Author: Daniel H. Wilson
Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy
Series: No
A Brief Summary:
The story is told from the perspectives of two narrators set in two time periods. The modern-day side of the tale is narrated by June Stefanie, a young anthropologist who specializes in ancient technology. During the course of her studies, she comes across a mechanical doll with very intricate, mystifying, and rather unsettling mechanisms. The discovery will ultimately have her fighting for a life in a war she did not create, with allies from a different period in history than her own.
Enter Peter, our second narrator, who happens to be an automaton created in the early 18th century by the decree of the Russian emperor, Peter the Great. The robotic Peter is to act as the Emperor’s guard and son, whose life’s mission is to serve and protect his ‘father’ always. However, at the emperor’s death, the jealous Empress, Catherine, ordered the mechanical humanoids, both Peter and his ‘sister’ Eliana to be destroyed. In a burst of self-preservation, they ran.
The two paths, both modern and historic, would eventually collide, where survival at any cost is the order of the day. Secrets will be brought to life, and lives will be irrevocably changed.
Here is what Goodreads has to say:
My take on things:
Follow a race of human-like machines that have been hiding among us for untold centuries.
Present day: When a young anthropologist specializing in ancient technology uncovers a terrible secret concealed in the workings of a three-hundred-year-old mechanical doll, she is thrown into a hidden world that lurks just under the surface of our own. With her career and her life at stake, June Stefanov will ally with a remarkable traveler who exposes her to a reality she never imagined, as they embark on an around-the-world adventure and discover breathtaking secrets of the past...
Russia, 1725: In the depths of the Kremlin, the tsar's loyal mechanician brings to life two astonishingly humanlike mechanical beings. Peter and Elena are a brother and sister fallen out of time, possessed with uncanny power, and destined to serve great empires. Struggling to blend into pre-Victorian society, they are pulled into a legendary war that has raged for centuries.
The Clockwork Dynasty interweaves past and present, exploring a race of beings designed to live by ironclad principles, yet constantly searching for meaning. As June plunges deeper into their world, her choices will ultimately determine their survival or extermination.
I really enjoyed this one. It was not only in one of my favorite genre, but also one of the most well-written dual time period books that I have read to date. It was a seamless travel between the two, and both stories were told with enough description to keep me clear on the various storylines. The plot id not drag at all, and the ending tied everything up nicely, with just enough innuendo that a future sequel (I hope) would not be unwelcome. If you enjoy the steampunk genre, this is definitely one I would recommend.
