Clockwork Heart - Book Review
Dru Pagliassotti's Debut Steampunk Mystery Romance, Reviewed
Sep 5, 2009
Few novels, especially debut ones, can comfortably straddle the lines between genres without suffocating the reader with information overdose. Fewer still can manage doing so with aplomb. This is why Clockwork Heart (Juno, 2008, ISBN-13: 978-0809572564), the debut novel by Dru Pagliassotti, comes as something of a welcome surprise.
Introduction to the World of Ondinium
Taya is an icarus: a courier, who travels through the city of Ondinium on metal wings, delivering messages and goods from the lowest levels of the city to the very highest. Her job offers her an interesting position in life: while most citizens of Ondinium are rigidly divided into castes, the icarii are able to associate with both. They exist in a social limbo, choosing companions mostly among themselves, never quite a part of Ondinium's social network.
However, following the attempted murder and rescue of a politician's wife and child, Taya is thrown headlong into a world of intrigue and politics. It is there she meets the Forlore brothers: Alister, a scientist, politician, the very definition of the charmer; and caustic, sarcastic Cristof, who has forsaken his caste, and instead lives in the depths of the city, repairing clockwork.
Their meeting will change everything.
Politics and Mystery in a Steampunk Romance
It's rare that any debut novel – or any second, third, or fourth for that matter – pleases as much as Clockwork Heart does. It is undoubtedly a roller-coaster: within the first chapter, a politician's family is almost murdered, to say nothing of rescued. However, its pace is never overwhelming. Events and actions are strung together almost seamlessly, paying tribute to Pagliassotti's talent as an author.
Its plot is, of course, ambitious: Clockwork Heart is a fantasy, and a romance, and a mystery, all rolled into one. It blurs the lines of genre in a way that can only be described as masterful: no particular element of Clockwork Heart ever seems to overpower the others. It is just as much a steampunk novel as it is a romance, just as much about mystery as it is about politics.
A Realistic Love Triangle
Where the heart of the novel lies is with its characters, however, and rarely has a cast of characters (both supporting and otherwise) been so enjoyable as in Clockwork Heart.
Taya is a wonder. She is your everygirl: pretty, but not beautiful; intelligent, but not brilliant. And yet her strengths are such that the reader can understand why others admire her. Even her mistakes are justified, because she makes them with careful consideration, and is willing to accept her failures afterward. She is a breath of fresh air after so many heroines who simply feel perfect to the point of vexation.
Alister is suave and charming and could easily become a bit too oppressive in a world full of suave and charming male characters. But he also uses the floor as a filing cabinet, and he's such a geek that his suaveness instead becomes endearing.
It's Cristof who shines most brightly, however. He's caustic, reclusive, and hates children. At the same time, he's so painfully awkward that any dislike for his character almost immediately melts away into affection. More importantly, he has a good heart, and his tentative, embarrassed kindness works a transformation in him that is both satisfying and convincing.
The interaction between these three characters is what sets this book so far above the rest, in all honesty. Love triangles often grow grating over the course of a novel, and can engender frustration and distaste in the mind of the reader. Here, though, Pagliassotti proves once again that she is a master of the written word. The actions and emotional reactions of all three main characters are realistic, understandable. Love does not spontaneously erupt from the ether: it grows and shifts, affection slowly morphing into something more.
Conclusion
If Clockwork Heart has any fault, it’s the way it deals with the Torn Cards plotline. They play a large role in the beginning of the book and at the end, but hardly any thought is given to the Torn Cards in the interim. It's feels like a thread almost discarded, then picked up again. To her credit, it is not quite a loose end; Pagliassotti is too competent for that. It merely feels as if she couldn't figure out how to weave the Torn Cards into the story, and assumed the reader wouldn't feel disgruntled at having to pick up that particular thread after so long with no mention of it.
This makes the twist ending a bit more unsatisfying than it should have been, given the fact that Clockwork Heart was billed as a mystery, as well as a steampunk romance. However, the novel is so otherwise well-crafted that this one fault is easily forgiven. Clockwork Heart is a treat, and one fantasy novel every bookshelf should have.
Read the First Chapter on Dru Pagliassotti's Website
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