Clockwork Horizon

Title:  Clockwork Horizon

Author:  Therese Woodson

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press

Length:  70 pages

Rating:  B List

Quad Shot of Love

 

Blurb:  As a major airship port, Aerial City welcomes visitors from all over the world. Despite being surrounded by new inventions and colorful people, Malachi Covington partakes of little outside his books and studies. He aches for adventure and excitement but labors under the rules and expectations of his wealthy uncle. 

Five airships arrive in port, keeping his uncle busy and, as Malachi’s best friend Millie reminds him, they’re carrying parties full of crew members. Excitement finds him in the form of Ian, a charming airship pilot who invites him to tour his ship, the Mockingbird. With Ian at his side, Malachi discovers a world beyond his books and takes daring steps to become his own man.

 

Review:  I love a good novella. I love being able to jump into the middle of a couple of lives and invest in their life story for the length of a dental appointment. Walking away humming with satisfaction at having read another great book. And I love steampunk. The beauty of old and new, clash of technology and alternate steam powered instead of petrol run earth. The gadgets and airships, the romance of leather and glass.

Clockwork Horizon was a fantastic dip into both of those. 

Mac is reserved, afraid, bored, and believes he has no future. Ian is impulsive, hard working, loving, and draws Malachi out of his shell. There is attraction both of the outside, but also of the inside. I loved that each of them saw past the exterior and wanted to know more about what made the other tic. 

Even though it’s a short read the few secondary characters are built into the context perfectly. They allowed for the world building while the main characters developed their love story. In the end that created an incredibly satisfying short read. When the pages ended I wasn’t left with holes in the story, or nagging questions. It was perfectly complete. And completely perfect.

Reviewed by Beans