CLOCKMAKER (A Gothic Steampunk Novel #1) by Kristen Brand

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

Add to your GOODREADS account

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 5, 2018

The crew of the airship Sultana are nearly destitute. No one knows this better than their captain, Melek, who’s almost desperate enough to sell her treasured family heirlooms to pay her crew’s wages. Then a reclusive gentleman wearing a strange golden mask offers a fortune to transport him and a mysterious cargo to Istanbul. Needing the money, Melek can’t bring herself to refuse, even when her instincts warn of trouble.

Now strange noises haunt her airship at night, and deadly warships stalk the Sultana through dark, stormy skies. Melek’s masked passenger refuses to explain his private affairs, and she enjoys arguing with him perhaps a little too much. But he’s even more dangerous than she suspected, and she’ll have to unravel the dark intrigue he’s brought aboard her ship before it kills them all.

••••••••••

REVIEW: CLOCKMAKER by Kristen Brand is a gothic, steampunk, slightly paranormal story line – a spin off from the author’s Ghost Machine- focusing on Captain Melek and the crew of the airship Sultana but can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Captain Melek and her crew were first introduced as secondary and side characters in the author’s steampunk novel Ghost Machine.

For those readers new to the steampunk genre a simple explanation: Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, often set in an alternative history of the nineteenth century British Victorian era or American Wild West; a re-imagination of modern art, technology and fashion. An example or two would be to reference Wild, Wild, West (the original television series) or the writings of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

Told from first person point of view (Captain Melek) CLOCKMAKER follows the captain and her crew of the airship Sultana as they embark on a cross continent trek on behalf of the golden-masked but secretive Mr. Lesauvage, and his fragile cargo of unknown origins. Broke and with no potential customers on the horizon Captain Melek will be offered an inordinate amount of money to transport Mr. Lesauvage and the mysterious payload to Istanbul. Simple enough except from the outset their journey is fraught with attempts on their lives, attacks by giant automatons (robots), and several deadly encounters with the warriors they have come to call the ‘Clockmakers’. What ensues is an adventure not for the faint of heart; a voyage fraught with secrets, a stowaway, a potential traitor; and numerous raids and invasions meant to disable and destroy the ship and her crew. Mr. Lesauvage is the assassin’s target but it is his mind and his ‘precious cargo’ that are the ultimate prize.

CLOCKMAKER is an exciting, action packed odyssey; a passage of fantasy, sci-fi and the paranormal meant to intrigue and entertain. A motion picture for the mind CLOCKMAKER is a descriptive, complex and fascinating look the imagination at work.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy