The Wonder Engine

3.5 stars. Overall, I really love this overarching world which a lot of T. Kingfisher's series is set in. I did enjoy the whole dynamic between our motley crew in this one too, but felt that more could've been done with the clocktaur plot and perhaps with a bit more politicking.

This story is so much of a continuation of the first instalment of the series, Clockwork Boys, that it feels like you're hopping on to a moving car when you first start. There's a very helpful prologue at the beginning to catch new readers up to things, but I still feel like I could've done with a reread of Clockwork Boys, which I've read many many months ago.

Interestingly, what I enjoyed most in this book is the little glimpse we get into the world of the gnoles, their strangely rigid hierarchy, and even the language that they get. Kingfisher teases in her post-credits that we might get a book about Learned Edmund in the future, and if he's going to go on some gnole-ish adventures to write his book, I'd be very interested.

I fairly enjoyed the slow burn romance we got between Slate and Caliban in this one, but it grated on me a little by the end. I didn't like how Slate responded to certain plot events which moved things along with their relationship. In further detail: I was fine with her mourning for Brenner and being mad at Caliban for it, but it seemed like she was mad at Caliban just because he had pushed her aside while on his mission to get at the demon, and not so much because she had witnessed him killing Brenner? It was a hard thing to witness and I was fully behind Slate having to have some time away from Caliban to process things, but the motivation and reasons for her avoiding Caliban just seemed like the wrong ones to me. I didn't like how she held it over Caliban's head in the end before they could finally had a fight about it and reconcile by the end.

Personally, I prefer the other Kingfisher books I've read by her (Paladin's Grace from the Saint of Steel series, and The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - both of them set in the same world as Clocktaur War), but that's not to say that this book is bad by any means. I enjoyed it and would still recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good steampunk fantasy with a dash of humour and romance.

This is the second part of the story begin in [b:Clockwork Boys 36618062 Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1) T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511019840l/36618062.SY75.jpg 58376790], and I think one review will do for all, so I won't review it again here. Suffice it to say that this second part has extra characters and is more exciting, so I give it one more star. You might say the first part functions as a long introduction to the second.

The first book was fresh and intriguing; this one felt much too long. It dragged on. The side plots felt forced. The romance angle got to where it just felt tedious. The cutesy oppressed creatures were depicted in a way that seemed cringily Samboish. The lookism was awkward. Yes, I will read Kingfisher again, her heart is huge and loving. Just not for a while.