Booklog 79/2022: T. KingfisherL Clockwork Boys – Clocktaur War #1 - Audiobook

[jacey]

A forger, a paladin, an assassin and a scholar walk into a bar… not quite, but almost. These are the characters central to the story with the addition, later on, of a gnole, an intelligent, badger-like creature with a complex society. The forger is Slate, the paladin is Caliban, Brenner is the assassin and Learned Edmund the young and unworldly scholar. The gnole is Grimehug. This crew (all but Learned Edmund) consists of convicted criminals who are sent to Anuket City to discover (and if they can, put an end to) huge clockwork monsters which are smashing their way through Anuket’s enemies. Just in case they decided that running away is preferable to running into danger, Slate, Caliban and Brenner are given a magical tattoo that will eat them if they don’t stay on task. This is a story in two parts. This book covers the story of assembling the crew and making the journey to Anuket City. You’ll immediately need to move on to The Wonder Engine for the other half od the story. This is a re-read for me via Audible. It’s nicely read by Khristine Hvam who brings out some of the comedy, especially in Slate’s commentary. Highly recommended.