Book Reviews

Book Blurb

The British Empire reigns supreme, and its young Queen Victoria has expanded her realm to St. Francisco, a bustling city of English lords and Chinese ghettos. St. Francisco is a jewel in the Empire’s crown and as deeply embroiled in the conflict between the Arcane and Science as its sister city, London—a very dark and dangerous battle.

Marcus Stenhill, Viscount of Westwood, stumbles upon that darkness when he encounters a pack of young bloods beating a man senseless. Westwood’s duty and honor demand he save the man, but he’s taken aback to discover the man is Robin Harris, a handsome young inventor indirectly responsible for the death of Marcus’s father.

Living in the shadows following a failed coup, Robin devotes his life to easing others’ pain, even though his creations are considered mechanical abominations of magicks and science. Branded a deviant and a murderer, Robin expects the viscount to run as far as he can—and is amazed when Marcus reaches for him instead.

 

Book Review

There was a lot, and I mean, a lot, of jumping up and down, squealing, Kermit-like flailing, and overwhelming giddiness when I discovered that Rhys Ford was releasing a steampunk short story. Having only recently found the steampunk genre within the past few years, the concept that one of my top five favorite authors wrote one, was almost more than my heart could handle. Trust me when I say that in my exuberance I scared a number of my four legged kids and they hid from me for a whole day. *grins* Even more than normal, I was very impressed with this author's willingness to stretch her wings and I found the writing, story, and characters of 'Clockwork Tangerine' to be sublime.

Marcus is the third son of a duke, not a particularly relished or enviable position as it holds little real power, and only a title of viscount. Marcus teaches "fisticuffs", boxing, to those men who need it and one evening he rescues a man from a beating by four intoxicated young men, only to discover he rescued the Toymaker himself, Robin Harris. The very man who created the device which killed Marcus's father. The scourge of the Society, a group which created the Golems, horrific caricatures of humans, grown in labs to be the footsoldiers of the Society. Even though the Society was defeated by the British Empire almost twenty years before, its horrors still linger.

Now Marcus is face-to-face with the alleged terror of the Society, the man whose genius created all the mechanical monstrosities combining the arcane and science, and all Marcus can see is a gentle man who uses his abilities to help those in need. For Robin's friend who lost her leg, he built her a completely functioning new one, he rescued a cat with two missing back limbs and Robin created new ones. This is the horror? No. Robin is simply a brilliant engineer whom the Society used and abused and left him to carry the blame and shame of their perversions of his inventions. What ensues is a friendship the likes which Robin has never known and a slow descent into love. Marcus and his family's acceptance of Robin helps to introduce him to some older gentlemen within the Ton with whom Robin can discuss the safe merging of science and the arcane to help the Empire.

I absolutely adored this book but I wanted more. Literally that is my only complaint. The story was too short and I would have loved more of their romance, of Robin's work, and definitely of Marcus's grandmother, the Dowager Duchess. Ahhhhhh, Rhys, you've done it again, my friend. Excellent job!

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook and audio
Length	Novella, 90 pages/22263 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	19-February-2014
Price	$3.99 ebook, $6.95 audiobook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/clockwork-tangerine-by-rhys-ford-4692-b