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heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book from beginning to end. The action is pretty much nonstop and well-paced. The book is too short for much character development, but I liked the main characters and started rooting for them right away. I enjoyed the way that the early chapters alternate between Maria and Hainey's stories and then they come together in the late middle. The blend of real history (Pinkerton Detective Agency did--and still does--exist, and Belle Boyd was an actual Confederate spy) and made-up technology is super-fun. I found the ending as satisfying as the rest of the story. A great quick read for steampunk fans!
hyzerchan's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty perfect for what it is. An action packed novella.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
This short story, although at 300+ pages it is not that short, is the continuing adventures in Cherie Priest's "Clockwork Century" It takes place between Boneshaker and Dreadnought in the chronology of the series.
Oh does Ms. Priest know her way around a steampunk novel. In this story we are introduced to Maria "Belle" Boyd, another in the long list of strong female characters who inhabit this world. Alas no zombies in this one, but instead a good old fashioned pirates tale of gun battles aboard ships. Did I mention they were air ships? I am looking forward to Fiddlehead the final installment in the series where Miss Boyd makes another appearance.
Oh does Ms. Priest know her way around a steampunk novel. In this story we are introduced to Maria "Belle" Boyd, another in the long list of strong female characters who inhabit this world. Alas no zombies in this one, but instead a good old fashioned pirates tale of gun battles aboard ships. Did I mention they were air ships? I am looking forward to Fiddlehead the final installment in the series where Miss Boyd makes another appearance.
c_j_mk2's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
If you audiobook this, be prepared to be assaulted by the accents.
alannajane's review against another edition
4.0
What a wonderful novella from a world that I had forgotten how much I love. Listening to this audiobook has prompted a definite revisiting of this world, and a promise to read all the tomes in the series that I haven’t yet. Cherie Priest writes some amazing, badass women she-roes!
drako1357's review against another edition
4.0
Clementine es una novela de ciencia ficción ucronía steampunk del año 2010 escrita por Cherie Priest. Es el primer libro de la serie The Clockwork Century, aunque también puede leerse de forma independiente.
La historia se sitúa en un Estados Unidos alternativo en el que la Guerra Civil estadounidense terminó en empate. Maria Isabella Boyd, una ex espía confederada, se ve obligada a trabajar para la agencia de detectives Pinkerton. Su primera misión es perseguir a un dirigible pirata, la Clementine, que está siendo perseguido por el ejército de la Unión.
La novela está protagonizada por dos personajes principales: Maria Isabella Boyd y Croggon Beauregard Hainey, el capitán de la Clementine. Maria es una mujer inteligente y astuta, pero también es ambiciosa y decidida. Croggon es un ex esclavo que se convirtió en un pirata para sobrevivir. Ambos personajes son complejos y tridimensionales, y sus interacciones son una de las principales fortalezas de la novela.
La trama de Clementine es emocionante y llena de acción. La novela está llena de persecuciones, batallas aéreas y aventuras. La autora también explora temas interesantes, como la identidad, la libertad y la justicia.
En general, Clementine es una novela bien escrita y entretenida. Es una buena opción para los fans de la ciencia ficción, el steampunk y la ficción de espionaje.
La historia se sitúa en un Estados Unidos alternativo en el que la Guerra Civil estadounidense terminó en empate. Maria Isabella Boyd, una ex espía confederada, se ve obligada a trabajar para la agencia de detectives Pinkerton. Su primera misión es perseguir a un dirigible pirata, la Clementine, que está siendo perseguido por el ejército de la Unión.
La novela está protagonizada por dos personajes principales: Maria Isabella Boyd y Croggon Beauregard Hainey, el capitán de la Clementine. Maria es una mujer inteligente y astuta, pero también es ambiciosa y decidida. Croggon es un ex esclavo que se convirtió en un pirata para sobrevivir. Ambos personajes son complejos y tridimensionales, y sus interacciones son una de las principales fortalezas de la novela.
La trama de Clementine es emocionante y llena de acción. La novela está llena de persecuciones, batallas aéreas y aventuras. La autora también explora temas interesantes, como la identidad, la libertad y la justicia.
En general, Clementine es una novela bien escrita y entretenida. Es una buena opción para los fans de la ciencia ficción, el steampunk y la ficción de espionaje.
aknott928's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was very fun and fast pace. A great book without immediate romance! Great character back ground story
fossen's review against another edition
4.0
While not the epic the other Clockwork Century books have been, here's another excellent read. It's a dead-simple plot, but it's in the characters that CLEMENTINE makes it's mark. There are two "leads" here, and both are complex and interesting, and the relationship that grows between them is rich and natural.
It can't be denied that part of the fun in Priest's books is that she's (consciously or not) creating heroes that have gone criminally under-represented in SF/F in general. Regardless of intent, it certainly feels refreshing.
It can't be denied that part of the fun in Priest's books is that she's (consciously or not) creating heroes that have gone criminally under-represented in SF/F in general. Regardless of intent, it certainly feels refreshing.
andrewliptak's review against another edition
4.0
Cherie Priest had a good thing started with her steampunk story, Boneshaker, set in an alternate Seattle overrun by zombies and populated by the brass, glass and goggles that we’ve come to expect from the Steampunk genre. Taking place in an American Civil War that has run on for twenty years, rather than the four that it actually lasted for, there is a new entry in the series: Clementine, a short novella that takes off from Boneshaker. Priest has continued the story forward, and it proves to be a short tale from the world that she will be continuing onwards with the Clockwork Century. Ultimately, this book is a short one, and is only able to wet reader’s appetites, while not delivering fully on a comparable story such as Boneshaker.
Clementine borrows a couple of characters that were seen briefly in Boneshaker, Croggon Hainey and his crew, who are in pursuit of his stolen airship, the Free Crow. At the same time, Priest introduces a new character, Maria “Belle” Boyd, a former Confederate Spy, who has been hired by the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency to ensure delivery of the cargo of another airship, with weapons for the Union. The two characters collide when their paths cross, and work together to reach their respective goals: Hainey to retrieve his ship, Boyd finish out her first job with the Pinkertons.
The book, while short, is an entertaining read that tells a compact story set in Priest’s Clockwork Century universe, first seen in Boneshaker, which proved to be an interesting, if somewhat limited view of the outside world, where elements of the ongoing conflict were alluded to, but not seen.
That might have been the better approach, however, because while it’s good to see that Priest is continuing the series, Clementine is constricted by its size – a mere 201 pages, with easily twice that amount of story shoved into it, making it feel like there was much more to tell. Events happen rather quickly, conveniently and at points, the fact that this is set in a Steampunk world is something that’s pushed forward often and the end result feels somewhat forced, where Boneshaker felt like it flowed forward a bit easier in its own world.
The size issue is to be expected, given the length of the novella, but the story simply feels too big in scale to really fit in. Fortunately, the book holds enough to really hold one’s interest throughout as it flies by – this is a quick read, and there is plenty of action and gunplay to keep the events moving along briskly.
One of the points that I found most interesting was the attention to detail that Priest exhibits when it comes to prior historical record and the Civil War, but also social relations. With the Civil War continuing onwards, there is a ripple throughout the country on the impact of the war, which is nicely seen here: race relations, mercenary organizations, military hardware and similar happenings are seen throughout the story, and I have to commend Priest on moving towards the Civil War slowly – I suspect that something like that would be several books in and of itself.
The Civil War is a complicated, well documented war, and in Priest’s universe, that has continued onwards for decades longer than the actual conflict – a convenient plot device to explain the technology and event that happened in this alternate world. This short book reveals just a little bit more to the audience, but just enough to keep people wanting more. The next book, Dreadnought, is due out in a couple of weeks, and looks like it will fit far better with Clementine than it will with Boneshaker.
When putting the two together, I think that Boneshaker is the preferable book to point people towards, simply because it held my interest far better than an alternate Civil War story. There are Zombies (and while I dislike them when they’re poorly written, this wasn’t the case here), strange technology, an abandoned city and so forth, this book didn’t have the same depth, and I’m hoping that that is just due to length.
This is certainly a series that will be popular, and Clementine will be the book that the real fans will go to, to get that added bit of insight into the world while they wait for the next book to come out. It’s certainly tided me over while waiting for the next read. One can only hope that we’ll see additional stories to come out of the Clockwork Century while we wait.
Originally posted to my blog.
Clementine borrows a couple of characters that were seen briefly in Boneshaker, Croggon Hainey and his crew, who are in pursuit of his stolen airship, the Free Crow. At the same time, Priest introduces a new character, Maria “Belle” Boyd, a former Confederate Spy, who has been hired by the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency to ensure delivery of the cargo of another airship, with weapons for the Union. The two characters collide when their paths cross, and work together to reach their respective goals: Hainey to retrieve his ship, Boyd finish out her first job with the Pinkertons.
The book, while short, is an entertaining read that tells a compact story set in Priest’s Clockwork Century universe, first seen in Boneshaker, which proved to be an interesting, if somewhat limited view of the outside world, where elements of the ongoing conflict were alluded to, but not seen.
That might have been the better approach, however, because while it’s good to see that Priest is continuing the series, Clementine is constricted by its size – a mere 201 pages, with easily twice that amount of story shoved into it, making it feel like there was much more to tell. Events happen rather quickly, conveniently and at points, the fact that this is set in a Steampunk world is something that’s pushed forward often and the end result feels somewhat forced, where Boneshaker felt like it flowed forward a bit easier in its own world.
The size issue is to be expected, given the length of the novella, but the story simply feels too big in scale to really fit in. Fortunately, the book holds enough to really hold one’s interest throughout as it flies by – this is a quick read, and there is plenty of action and gunplay to keep the events moving along briskly.
One of the points that I found most interesting was the attention to detail that Priest exhibits when it comes to prior historical record and the Civil War, but also social relations. With the Civil War continuing onwards, there is a ripple throughout the country on the impact of the war, which is nicely seen here: race relations, mercenary organizations, military hardware and similar happenings are seen throughout the story, and I have to commend Priest on moving towards the Civil War slowly – I suspect that something like that would be several books in and of itself.
The Civil War is a complicated, well documented war, and in Priest’s universe, that has continued onwards for decades longer than the actual conflict – a convenient plot device to explain the technology and event that happened in this alternate world. This short book reveals just a little bit more to the audience, but just enough to keep people wanting more. The next book, Dreadnought, is due out in a couple of weeks, and looks like it will fit far better with Clementine than it will with Boneshaker.
When putting the two together, I think that Boneshaker is the preferable book to point people towards, simply because it held my interest far better than an alternate Civil War story. There are Zombies (and while I dislike them when they’re poorly written, this wasn’t the case here), strange technology, an abandoned city and so forth, this book didn’t have the same depth, and I’m hoping that that is just due to length.
This is certainly a series that will be popular, and Clementine will be the book that the real fans will go to, to get that added bit of insight into the world while they wait for the next book to come out. It’s certainly tided me over while waiting for the next read. One can only hope that we’ll see additional stories to come out of the Clockwork Century while we wait.
Originally posted to my blog.
cnewbs's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It took a minor character from Boneshaker, presented a fleshed out story, and included another strong female protagonist. Overall a quick and fun read.