Book Review: Clockwork Lives

I've been reading this book since last year and I just finished it today, so I thought I might as well write a review of the book.

Clockwork Lives {Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart}

Summary from Goodreads

In Clockwork Angels , #1 bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart created a fabulous, adventurous steampunk world in a novel to accompany the smash Rush concept album of the same name. It was a world of airships and alchemy, clockwork carnivals, pirates, lost cities, a rigid Watchmaker who controlled every aspect of life, and his nemesis, the ruthless and violent Anarchist who wanted to destroy it all.

Anderson and Peart have returned to their colourful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and an inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories — and ultimately her own.

Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Marinda strives to change her life from a mere “sentence or two” to a true epic.

"Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Other lives are epics." 

I have a way of picking out books when I want a new read. I go through the library, find the genre that I'm currently interested in, and pull random books in random intervals. I read the back and maybe the first page or two. Usually I end up replacing the book and continue on what might be considered a spiritual journey. When I first picked up When I first picked up Clockwork Lives, it wasn't just because it sounded interesting. I had started my search in the new books section. My fingers danced along the spines of books, grabbing one every so often. I got to the bottom shelves when the book caught my eye. It was a hard cover book with a leather cover and the letters pressed into it. Clockwork Lives the spine read with little symbols where the 'w' and 'v' should have been. I pulled the book to look at it, the look of the spine alone drew me to it. The front was just as gorgeous as the spine. I ran my fingers over the top and felt where the letters had been pressed in. I turned the book over to read the back. The summary grabbed my attention. Something in the back of my mind told me to open the book. I expected plain pages whose words would be the only thing to do that magnificent cover justice. I didn't expect the pages to be just as detailed as the cover. The pages were heavy stock and were crisp. They had a slight tint to them, like parchment paper. The chapter titles were in read and there was a little detailing here and there that added to the book's beauty. After a moment I finally read the first page. The story was interesting and I wanted to read more. So I checked that beautiful book out. Now, months later, I finally finished the book today. I had to finish it on the ebook version because I ran out of renewals at the library. But the formatting of the ebook version was just as beautiful as the physical book. 

I started out worried that the only reason I thought the book was good was because of the thought that went into the physical form of the book. I can confidently say that the story is great and the physical form adds to the experience. The world that Anderson and Peart have created is interesting and beautiful. The development of Merinda's character is so subtle that I only realized that her view on life had changed from what it was, when she herself realized it. The authors' way of describing things and providing imagery wasn't obnoxious or distracting, it was smooth and delivered in a way that blended well with the story. The dialogue added to the personalities of the people Merinda came in contact with. Since Merinda's quest is to collect stories from people, there are moments between chapters that tell the stories of the people she meets paired with an illustration of that person. I'm not going to say much else without ruining the whole thing (seriously if you pay attention to the words, events, and details, you're in for a nice treat at the end). Personally, I loved the book and I'm planning to go back and read the first one, Clockwork Angels. I probably should have mentioned sooner that you don't have to read the first book before you read the second one; it works beautifully as a stand alone book (I actually thought it was a stand alone book before I went digging). Now my goal is get my hands on my own hardcover copy of the book (the amount of thought that went into the design of the book... It's beautiful), so for now, Sanders out.