Review – The Impossible Cube (The Clockwork Empire, Book 2) by Steven Harper (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0451464507
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Clockwork Empire series
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
“In an age where fantastic inventions of steam and brass have elevated Britain and China into mighty empires, Alice Michaels faces a future of technological terrors…
Once, Gavin Ennock sailed the skies on airships and enchanted listeners with his fiddle music. Now, the clockwork plague consumes his intellect, enabling him to conceive and construct scientific wonders—while driving him quite mad. Distressed by her beloved’s unfortunate condition, Alice Michaels sought a cure rumored to be inside the Doomsday Vault—and brought the wrath of the British Empire down on them.
Declared enemies of the Crown, Alice and Gavin have little choice but to flee to China in search of a cure. Accompanying them is Dr. Clef, a mad genius driven to find the greatest and most destructive force the world has ever seen: The Impossible Cube. If Dr. Clef gets his hands on it, the entire universe will face extinction.
And Gavin holds the key to its recreation…”
This is the second book in the Clockwork Empire series and it was a fun follow-up to The Doomsday Vault. There are four books in the Clockwork Empire series and all of them have been released. I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first one, but it was still a very well done steampunk adventure and I enjoy the characters and the world.
I think the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first one was just because the story seemed to stall a bit; it just doesn’t make as much progress as the first book did (although it does physically cover more of this alternate world).
I did enjoy getting to see more of this amazing alternate world and I continued to enjoy our lead characters. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Dr. Clef’s character and, although I understood why he thought the actions he took made sense, I think that having these actions drive the story was just a bit…off.
While this story doesn’t progress as quickly or as intensely as the first one; there are quite a few well done fight scenes and the world is broadened. I would really like to see Gavin and Alice finally get to China in the next book and see what happens. I guess in some ways I felt a bit cheated; I was promised this amazing adventure to China at the end of the first book and then the whole thing got a bit derailed in this book.
Overall this was a fun and quick read that I enjoyed. I love this alternate historical world and continue to enjoy both Alice and Gavin as characters. I enjoyed seeing more of this world and some of the adventures Gavin and Alice go through. I thought the progress of the story slowed a bit too much and was disappointed that the characters never actually made it to China, but I hope we will see some better progress in the next book. I would recommend to those who enjoy steampunk adventure books and I plan on continuing the series.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Pick Your Genre (Steampunk) Reading Challenge
