Jay Lake
Hardcover | Pages: 320 pages Rating: 3.22 | 2161 Users | 287 Reviews
Itemize Out Of Books Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1)
| Title | : | Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1) |
| Author | : | Jay Lake |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 320 pages |
| Published | : | June 12th 2007 by Tor Books (first published 2007) |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Steampunk. Fantasy. Fiction. Alternate History |
Chronicle Conducive To Books Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1)
Jay Lake's first trade novel is an astounding work of creation. Lake has envisioned a clockwork solar system, where the planets move in a vast system of gears around the lamp of the Sun. It is a universe where the hand of the Creator is visible to anyone who simply looks up into the sky, and sees the track of the heavens, the wheels of the Moon, and the great Equatorial gears of the Earth itself. Mainspring is the story of a young clockmaker's apprentice, who is visited by the Archangel Gabriel. He is told that he must take the Key Perilous and rewind the Mainspring of the Earth. It is running down, and disaster to the planet will ensue if it's not rewound. From innocence and ignorance to power and self-knowledge, the young man will make the long and perilous journey to the South Polar Axis, to fulfill the commandment of his God.Define Books To Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1)
| Original Title: | Mainspring |
| ISBN: | 0765317087 (ISBN13: 9780765317087) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Clockwork Earth #1 |
| Literary Awards: | Sidewise Award Nominee for Alternate History (2007) |
Rating Out Of Books Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1)
Ratings: 3.22 From 2161 Users | 287 ReviewsAppraise Out Of Books Mainspring (Clockwork Earth #1)
Imagine a world in which god is the ultimate clockmaker, the pre-Einsteinian world of Newtonian physics, but taken literally: the solar system really is on a series of gears, the Equator is a brass gear miles high with miraculously-machined teeth meshing with the cog of the world's orbit, and imagine that the Earth is winding down and must be rewound. That is the mission given to Hethor, a clockmaker's apprentice in Victorian New Haven, by the archangel Gabriel. If you imagine this as a pocketWhile I enjoyed parts of this clockpunk work, overall I can't help but feel a little indifferent after finishing the tale.The author did some excellent world-building. I really wanted to know more about the various cultures and climes that Hethor, the main character, came into contact with.On the other hand, the originality of idea could not overcome for me the blandness of the main and side characters. I don't mind books where the main character is somewhat more of an Everyman so that the
This fantasy has the bizarre and interesting premise of a literal clockwork universe. The Earths mainspring is winding down and young apprentice clockmaker Hethor Jacques is charged with finding the Key Perilous and winding it up again by a Brass Angel. The equator of the Earth is a giant gear that meshes with another for Earths journey around the Lamp of the Sun. Set in an alternate 19th-century Earth where Her Imperial Majesty Queen Victoria rules over England and Her American Possessions, the
The author would appear to be something of a fan of Gene Wolfe, and if you are going to pattern yourself after someone that's a pretty good choice. Unfortunately, Wolfe has a singularly unimitatable style and the author is quite unable to match his high ambitions. There are flashes of greatness in the story, but by and large it is peopled with flat uninteresting characters that do uninteresting things.The principal conceit of the story is that the world of the story is truly the clockwork orrey
So, what if you had a literal clockwork universe in which the earth rotates on an immense brass track driven by gears on top of an equatorial wall?Jay Lake takes this unlikely premise and makes it work, and what's more, makes it the setting for a journey of spiritual realisation by the extremely hapless main character. (Poor guy, he keeps getting falsely accused, cast out, beaten up, robbed, imprisoned, abducted, whipped, abducted, abandoned to die, starved, dropped off cliffs, beaten up,
Why hello, alternate universe with airships; we meet again.This was not the way I intended to start reading Jay Lake. I heard about him when Green came out and added that to my to-read list, but when I was at a used book store, Mainspring and Escapement were there, so I bought them. I always regret when my first experience with a new author I'm anticipating reading is a sour one. Sadly, Mainspring testifies to the dangers of setting a lousy story in an amazing world.Lake takes steampunk to its
UPDATE 6/1/2014: My blog about Jay Lake's death.It's time for the next review in my Jay Wake Pre-Mortem Jay Lake Read-a-thon! And today, Lake does what so few others in my 53 years have done: Used the word "God" and not made me screechingly furiously attack-mode angry. MAINSPRING, reviewed at Shelf Inflicted, is a good book for many reasons. That one is mine. Others include elegant phrasemaking, deft plotting, and a re-imagining of the laws of the Universe that's breathtaking.I'm very happy I've
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