The Clockwork Century, Book 1
Synopsis: In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.
Review: I had the opportunity to read The Borden Dispatches series and I really appreciated its originality in the recovery of the history of the Borden. Seeing Boneshaker I was then once again intrigued. I confess that by reading the synopsis, I was about anxious that the science fiction side would be too advanced for my taste, but I can now say that this is not the case and I loved discovering this steampunk world as well as its history and characters! Yes, I was completely carried away by the story!
Briar didn’t have an easy life, her father, a deceased former cop was mostly loved and respected by criminals but not as much by the locals. They could forgive her her origins if there had not been her ex-husband … Leviticus Blue who killed many people with the machine he had built for drilling the ground in Russia. But by destroying the city, this machine also left out a gas that changes people or kills them randomly. Building a wall for about five kilometers to limit the spread, the population was evacuated and now lives close to the scourge. But here, everything was quiet until Zeke, her son, decides to return to this part of the city to discover the truth about his family. Yet nothing had prepared him to confront this place so different from others and where danger lurks at every turn.
I took a great pleasure in reading this novel as I said and I even struggled to put it down before finishing it. We always look forward to see what will happen, to understand how our two heroes will come out of that and to see them adapt gradually to this new life. It’s quite impressive to see the conditions of life, to understand what people must do to survive. We understand the truth gradually about Leviticus, and the author reveals points until the last pages of the novel! Yes you will see, you will take pleasure in discovering all the main or secondary characters who bring so much to the story.
You will understand, this is a great discovery for me and I immediately looked at what volume 2 would reserve but I’m a little sad to see that other characters will be staged! But that will be for another discovery!
Christy LoveOfBooks
Sounds good, Melanie! I’ve seen this one around before and thought it sounded interesting, so I’m glad to see your enthusiasm for it.
Melliane
yes I really enjoyed it
blodeuedd
I can not remember why this one did not work for me, or did it? I can not even remember
Lola (Hit or Miss Books)
Sounds original and enjoyable! Great review!!
Molly Mortensen
I’m glad that it wasn’t heavy on the science. I always worry about that too. I wasn’t sure about this one, but I think I’ll add it to my list now. I love can’t put down books!
Melliane
yes it was perfect!
Joy // Joyousreads
Oh, this is an old one! This book looks intimidating, but I’m glad you loved it, Melliane.
anna@herding cats & burning soup
Ooo you reminded me I have one of hers still to finish. I got distracted but I had been enjoying it. I’ll have to get back to that soon.
kindlemom1
Great review this sounds super interesting!
Jenny @ Supernatural Snark
I’ve heard great things about this one Melliane, I’m so glad to see you had trouble putting it down before you reached the end! It’s been a while since I’ve been that involved in a story:)
Melliane
yes I loved it!
Carole Rae
Not for me. But good luck with book 2! Curious to see what you think.
Melissa (Books and Things)
I haven’t read this one but have had it on my wishlist for far too long. This sounds so good. I think you reminded me why I wanted to read it in the first place. So glad you enjoyed it!
Melliane
I hope you’ll like it too!
ShootingStarsMag
Sometimes books really shock you and you love them more than you thought you would! Glad to hear this was one of those.
Lisa @TenaciousReader
I feel like I’ve seen some mixed reviews for this one, but a book that is hard to put down is always compelling!
Melliane
yes!!!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
This one was pretty cool, but it’s been years since I read it. I should pick up the series again.
Silvia
Sounds original and quite compelling! It’s always amazing when you can’t put a book down, and I truly hope the second instalment works great as well 🙂
Melliane
right?
Léa Touch Book
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce premier tome, il faudrait que je lise la suite ^^
Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings
I’m glad you enjoyed this! I haven’t picked it up myself but I definitely need to get to it. Great review!
Melliane
yes it was fun and different
LilyElement
Ohh this one does sound really good. Glad it worked out well for you 🙂
Mary Kirkland
Probably not my type of book but thanks for the review. It does sound interesting.
Heidi
I have eyed this series for years, but never tried it. I am thrilled you love it, so I am adding it to the TBR.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
This one is new to me. Love the book’s name and you make it sound good.