Mark Hodder is a full-time novelist who lives in Spain. He has worked as an illustrator, a radio scriptwriter, a BBC web producer and journalist and a few other things before finally deciding to be a novelist.
"I put off reading my copy of Mark Hodder’s debut novel, The
Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack until the review copy of
its sequel, The Curious Case of the Clockwork
Man, arrived. We’re told not to judge a book by its cover, but
the covers of many PYR releases, and those by Jon Sullivan in
particular, challenge our ability to reserve judgment. The image of
a brassy looking automaton drawing a sword-cane to square off
against a massive, patchwork-looking figure (a seemingly steampunk
Kingpin), surrounded by spectral figures (steam wraiths!) in flight
was too much to resist. Accordingly I set to work
devouring Spring Heeled Jack, a phenomenal first novel
deserving of the recently won Philip K. Dick award. As I said in my
review of Spring Heeled Jack, if this is what the “punk”
Hodder wants to see steampunk look like, then I say with Oliver
Twist, “Please, sir, I want some more.”
And more there is. The Curious Case of the Clockwork
Man is a worthy successor to Spring Heeled Jack,
combining a number of seemingly clichéd steampunk elements in ways
that shatter and rebuild them: the combination of industrial and
biological sciences ala Westerfeld’s Leviathan; the filthy
London of Gibson and Sterling’s Difference Engine, filled
with anachronistic innovations; recursive fantasy blending both
historical and literary figures as in Newman’s Anno
Dracula; the Agent of the Crown, seen in Green’s Pax
Britannia series; the labyrinthine schemes of secret societies
in Dahlquist’s The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters and
Tidhar’s Camera Obscura; multi-threaded plots akin to
Powers’ Anubis Gates; and the quirky humor of
Blaylock’s Adventures of Langdon St. Ives. Where these
predecessors and contemporaries are inferior, Hodder elevates his
material, and where they are masters of narrative, he matches
them.
The story defies summary, but the narrative centers upon Sir
Richard Francis Burton and poet Algernon Swinburne’s investigation
into a theft of black diamonds, ultimately embroiling them in the
affairs of a dubious claimant, supposedly the heir of a cursed
estate. As with Anubis Gates, this only scratches the surface
of Hodder’s tale, as his secondary world-building is delightfully
dense. Readers familiar with nineteenth century will enjoy the
numerous changes Hodder has wrought, which take this simple
plotline and render it complex. The Curious Case of the
Clockwork Man clearly demontrates Hodder’s ability for making
the vast elements of his secondary world cohere, live, and breathe,
and to do it in a way that is deliciously entertaining." --
Steampunk Scholar
"Burton and Swinburne’s second adventure—The Curious Case of the
Clockwork Man—is filled with eccentric steam-driven technology,
grotesque characters, and a deepening mystery that pushes forward
the three-volume story arc begun in The Strange Affair of
Spring Heeled Jack." -- Goodreads
"The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man" (A+, highly recommended) is
an excellent book... the author also
expands considerably the universe of the series in terms
of the "big picture" which is another huge plus and the mixture of
SF and steampunk continues to work well in terms of coherence and
suspension of disbelief." Fantasy Book Critic
"I put off reading my copy of Mark Hodder's debut novel, The
Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack until the review copy of
its sequel, The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, arrived.
We're told not to judge a book by its cover, but the covers of many
PYR releases, and those by Jon Sullivan in particular, challenge
our ability to reserve judgment. The image of a brassy looking
automaton drawing a sword-cane to square off against a massive,
patchwork-looking figure (a seemingly steampunk Kingpin),
surrounded by spectral figures (steam wraiths!) in flight was too
much to resist. Accordingly I set to work devouring Spring
Heeled Jack, a phenomenal first novel deserving of the recently
won Philip K. Dick award. As I said in my review of Spring
Heeled Jack, if this is what the "punk" Hodder wants to see
steampunk look like, then I say with Oliver Twist, "Please,
sir, I want some more."
And more there is. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man is
a worthy successor to Spring Heeled Jack, combining a number
of seemingly cliched steampunk elements in ways that shatter and
rebuild them: the combination of industrial and biological sciences
ala Westerfeld's Leviathan; the filthy London of Gibson and
Sterling's Difference Engine, filled with anachronistic
innovations; recursive fantasy blending both historical and
literary figures as in Newman's Anno Dracula; the Agent of
the Crown, seen in Green's Pax Britannia series; the
labyrinthine schemes of secret societies in Dahlquist's The
Glass Books of the Dream Eaters and Tidhar's Camera
Obscura; multi-threaded plots akin to Powers' Anubis
Gates; and the quirky humor of Blaylock's Adventures of
Langdon St. Ives. Where these predecessors and contemporaries
are inferior, Hodder elevates his material, and where they are
masters of narrative, he matches them.
The story defies summary, but the narrative centers upon Sir
Richard Francis Burton and poet Algernon Swinburne's investigation
into a theft of black diamonds, ultimately embroiling them in the
affairs of a dubious claimant, supposedly the heir of a cursed
estate. As with Anubis Gates, this only scratches the
surface of Hodder's tale, as his secondary world-building is
delightfully dense. Readers familiar with nineteenth century will
enjoy the numerous changes Hodder has wrought, which take this
simple plotline and render it complex. The Curious Case of the
Clockwork Man clearly demontrates Hodder's ability for making
the vast elements of his secondary world cohere, live, and breathe,
and to do it in a way that is deliciously entertaining." --
Steampunk Scholar
"Burton and Swinburne's second adventure-The Curious Case of the
Clockwork Man-is filled with eccentric steam-driven technology,
grotesque characters, and a deepening mystery that pushes forward
the three-volume story arc begun in The Strange Affair of Spring
Heeled Jack." -- Goodreads
"The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man" (A+, highly recommended) is
an excellent book... the author also expands considerably the
universe of the series in terms of the "big picture" which is
another huge plus and the mixture of SF and steampunk continues to
work well in terms of coherence and suspension of disbelief."
Fantasy Book Critic
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
