Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Argyll Productions (2017), 228 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: 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 miss… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Herenya
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this -- a group of criminals sent on a suicidal mission doesn’t sound quite like my sort of thing -- but I finished it and the sequel within 24 hours.
A convicted forger with allergies, an assassin who is her ex, a disgraced paladin whose mistakes killed a lot of
None of them expect to succeed, let alone survive (except for the scholar, who is nineteen and volunteered, not realising that a woman would be in charge).
I loved this. It isn’t as grim and cynical as it could be. There’s banter and teamwork -- and amusing commentary on the uncomfortable realities of travelling on horseback, camping and working with people who don’t always along. Fantasy tends to focus more on the difficulties posed by the group’s dynamics, and there’s something very satisfying about the way Kingfisher also acknowledges the physical discomforts of fantasy quests. I think this is one of her strengths: taking something typically fantasy and blending it with something prosaic.
(I don’t have the sort of severe allergies Slate has, but I found her frequent need for handkerchiefs nevertheless very relatable.)
Another one of Kingfisher’s strengths is writing non-human characters who are quirky and appealing without being sentimentally cute. As for her human characters, I found I cared about them and their survival more than I expected to.
“I will never understand,” said Learned Edmund, apparently to Caliban, “why I was not placed in charge of this expedition.”
“Because you look about twelve,” said Slate, too tired to be diplomatic. “Do you even have to shave yet.”
The dedicate flushed scarlet. “I am nineteen!”
“I am thirty-seven,” said Caliban, “and if I can accept Mistress Slate’s leadership, so can you.”
“She hasn’t been leading!” said Learned Edmund. “She’s been drinking poppy and falling off her horse! You’re the one finding the inns and choosing the route.”
Caliban locked eyes with Slate. “She has delegated,” he said, his voice a low rumble, in sharp contrast to Learned Edmund’s. “Mistress Slate’s talents lie elsewhere, I assure you, they are considerable.”
“Damn straight they are,” said Brenner, snickering.
“Shut up, Brenner.”
A convicted forger with allergies, an assassin who is her ex, a disgraced paladin whose mistakes killed a lot of
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people and a young scholar are sent to stop the army of clockwork boys marching out of Anuket City.None of them expect to succeed, let alone survive (except for the scholar, who is nineteen and volunteered, not realising that a woman would be in charge).
I loved this. It isn’t as grim and cynical as it could be. There’s banter and teamwork -- and amusing commentary on the uncomfortable realities of travelling on horseback, camping and working with people who don’t always along. Fantasy tends to focus more on the difficulties posed by the group’s dynamics, and there’s something very satisfying about the way Kingfisher also acknowledges the physical discomforts of fantasy quests. I think this is one of her strengths: taking something typically fantasy and blending it with something prosaic.
(I don’t have the sort of severe allergies Slate has, but I found her frequent need for handkerchiefs nevertheless very relatable.)
Another one of Kingfisher’s strengths is writing non-human characters who are quirky and appealing without being sentimentally cute. As for her human characters, I found I cared about them and their survival more than I expected to.
“I will never understand,” said Learned Edmund, apparently to Caliban, “why I was not placed in charge of this expedition.”
“Because you look about twelve,” said Slate, too tired to be diplomatic. “Do you even have to shave yet.”
The dedicate flushed scarlet. “I am nineteen!”
“I am thirty-seven,” said Caliban, “and if I can accept Mistress Slate’s leadership, so can you.”
“She hasn’t been leading!” said Learned Edmund. “She’s been drinking poppy and falling off her horse! You’re the one finding the inns and choosing the route.”
Caliban locked eyes with Slate. “She has delegated,” he said, his voice a low rumble, in sharp contrast to Learned Edmund’s. “Mistress Slate’s talents lie elsewhere, I assure you, they are considerable.”
“Damn straight they are,” said Brenner, snickering.
“Shut up, Brenner.”
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LibraryThing member quondame
While this is a bit of a send up of all the band-of-rogues taking on a quest under threat-of-death/géis it works pretty well if you just take it straight. There is an angsty disgraced paladin harboring a dead demon, a forger/theif and an assassin who is not a nice guy, and a cleric from an order
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of geniuses with women issues. The on the trail adventures are distinctive enough to be interesting and the writing carries the story right along. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
A forger takes a disgraced knight with a dead demon inside him, an assassin, and a misogynist cleric on a suicide mission to figure out the source of the Clockwork Boys who have been devastating their city. Enjoyable steampunkish fantasy world where the characters banter pretty much exactly as
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Buffy would have done, except without the pop culture references. (I heard it said recently how that’s unrealistic—people would be making pop culture references all the time, and religion/saint’s names can’t be complete substitutes. That strikes me as true, and is probably part of what made the banter feel a little off, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it anyway.) Show Less
LibraryThing member souloftherose
'“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 fantasy tale really hit the spot for me - an angst-ridden paladin, a forger, an assassin and a misogynistic cleric are sent on
In terms of similar authors this reminded me of Bujold's books, especially the Penric stories and [The Curse of Chalion] (in fact one of the reasons I bought this was because Bujold gave it a positive review) and also Adrian Tchaikovsky's [Spiderlight] in the way the book riffs on typical fantasy tropes.
He smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen all day.
“I would be honored,” he said.'
This fantasy tale really hit the spot for me - an angst-ridden paladin, a forger, an assassin and a misogynistic cleric are sent on
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a suicide mission (not entirely by choice for the most part) to discover a way to defeat the strange and apparently unstoppable army of creatures known as the Clockwork Boys who are attacking their land. There's a lot more joy and humour in the story than the plot makes it sound and a dash of romance but this is definitely only part one of the story (apparently the author split this into two novels due to the length). The second and concluding part, [The Wonder Engine] is already downloaded and on my kindle.In terms of similar authors this reminded me of Bujold's books, especially the Penric stories and [The Curse of Chalion] (in fact one of the reasons I bought this was because Bujold gave it a positive review) and also Adrian Tchaikovsky's [Spiderlight] in the way the book riffs on typical fantasy tropes.
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LibraryThing member LisCarey
Slate is a forger and thief, Brenner an assassin, Sir Caliban a former knight-champion of the Dreaming God. In that capacity, he killed or exorcised, depending on circumstances, demons who had possessed people or animals. Then he got careless and a demon possessed him,and it was exorcised, but not
They're all condemned criminals, but they've been offered pardons and rewards if they can successfully complete a mission to Anuket City, to find a wayto defeat the Clockwork Boys, giant centaur-like creatures apparently made out of machine parts, who are ravaging the countryside and threatening the kingdom that, however questionable their characters, our three criminals are subjects of.
Slate, possibly because she's the most stable and educated of the three (Brenner may be stable, but not all that educated, and Caliban may be far more educated, but it's not at all clear he's stable), is in charge of this little group. But they're not going to Anuket City alone. They'll have a scholar with them. Learned Edmund is outraged to learn that he's not going to command the mission. He's the one that has the most information about the Clockwork Boys, after all, and the ability read the journal of a scholar who's going missing, if they ever find it and him. Sadly, he's also a nineteen-year-old boy, a dedicat of a the ragingly misogynistic cult of the Many-Armed God, and has no idea how to conduct such an expedition. Learned Edmund is compelled, eventually, to accept this unwelcome piece of reality.
This is in many ways your basic "misfit comrades on a mission." What's different is Kingfisher's skill at drawing interesting, compelling characters. They are all, including Learned Edmund, weirdly likable characters, and for all the varying backgrounds and levels of education, there's a lot of wit, here. In many ways, the most fascinating part of this book are the characters and their interrelationships, and their responses to what they encounter along the way.
This is the first half of the story, but the second half, The Wonder Engine, is also available. I'm looking forward to that.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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until after he'd killed eight temple nuns.They're all condemned criminals, but they've been offered pardons and rewards if they can successfully complete a mission to Anuket City, to find a wayto defeat the Clockwork Boys, giant centaur-like creatures apparently made out of machine parts, who are ravaging the countryside and threatening the kingdom that, however questionable their characters, our three criminals are subjects of.
Slate, possibly because she's the most stable and educated of the three (Brenner may be stable, but not all that educated, and Caliban may be far more educated, but it's not at all clear he's stable), is in charge of this little group. But they're not going to Anuket City alone. They'll have a scholar with them. Learned Edmund is outraged to learn that he's not going to command the mission. He's the one that has the most information about the Clockwork Boys, after all, and the ability read the journal of a scholar who's going missing, if they ever find it and him. Sadly, he's also a nineteen-year-old boy, a dedicat of a the ragingly misogynistic cult of the Many-Armed God, and has no idea how to conduct such an expedition. Learned Edmund is compelled, eventually, to accept this unwelcome piece of reality.
This is in many ways your basic "misfit comrades on a mission." What's different is Kingfisher's skill at drawing interesting, compelling characters. They are all, including Learned Edmund, weirdly likable characters, and for all the varying backgrounds and levels of education, there's a lot of wit, here. In many ways, the most fascinating part of this book are the characters and their interrelationships, and their responses to what they encounter along the way.
This is the first half of the story, but the second half, The Wonder Engine, is also available. I'm looking forward to that.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Hmm. It's good, a nicely done quest story with squabbling teammates. Rich and complex characters - there's a lot we don't know, only hinted at, but even what we know is well done and well rounded. But...so far, it's not as good as I expect from Ursula Vernon - insufficiently twisty. She does say,
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in an afterword, that this is half a story - that what was published as two books was written as one and split up to keep it from being too heavy to lift. Which is good, because this ends in...not a cliffhanger, just sort of in the middle. They reach the city! End. They've had plenty of adventures along the way, but still...the point of the quest is still ahead of them. Fortunately, I have the second book and can go immediately on. Show Less
LibraryThing member humouress
{First of 2, [[[Clocktaur War]]] duology; fantasy, steampunk, YA} (2017)
We meet Slate as she is sneezing her way through the Dowager's prison. Slate is a forger but she has inherited a vague sense of magic - she smells rosemary (sidenote: I keep wanting to call her 'Sage') whenever her magic wants
Slate tried to say, “Excuse me,” snuffled, and sneezed twice.
An eyebrow went up, but he didn’t say anything.
I suppose “Bless you,” is a little much to ask under the circumstances.
“Are you—damn—urrrggghhkk—” Her tongue pressed itself to the roof of her mouth as rosemary stormed the castle of her sinuses. There were no survivors.
The Dowager's kingdom (which doesn't seem to be given a name throughout the whole book) is at war and in imminent danger of being attacked by the clockwork boys being sent out of Anuket City. Slate and her erstwhile companion Brenner have been chosen for a mission to get to Anuket City to discover how to fight them; but they're no heroes. Slate is a forger (specialising in accounts) and Brenner is an assassin and this will be the third such mission being sent out, since the first one was destroyed and the second one has disappeared.
“Anyway it’s a suicide mission. You—and I, and a…coupla other people…will be going somewhere, and doing…err…something. Which is probably impossible, and we’ll likely all die.”
Joining them are Caliban, a failed paladin of the Dreaming God (currently in possession of the dead demon that previously possessed him), and the Learned Edmund, a monk of the Many Armed God, to whom the sight of women is anathema. Which could be a problem, since the Dowager has chosen Slate to lead the mission.
“Why are we bringing a woman?” he asked, peering down his nose at Slate. “I will not travel with one of their sex.”
Slate’s jaw dropped. The Captain put a hand over his eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” said Slate, clearly unable to believe what she had just heard.
“It is granted,” said the scholar, flicking his fingers outward in an abbreviated gesture of blessing. “Go forth and sin no more. Captain?” He turned away. “I believe I asked—”
Caliban and Brenner, acting with rare unity, reached out and grabbed one of Slate’s arms each, before anyone could learn what her sudden lunge in the scholar’s direction might mean.
Fortunately, he is only nineteen and has time to learn the error of his ways.
The clockwork boys are constructs (which may be organic or artificial or something in between - but nobody knows) which are eight feet tall, covered in cogwheels (which may or may not move them) and just about indestructible.
Down the road, three abreast, a column of Clockwork Boys came marching.
They were huge. They were horrible.
There were a great many of them.
The basic shape was centaur-like. Some had four legs, some had six. They stood between eight and ten feet tall.
...
The Clockwork Boys were the color of old ivory. Their heads—if it was anything so normal as a head—were blunt wedges, like a squared-off horse head. Slate caught a glimpse of what looked like inlay—carving—something.
Gears. They’re covered in gears, like barnacles. It’s how they move, somehow—but it doesn’t make sense. They’re alive, but they’re a made thing, but nobody could have made that, surely—
The story is told, in the third person, mainly from Slate's point of view, but sometimes from Caliban's, with the occasional interjection of their thoughts. A lot of the story is the snarky banter and interaction between the characters which I enjoyed. This particular passage, after their first day on horseback, has the power to get me giggling.
Brenner bounced by, stiffly, an expression of frozen horror on his face. He hadn’t been able to get down, either, and apparently any attempt to control his horse had failed utterly. The mare smelled food, and was roaming the yard looking for it.
Learned Edmund looked at Brenner. Brenner smiled horribly at him. His mare made another circuit of the yard.
Brenner and Caliban are both obviously potential rivals for Slate, although otherwise they seem to reluctantly admire each other.
I did find Caliban's demon confusing, though.
His own particular demon muttered down in the dark, ragged ends of syllables with no earthly meaning. Death hadn’t silenced it completely. It was a more familiar sound than the city, now, but not a comfortable one.
...
It was embarrassing that he’d spoken with the demon voice in the Captain’s office. He hadn’t meant to. It must have been the tattoo, or the tattoo artist. Magic made the corpse stir, as if something were walking past it and kicking up the flies. It took them a while to buzz and settle down again.
Although he asserted that it was definitely dead and its corpse was rotting in the back of his soul, it seemed to revive when confronted with another demon and seemed to act to protect Caliban.
I found some of the ideas (although not the story) reminiscent of Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls which is no bad thing since that is one of my favourite books. I enjoyed this book which mainly introduced the story and covered the group's journey to Anuket City with a few diversions and adventures along the way. It ends as they ride through the gates into the city.
I picked this book up on my Kindle, having been hit by quite a few LibraryThing book bullets, and read it first about eight months ago. And now I've gone and got the second book.
{3.5 (first reading)} 4-4.5**** (this reading)
Looks like I enjoyed it more on the second reading; overall rating:
4 stars
We meet Slate as she is sneezing her way through the Dowager's prison. Slate is a forger but she has inherited a vague sense of magic - she smells rosemary (sidenote: I keep wanting to call her 'Sage') whenever her magic wants
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to warn her of something important but she's allergic to the scent (amongst other things). And she never seems to be able to hold on to handkerchiefs.Slate tried to say, “Excuse me,” snuffled, and sneezed twice.
An eyebrow went up, but he didn’t say anything.
I suppose “Bless you,” is a little much to ask under the circumstances.
“Are you—damn—urrrggghhkk—” Her tongue pressed itself to the roof of her mouth as rosemary stormed the castle of her sinuses. There were no survivors.
The Dowager's kingdom (which doesn't seem to be given a name throughout the whole book) is at war and in imminent danger of being attacked by the clockwork boys being sent out of Anuket City. Slate and her erstwhile companion Brenner have been chosen for a mission to get to Anuket City to discover how to fight them; but they're no heroes. Slate is a forger (specialising in accounts) and Brenner is an assassin and this will be the third such mission being sent out, since the first one was destroyed and the second one has disappeared.
“Anyway it’s a suicide mission. You—and I, and a…coupla other people…will be going somewhere, and doing…err…something. Which is probably impossible, and we’ll likely all die.”
Joining them are Caliban, a failed paladin of the Dreaming God (currently in possession of the dead demon that previously possessed him), and the Learned Edmund, a monk of the Many Armed God, to whom the sight of women is anathema. Which could be a problem, since the Dowager has chosen Slate to lead the mission.
“Why are we bringing a woman?” he asked, peering down his nose at Slate. “I will not travel with one of their sex.”
Slate’s jaw dropped. The Captain put a hand over his eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” said Slate, clearly unable to believe what she had just heard.
“It is granted,” said the scholar, flicking his fingers outward in an abbreviated gesture of blessing. “Go forth and sin no more. Captain?” He turned away. “I believe I asked—”
Caliban and Brenner, acting with rare unity, reached out and grabbed one of Slate’s arms each, before anyone could learn what her sudden lunge in the scholar’s direction might mean.
Fortunately, he is only nineteen and has time to learn the error of his ways.
The clockwork boys are constructs (which may be organic or artificial or something in between - but nobody knows) which are eight feet tall, covered in cogwheels (which may or may not move them) and just about indestructible.
Down the road, three abreast, a column of Clockwork Boys came marching.
They were huge. They were horrible.
There were a great many of them.
The basic shape was centaur-like. Some had four legs, some had six. They stood between eight and ten feet tall.
...
The Clockwork Boys were the color of old ivory. Their heads—if it was anything so normal as a head—were blunt wedges, like a squared-off horse head. Slate caught a glimpse of what looked like inlay—carving—something.
Gears. They’re covered in gears, like barnacles. It’s how they move, somehow—but it doesn’t make sense. They’re alive, but they’re a made thing, but nobody could have made that, surely—
The story is told, in the third person, mainly from Slate's point of view, but sometimes from Caliban's, with the occasional interjection of their thoughts. A lot of the story is the snarky banter and interaction between the characters which I enjoyed. This particular passage, after their first day on horseback, has the power to get me giggling.
Brenner bounced by, stiffly, an expression of frozen horror on his face. He hadn’t been able to get down, either, and apparently any attempt to control his horse had failed utterly. The mare smelled food, and was roaming the yard looking for it.
Learned Edmund looked at Brenner. Brenner smiled horribly at him. His mare made another circuit of the yard.
Brenner and Caliban are both obviously potential rivals for Slate, although otherwise they seem to reluctantly admire each other.
I did find Caliban's demon confusing, though.
His own particular demon muttered down in the dark, ragged ends of syllables with no earthly meaning. Death hadn’t silenced it completely. It was a more familiar sound than the city, now, but not a comfortable one.
...
It was embarrassing that he’d spoken with the demon voice in the Captain’s office. He hadn’t meant to. It must have been the tattoo, or the tattoo artist. Magic made the corpse stir, as if something were walking past it and kicking up the flies. It took them a while to buzz and settle down again.
Although he asserted that it was definitely dead and its corpse was rotting in the back of his soul, it seemed to revive when confronted with another demon and seemed to act to protect Caliban.
I found some of the ideas (although not the story) reminiscent of Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls which is no bad thing since that is one of my favourite books. I enjoyed this book which mainly introduced the story and covered the group's journey to Anuket City with a few diversions and adventures along the way. It ends as they ride through the gates into the city.
I picked this book up on my Kindle, having been hit by quite a few LibraryThing book bullets, and read it first about eight months ago. And now I've gone and got the second book.
{3.5 (first reading)} 4-4.5**** (this reading)
Looks like I enjoyed it more on the second reading; overall rating:
4 stars
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LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Clocktaur War duology. I borrowed this as an ebook from my library.
Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this steampunk-leaning, fantasy adventure. The characters are quirky and fun, the world is well built, and the adventure is non-stop.
The premise is
This whole story was a delight to read. The characters are broken, hilarious, and just trying to make the best of their dubious situations. The paladin who has a dead demon in his soul was especially a delight. Who am I kidding? All the characters were great. The document forger who is chosen to lead this band, the assassin who is particularly good at killing people and making sexual inneundos, and the scholar who fears the presence of women…all of them are wonderful.
The world is fairly basic but very well put together. The adventure these characters take to get to the Clockwork Boys’ city is fascinating; they encounter a lot of strange magic. However, most of the adventure is them trying to figure out how to deal with each other.
The writing flowed well, was easy to read and moved at a good clip. This was hard to put down and I was never bored. I loved the tongue-in-cheek humor throughout and the depth our characters had. There is a lot of action as well and it was very well written and easy to picture.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved everything about this book. It is humorous and entertaining with a well built world, intriguing characters, and a lot of action and adventure. I greatly enjoyed it and immediately went and picked up the second book of the duology. This is the second Kingfisher book I have read and I have loved them both; I look forward to reading more Kingfisher books this year. I would strongly recommend to those who love humorous (but still thoughtful) adventure fantasy books; this was an awesome one!
Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this steampunk-leaning, fantasy adventure. The characters are quirky and fun, the world is well built, and the adventure is non-stop.
The premise is
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fairly simple: three criminals and a scholar leave their kingdom to venture to the kingdom next door to figure out how to stop the Clockwork Boys (a mechanical army that is invading their home kingdom). It’s a suicide mission and all three criminals will be given full pardons if they suceed (the scholar actually wants to go because..you know…scholars). This whole story was a delight to read. The characters are broken, hilarious, and just trying to make the best of their dubious situations. The paladin who has a dead demon in his soul was especially a delight. Who am I kidding? All the characters were great. The document forger who is chosen to lead this band, the assassin who is particularly good at killing people and making sexual inneundos, and the scholar who fears the presence of women…all of them are wonderful.
The world is fairly basic but very well put together. The adventure these characters take to get to the Clockwork Boys’ city is fascinating; they encounter a lot of strange magic. However, most of the adventure is them trying to figure out how to deal with each other.
The writing flowed well, was easy to read and moved at a good clip. This was hard to put down and I was never bored. I loved the tongue-in-cheek humor throughout and the depth our characters had. There is a lot of action as well and it was very well written and easy to picture.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved everything about this book. It is humorous and entertaining with a well built world, intriguing characters, and a lot of action and adventure. I greatly enjoyed it and immediately went and picked up the second book of the duology. This is the second Kingfisher book I have read and I have loved them both; I look forward to reading more Kingfisher books this year. I would strongly recommend to those who love humorous (but still thoughtful) adventure fantasy books; this was an awesome one!
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Great fun — DnD like adventure, hilarity, excellent characters and a interesting quest. Really enjoyed it, excited for the sequel.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
And now I want the next book in this series! There are people who say that the Hugo Packet costs authors, well, maybe, but for this reader it's added at least one more favourite author.
A Paladin, a forger, an assassin and a scholar are sent on a quest to find out what is going on with the
It can wait until after I read enough Hugo Nominees to vote.
A Paladin, a forger, an assassin and a scholar are sent on a quest to find out what is going on with the
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Clockwork boys ravaging the countryside. Everyone except the scholar is on death row and this might just save them, if they don't die first. Add in a tattoo that will eat them if they try to go against the mission and you're talking about a complex situation. It was all I could do to stop myself from ordering the next book in the series!It can wait until after I read enough Hugo Nominees to vote.
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LibraryThing member spiritedstardust
3.5 stars
This was enjoyable but felt a little incomplete -like the first half of a book not a whole book in of itself.
I like the characters and Im interested to see where it goes.
This was enjoyable but felt a little incomplete -like the first half of a book not a whole book in of itself.
I like the characters and Im interested to see where it goes.
LibraryThing member JorgeousJotts
This was different and I still feel a little unsure perhaps of what I thought this might be and how it ended up being. But overall I liked the characters and premise and was entertained and I am curious where things will go in the next book.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2017-11-21
ISBN
1614504067 / 9781614504061