tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post7816890991589381306..comments2023-10-06T05:34:22.641-07:00Comments on Enduring Romance: Clockwork Heart - Dru PagliassottoKimber Lihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-25086829670101705862009-02-08T06:22:00.000-08:002009-02-08T06:22:00.000-08:00Hmm, Steampunk with romance...I'll see what I can ...Hmm, Steampunk with romance...I'll see what I can do.<BR/>;)Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-38780719781244446292009-02-07T19:33:00.000-08:002009-02-07T19:33:00.000-08:00Yeah, I agree with your assessment, lol! I think t...Yeah, I agree with your assessment, lol! I think the field for character driven steampunk stories, say, with a *romance* are wide open!Heather Masseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00913459109753829391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-35912785423630950702009-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:002009-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:00I thought Mainspring started out with a bang but t...I thought Mainspring started out with a bang but the plot became episodic and just sort of petered out toward the end. The world building was fantastic throughout, the setting was very original, and well drawn, but the characters were inconsistant, and about half way through the book started to feel more like a travelogue, than a novel to me. Although things did come together at the very end the final third seemed to wandered aimlessly from one "golly gee whiz!" setting to another with no real plot driven reason.Mfitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11360148925967461614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-83456669022087499752009-02-01T17:37:00.000-08:002009-02-01T17:37:00.000-08:00Great review! I especially like your term "literar...Great review! I especially like your term "literary hybrid vigor." Well said.<BR/><BR/>I think word of mouth is so important for books like CLOCKWORK HEART because they don't get the push that books from the big publishers do (e.g., Jay Lake's MAINSPRING is a steampunk fantasy but based on your review and what I've read of CLOCKWORK HEART, it could give MAINSPRING a run for its money). <BR/><BR/>Multi-genre books are going to increase, not decrease, so perhaps it won't be long before a new system of book classification evolves, one that highlights all the wonderful blends instead of leaving the reader to guess what they are.Heather Masseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00913459109753829391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-26523147635805197612009-02-01T05:43:00.000-08:002009-02-01T05:43:00.000-08:00Oh, yeah, Buffy-clones! (Kimber gags) I am so sic...Oh, yeah, Buffy-clones! (Kimber gags) I am so sick of generic kick-butt heroines, I swear. I don't blame the authors though. Once one kind of story does well, publishers flood the market with more just like it. Guess it works, because they keep doing it. But, me, I'm a buffet kind of girl.Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-29132376425284423552009-01-31T17:57:00.000-08:002009-01-31T17:57:00.000-08:00I liked Taya because she wasn't a kick-butt Buffy ...I liked Taya because she wasn't a kick-butt Buffy clone, as so many female characters are these days. I am just sick to death of smart mouthed twenty somethings with itchy trigger fingers who get their jollies beating the snot out of bad guys while tossing off flip, not as clever as they seem to think they are comments. <BR/><BR/>Taya is earnest and unsure of herself, she is hard working, and honest, and she makes some really stupid mistakes. She has to pay for her mistakes, unlike so many too perfect female character these days who never seem to suffer from the mistakes they make. I think I liked her because she was so white-bread normal. She is not a MarySue, but I agree she isn't really a stand out original. <BR/><BR/>The character I really loved, the one that make the book come alive for me was Cristof. He's prickly and unpleasant, and he's difficult person to love without being the typical dark and tragic rebel-with-out-a-cause bad-boy type. He felt very real to me.<BR/><BR/>The secondary characters are superbly drawn, and Dru Pagliassotti picks an unexpected mix of people as important secondary characters which is why the world feels so well rounded and fleshed out.Mfitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11360148925967461614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4196814472111690551.post-36272909372171236862009-01-30T09:39:00.000-08:002009-01-30T09:39:00.000-08:00Awesome review, Mary!CLOCKWORK HEART really appeal...Awesome review, Mary!<BR/><BR/>CLOCKWORK HEART really appealed to me because it criss-crosses so many genres. I love that. However, I had a hard time getting into it because I'd reached my saturation point with Taya's character type by the time I started trying to read it. If she'd been black or a single mom or under twenty or over forty or accidentally flew into buildings because she was distracted by really cute slave boys below or had a snarky come-back for every dimwit she ran into or...whatever, I would have been hooked. I'm a very character-driven reader and Thaya just wasn't original enough for me. Her job certainly was! But, not her.<BR/><BR/>The world-building is absolutely the best I've read in a long, long time! And, like I said, I love and support multi-genre books. The world needs more of 'em! When Thaya flew, I felt like I was flying too and I could smell the city below.Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.com