Review: Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassoti

"Clockwork Heart" by Dru Pagliassoti

I won this book during SteamPink Week over at vvb32 Reads back in June. When it arrived a few weeks ago, I was knee-deep in Lauren Willig's fifth book, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, and had no time to spare for the intriguing steampunk story, but knew it would be next on my list. While I'm glad I didn't interrupt Night Jasmine for another book -- I'd rather finish something before moving on -- I was UTTERLY FLOORED by how much I LOVED Clockwork Heart. The guest post by the author we were given at SteamPink had whetted my appetite, but I had no idea for how much.

Clockwork Heart throws you headfirst into a world called Ondinium, which is strange enough from we know that it takes you a while as a reader to figure out how things work, what it must look like, and takes even longer to figure out their society is not quite so different from our own, it just has a different slant to it. The country is set upon a great mountain, which houses the Great Engine which runs their society. Their central city or society has three actual, physically separated levels: Primus, Secundus and Tertius. Obviously those born to a higher caste of society live on Primus and those of the lowest live on Tertius. One way to travel between levels are wireferries, which I imagine look like trolleys on wires. At the start of the book, Taya, a courier trained to fly on metal wings made of ondium (the country's most precious natural resource which also has a quality of anti-gravity to it), rescues an exalted (high-caste) and her son from a broken wireferry accident that appears to be terrorism. In saving the exalted's life, Taya is thrown into a political storm she was previously unaware of, and meets the exalted's two nephews, the exalted Alister and his older brother, the outcaste (by choice) Cristof. Taya is instantly attracted to the handsome, calm, powerful Alister Forlore, and finds herself at odds with the brusque, cold, careless way of Cristof. But when more politics come into play and several more accidents take place, Taya puts herself and her career (including her dreams of becoming an ambassador) on the line when she and Cristof team up to find the truth about what's really going on in Ondinium.

At first, because the world is so unique and the society so specific, as a reader I felt somewhat disoriented. Happily, though. I enjoyed figuring everything out as I went along and being totally immersed in another world. The clarity and clean elegance with which Dru Pagliassoti describes things is addictive, and her heroine Taya shows a growth throughout the story that stakes her claim as a really unique and strong female protagonist. She has, in the beginning, something of a one-track mind, which does not see past her hopes of being a diplomat and her job as an icarus, but throughout the novel she begins to understand other things and grow beyond that life. The brothers Forlore are extremely visible; Alister's look and tone of voice are so clear, and Cristof becomes like an old friend brought back to life by photos and memories; soon all it takes is him to pinch the bridge of his nose under his glasses in frustration for you to smile at his stubbornness, with the author barely telling you all that detail. The political mystery is fascinating, and the twists and turns are inescapably exciting, and when you finally get a full-on detailed description of how it feels to fly on ondium wings (and what happens afterward) I found myself reading on the train, gripping the book white-knuckled (literally) and short of breath with how fully the sensations were described.

All in all, Dru Pagliassoti has won my attention. This book was a ride that I will be taking again and again, and I will be passing it along to some friends who are likewise attracted to such stories. I would gladly seek out her other work as an author, and I will aspire to take some good advice from her writing voice and her skills as a storyteller. I feel that Clockwork Heart was a total masterpiece. I am dreaming of metal wings, and I expect I will continue to dream for a long time to come.

Big Ol' Steampunk Lovefest

To commemorate the end of SteamPink Week I am going to use this post to show you some of my favorite steampunky things all over the web. Sort of. More or less. RIGHT. Here we go.

ETSY is my favorite one-stop-shop for STUFF of all kinds. The endless amounts of searching and browsing is the ultimate window shopping excursion, especially when one is dreaming of watch fobs and ribbons and goggles and Victorian shoes and suchlike. Observe:

This Once Upon A Time Locket is freaking ADORABLE, very delicate and feminine with a bit of a steampunk air to it.

THIS is absolutely STUNNING. It is gorgeous, sexy, appears to be incredibly well made... everything you want in a perfect garment. Sigh. The price, unfortunately, is not quite within my reach. At all. However, the rest of their shop, while pricey, is really fascinating and their garments are exquisite. Drool-worthy indeed.

Okay, so, Damsel In This Dress -- aside from having an incredibly witty shop name -- happens to be my very favorite of all Etsy shops. It is shocking how quickly this woman creates masterpieces of corsetry, and her patterns are her very own design. The fabrics are swoon-worthy and the prices are EXCELLENT for this kind of craftsmanship. I have been watching her store for years (yeah, stalker, I know) and FINALLY bought my very own DITD creation a few days ago. My corset is beautiful and it fits me like a glove. I will definitely be buying from her again... she is an absolute jewel. She even shipped express to me -- when I asked EXTREMELY last minute. I had a party to go to and the corset would have made the outfit... and it DID. It arrived in perfect timing. She is so wonderful! If you want a great bodice at an amazing price and outstanding service, go to her. Seriously. Drool.

JezebelCharms always has some really delicious, intricate jewelry creations with a steampunk edge. There are also a few nods to everyone's favorite Doctor, which in my book REALLY doesn't hurt; makes me want them more, in fact. ;) Really interesting textures and stuff, and she has her own flair. Also, free shipping, I believe! Hooray!

Bionic Unicorn is another fantastic Etsy shop of intricate, fascinating jewelry and adornments of all sorts. Lots of gears and cogs in delicate settings with great color selections and very unique themes. A bit fantastical... in a great way. :)

Tea Time Inc. has some delightful miniature hats and fascinators, but also several of the CUTEST bustle skirts I've ever seen. I've been eyeing the red one myself. (But it just won't do to have that red with the dark blue, silver and gold of my Damsel In This Dress corset. Sigh.) Lots of other goodies are here, too; it's a great little store.

Right-ho. Now for some basic steampunk clothing websites.

Clockwork Couture has an EXCELLENT variety and really fascinating garments to capture the imagination, and prices to capture your wallet. They have some things in their clearance, however, and their "chop shop" lets you buy a plain garment and spruce it up yourself, DIY style. Neat idea. Their accessories are great too.

Steampunk Emporium also has a wide variety for the gents and the ladies, and fantastic themes to go with them. Possibly a great place to start building from the ground up. Their parasols are sweet!

Lovechild Boudoir was recently recommended to me by Alexis (@NerdGirl28) and I have yet to really delve in but it looks really fun and a bit more on the saucy side. Always good to have.

Now, Chapeau Claudette is NOT steampunk by any means. But when I was recently in London, I found an array of her chapeaux at Topshop Oxford Circus and fell madly and instantly in love. Of course I bought one and of course it is my pride and joy (seconded by my Damsel in this Dress corset of course!!) and I highly recommend perusing this shop. The hats are BEAUTIFUL and have such character to them, you can't help falling in love. <3



And now for some poetry.


Ahem.


This one is called.... "Window-shopping."

goggles, hats, and things
visions of corsetry dance
why so expensive?


"Past Comforts."

long train ride homeward
close my eyes, think of London
eras bygone now.


"Corset."

hold me closer, please
reassurance of beauty
hourglass and serene.

SteamPink Week 2010

So, I've literally never heard of an online event like this before. But thanks to @omgrey's lovely tweets, I've discovered how exciting this can be. The even is called SteamPink -- that is, steampunk for girls. It's focused on the brave, witty, lovely heroines of the steampunk genre, and obviously as two of my favorite new authors (O.M. Grey and Gail Carriger) are featured, I am getting involved. They are giving away TONS of magnificent swag and more than that, it seems to be a way to experience a little bit of community online that has the same love for girly, anachronistic but delightful Victorian era stuff that I do. Bangarang.

Here's the link if you want to check it out (WHICH YOU SHOULD): http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/2010/06/steampink-welcome.html

I don't even really know how many people have a link to my blog... since I usually only use it for fiction posts and poems and stuff... but if you're here, go and click and check it out. It seems like it's going to be a lot of fun! :)