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A review by bennought
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
2.0
While I didn't have very high expectations for this book, I was still somewhat disappointed. The writing is ok, the plot is mostly interesting, but the characters are pretty two dimensional and often annoying. All of them are basically caricatures, and their lack of depth and detail leaves you pretty much always knowing exactly what they are going to say and do. That is, except for Alister, who I honestly did not see as turning out to be the 'bad guy.' Which is another major problem with the book; while there are certainly bad guys, there aren't really any BAD guys--any bad people at all. Alister is a little deranged, and is clearly just slightly unhinged from the traumatic murder suicide of his parents, and the beatings his father gave him before losing it completely. But, he honestly believes that what he was doing was good for the country, and was just trying to make the world a better place. He may be calculating and manipulative, but at heart the author leaves him as a good person, who you can't help feeling sorry for. Or at least that's what she tried to do, because I didn't feel sorry for him at all, mostly because throughout most of the book he is a smarmy bastard who I just wanted to punch in the face. Moreover, the fact that she broke up the two major threat plots into two clearly distinct instances, while an interesting move, ended up not working at all. You reach what you think is the climax of the book (what actually is the climax) when Alister, Christof, and Taya are battling in the Great Engine Room, only to discover that the book just keeps going. Any half-decent editor should have realized that solving another, almost completely distinct plot in the denouement is not good writing, and have informed the author that it would be better served as a fully-realized second book.
The various flaws aside, there are some positives in the book. The world of Ondinium which the author creates is incredibly interesting, gritty, and full of potential. The caste system and technology were very well thought out, but I felt that she didn't exploit them enough. Why create such an interesting political world (the Council and all that), and then not really do anything with it? There is so much potential in this book, in the world that the author creates, but no real characters to inhabit it. I'd be willing to give some of her other books (if she has any) a try, just to see if she has matured since this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were plagued with the same problems.
The various flaws aside, there are some positives in the book. The world of Ondinium which the author creates is incredibly interesting, gritty, and full of potential. The caste system and technology were very well thought out, but I felt that she didn't exploit them enough. Why create such an interesting political world (the Council and all that), and then not really do anything with it? There is so much potential in this book, in the world that the author creates, but no real characters to inhabit it. I'd be willing to give some of her other books (if she has any) a try, just to see if she has matured since this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were plagued with the same problems.