing running through it but it's just not compelling. I liked the characters as individuals, I even liked the banter between them, but there was just no foundation for any kind of romance between them.
July 25, 2024
I am all out of “Saints of Steel” books, but I am not yet ready to leave T. Kingfisher’s world (not to mention that I needed a book that would chill me out a bit after reading a very anxiety-inducing work of sci-fi), so I made sure to get my hands on “Clockwork Boys” and “The Wonder Engines” as soon as I could. It’s not like those books were a hard sell for me: same universe as the paladin stories I’ve been enjoying so much this year, written by a woman who manages to blend wit, horror, tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor like a freaking wizard, and who always whips up characters that feel very real and that I want to hang out with. Of course I’ll read it.
The titular Clockwork Boys are an army of automatons soldiers/creatures that could mean the ruin of an entire city-state. Fighting against these beings is extremely dangerous, as they are nearly impossible to stop and can destroy anything that stands in their path. So, obviously, a rag-tag team of brilliant but criminally inclined misfits is assembled in the hopes that their combined expertise can find the key to defeating the Clockwork Boys.
Insert obvious joke about heist montage here.
But seriously, Kingfisher made me fall hook, line and sinker for her romantasy (which I didn’t think was possible), so if anyone can make me love a “Suicide Squad” kind of story, it would be her. The compassions to Terry Pratchett don’t feel quite right to me: I love Sir Terry, but he wrote satire in a fantasy setting, and Kingfisher isn’t writing satire, she’s just hilarious and happens to write fantasy stories. And just like in her paladin books, she succeeds at writing flawed and wonderful characters I was rooting for immediately. Also, carnivorous tattoos, yikes!
It must be noted that these books were published before the “Saint of Steel” series, but as usual, I read everything backwards: Caliban is mentioned a few times in the other series, but here, he is one of the main characters, and I was very excited to finally get his story, which is hinted at in the other books.
I love the way Kingfisher writes her characters: one of my biggest pet peeves about a lot of fantasy is the emphasis placed on how beautiful and perfect everyone is, and it’s obviously something Kingfisher also loathes, as she makes a point to write characters that look and sound like normal people, with physical flaws, psychological baggage, weird quirks and weirder senses of humor – and I love it. Take note, other fantasy writers: ordinary people can be criminals, ordinary people can be sexy and fall in love, ordinary people can do awesome stuff. There, rant over. And yes, I loved Slate immediately. Awkward, smart, well-aware of what her strengths and flaws are, and I do love her relationship with Caliban. There is a weird bond that’s created between people who need to look after each other, and this was very well captured on the page. I also really appreciate how honest Kingfisher is about women being horny a lot. Even the great-grandmothers are flirty, and this makes me very happy.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I really just wish it had been a bit longer, a bit more fleshed out – the way the ‘Saints of Steel’ books are… Perhaps the second book will round up the story!
The titular Clockwork Boys are an army of automatons soldiers/creatures that could mean the ruin of an entire city-state. Fighting against these beings is extremely dangerous, as they are nearly impossible to stop and can destroy anything that stands in their path. So, obviously, a rag-tag team of brilliant but criminally inclined misfits is assembled in the hopes that their combined expertise can find the key to defeating the Clockwork Boys.
Insert obvious joke about heist montage here.
But seriously, Kingfisher made me fall hook, line and sinker for her romantasy (which I didn’t think was possible), so if anyone can make me love a “Suicide Squad” kind of story, it would be her. The compassions to Terry Pratchett don’t feel quite right to me: I love Sir Terry, but he wrote satire in a fantasy setting, and Kingfisher isn’t writing satire, she’s just hilarious and happens to write fantasy stories. And just like in her paladin books, she succeeds at writing flawed and wonderful characters I was rooting for immediately. Also, carnivorous tattoos, yikes!
It must be noted that these books were published before the “Saint of Steel” series, but as usual, I read everything backwards: Caliban is mentioned a few times in the other series, but here, he is one of the main characters, and I was very excited to finally get his story, which is hinted at in the other books.
I love the way Kingfisher writes her characters: one of my biggest pet peeves about a lot of fantasy is the emphasis placed on how beautiful and perfect everyone is, and it’s obviously something Kingfisher also loathes, as she makes a point to write characters that look and sound like normal people, with physical flaws, psychological baggage, weird quirks and weirder senses of humor – and I love it. Take note, other fantasy writers: ordinary people can be criminals, ordinary people can be sexy and fall in love, ordinary people can do awesome stuff. There, rant over. And yes, I loved Slate immediately. Awkward, smart, well-aware of what her strengths and flaws are, and I do love her relationship with Caliban. There is a weird bond that’s created between people who need to look after each other, and this was very well captured on the page. I also really appreciate how honest Kingfisher is about women being horny a lot. Even the great-grandmothers are flirty, and this makes me very happy.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I really just wish it had been a bit longer, a bit more fleshed out – the way the ‘Saints of Steel’ books are… Perhaps the second book will round up the story!
April 28, 2021
Slate, a skilled forger and lockpicker, has been set on a hopeless quest to find the source of giant clockwork killer robots that smash everything in their way, and stop them. To keep her inspired, she has a sharp-toothed tattoo that will eat her alive if she fails in or quits her mission. And to help her, she has Brenner, an assassin with whom she has a long history; Caliban, a demon-hunting outcast paladin of the Dreaming God; Learned Edmund, a female-fearing scholar-priest of the Many-Armed God; and Grimehug, a badger-like job gnole. But to get from the Dowager’s City to neighboring Anuket City will take bravery and strategy -- and cooperation between members of the band.This story has all the trappings of everything I love about T. Kingfisher’s books: brilliant creativity, tricky situations, genius solutions to those situations, and a terrific cast of characters. And yet, this book didn’t grab me the way her others have. The biggest problem I had was an absence of the belly-busting absurd humor that’s pulled me straight into her other books and kept even the grimmest situations bearable. There are definitely funny observations and moments on every page of this book, but it just wasn’t up to my expectations.
That said, the story and worldbuilding were interesting enough to keep me reading, and to get me to commit to the second book in the duology. And I’m glad I did, because The Wonder Engine completely redeemed all the weaknesses of this first installment, and made me want to apologize to this book and beg its forgiveness for not loving it more. (I love you retroactively, Book!)
So now click on the link to see why I loved Book Two.
So, this story is recommended, but don’t get your hopes up too high for Book One, and do read Book Two immediately upon finishing this one.
March 15, 2025
A forger, a whining assassin, an ex-temple knight who got possessed by a demon and became a mass murderer, and a misogynistic young scholar are sent on a suicide mission kept in line by carnivorous tattoos.
It sounds like a joke. It is a romp.
Paired with T Kingfisher’s usual heart, darkness, humour, and quirkiness - this is a guaranteed delight to read in less than two hours!
Caliban, naturally, was sitting on his horse, looking ready to pose for an illuminated manuscript. Brenner, who had never been on a horse in his life, had taken out his dagger and was showing it meaningfully to his mount. The horse did not look impressed.
Per usual, the character dynamics are dysfunctional found family perfection. The world building was bizarre, but you go along with it because the characters are equally as confused. There is lots of yearning and hiding and threats of midnight stabbing.
Also, I have to mention that T Kingfisher definitely has a vendetta against horses. She acknowledged it in her most recent release (A Sorceress Comes to Call), but you can see it even here!
There was nothing but the horse. There had never been anything but the horse. Possibly she had been born on a horse. She was undoubtedly going to die on one.
This is a duology, however this just abruptly ends. In the notes, T Kingfisher admits this was initially one book but it was too big. It literally felt like they picked a page near the middle and said here.
Bookstagram
It sounds like a joke. It is a romp.
Paired with T Kingfisher’s usual heart, darkness, humour, and quirkiness - this is a guaranteed delight to read in less than two hours!
Caliban, naturally, was sitting on his horse, looking ready to pose for an illuminated manuscript. Brenner, who had never been on a horse in his life, had taken out his dagger and was showing it meaningfully to his mount. The horse did not look impressed.
Per usual, the character dynamics are dysfunctional found family perfection. The world building was bizarre, but you go along with it because the characters are equally as confused. There is lots of yearning and hiding and threats of midnight stabbing.
Also, I have to mention that T Kingfisher definitely has a vendetta against horses. She acknowledged it in her most recent release (A Sorceress Comes to Call), but you can see it even here!
There was nothing but the horse. There had never been anything but the horse. Possibly she had been born on a horse. She was undoubtedly going to die on one.
This is a duology, however this just abruptly ends. In the notes, T Kingfisher admits this was initially one book but it was too big. It literally felt like they picked a page near the middle and said here.
Bookstagram
July 4, 2018
This - first half of a story in two parts - turned out to be so much fun!
First, the narration grabs you early on - how is it that some authors can do this with only a handful of sentences while others take pages and pages? Then, you have a group of disparate but likeable anti-heroes thrown into a suicide mission in a fantasy setting. So far, so good. What made this above average is that the author put a lot in the characters, especially the ninja accountant (!) and the paladin, their backstory and motivations, but also on their dynamics on this journey, while adding a lot of humour, without becoming a farce. I was instantly sucked in this adventure and am running to get my hands on the second part.
First, the narration grabs you early on - how is it that some authors can do this with only a handful of sentences while others take pages and pages? Then, you have a group of disparate but likeable anti-heroes thrown into a suicide mission in a fantasy setting. So far, so good. What made this above average is that the author put a lot in the characters, especially the ninja accountant (!) and the paladin, their backstory and motivations, but also on their dynamics on this journey, while adding a lot of humour, without becoming a farce. I was instantly sucked in this adventure and am running to get my hands on the second part.
November 1, 2020
The role playing adventure (in novel form) of my dreams, if I'd ever dreamt about a reluctant heroine woman of color forger and a guilt-ridden demon-possessed white guy paladin on a quest to discover the origin of giant unstoppable war machines that are ravaging the world. Sadly, my dreams are never that interesting. Kingfisher is amazing at updating the classic adventure and fantasy feeling with deep character development, huge worldbuilding, and feminism. She is so funny and so imaginative, and she knows how to break my heart in the best way. I tried not to immediately start the second book of this duology when I finished the first, and I failed. I liked it even *better*. Really, really good stuff.
February 28, 2022
Well, this was wonderful and so funny and the best kind of weird : 4.5 stars I'm almost tempted to round up (and might on reread).
January 28, 2025
This was such a quick read and I really liked it too! It did feel like more of a set-up book than anything else, so I'm looking forward to reading the second one.
February 11, 2024
This is a short, quirky fantasy/steampunk. Kingfisher is a writer I totally vibe with; I think our brains work the same way.
Here we have a team, a suicide squad, sent out on a suicide mission. As most of them are criminals, it makes things very interesting.
– Slate — the forger who is allergic to magic
– Caliban — the knight paladin possessed by a demon
– Brenner — the assassin
– Learned Edmund — the scholar who is afraid of women
Part of their mission is to find any trace of the previous expedition. Then they are supposed to get into a city under siege and stop the clockwork boys, mechanical horse-like creatures that are very deadly. We only get a glimpse of them in this book.
The book is really funny and creative and suspenseful. They don’t get that far in their mission when the book ends, so I’ll have to get the next one soon.
=====================================
“Have you considered giving up killing people and becoming a tailor?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And?”
“I don’t like people unless I’m stabbing them.”
Caliban, naturally, was sitting on his horse, looking ready to pose for an illuminated manuscript. Brenner, who had never been on a horse in his life, had taken out his dagger and was showing it meaningfully to his mount. The horse did not look impressed.
====================================
Language: occasional strong language
Sexual Content: some innuendo
Violence/Gore: somewhat gory at times:
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
Here we have a team, a suicide squad, sent out on a suicide mission. As most of them are criminals, it makes things very interesting.
– Slate — the forger who is allergic to magic
– Caliban — the knight paladin possessed by a demon
– Brenner — the assassin
– Learned Edmund — the scholar who is afraid of women
Part of their mission is to find any trace of the previous expedition. Then they are supposed to get into a city under siege and stop the clockwork boys, mechanical horse-like creatures that are very deadly. We only get a glimpse of them in this book.
The book is really funny and creative and suspenseful. They don’t get that far in their mission when the book ends, so I’ll have to get the next one soon.
=====================================
“Have you considered giving up killing people and becoming a tailor?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And?”
“I don’t like people unless I’m stabbing them.”
Caliban, naturally, was sitting on his horse, looking ready to pose for an illuminated manuscript. Brenner, who had never been on a horse in his life, had taken out his dagger and was showing it meaningfully to his mount. The horse did not look impressed.
====================================
Language: occasional strong language
Sexual Content: some innuendo
Violence/Gore: somewhat gory at times:
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
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