Welcome to the CLOCKWORK MENAGERIE BLOG TOUR! I am today's host and will be posting a review, but be sure to keep scrolling to enter the US/CAN Giveaway of a Gold Lotus Flower Bookmark that Glows in the Dark from Etsy seller Papillon9! It ends on September 16th, so you don't want to miss it. Please check out the tour page for the complete schedule and more information!
Clockwork Menagerie by Karen Kincy
Genre: Historical-fantasy romance
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Date of Release: September 1, 2015
Cover Artist: Eugene
Teplitsky
A
companion novella to the Shadows of Asphodel series, from Konstantin’s point of
view.
1914.
Konstantin would love to hide in his laboratory and dissect the clockwork
dragon captured from Russia, but the Archmages of Vienna have other plans. He
finds himself shipped off to St. Petersburg as the scientific attaché to an
ambassador. His orders? Look, but don’t touch. Of course, he considers this an
impossible request with so much enemy technomancy to explore.
To make
matters worse, Konstantin has to work with the dashing zeppelin commander
Himmel, a man who should also be untouchable. They can’t act on the smoldering
attraction between them without risking it all. Faced with an illegal
relationship and a devious rival technomancer, Konstantin might not return from
this mission in Russia without conquering the forbidden.
Review
This one was such a good interlude and refresher on the Shadows of Asphodel story line. I loved Konstantin since the first time we met him and he grew into such a great character that I was super excited to see that he got his own novella. I love him and Himmel together and I was really excited to see that this story focused more so on the two of them than anything else. I enjoyed that we got to see a bit more about the technology of the clockwork mechanisms. I liked that there is someone just as smart and determined as Konstantin to use what is available to win the war. But I also liked seeing Konstantin's moral compass. I almost wish he had struggled a bit more between whether or not he should use the type of weapons that the Countess was using, but I think this quote makes up for it...
Konstantin stared at his unyielding face. "You think we did the right thing? A little boy watched his mother die."
A muscle in Himmel's jaw jumped. "Women and children aren't immune from war."
I have an issue with novellas some times because they advance the plot too much that you have to read it before reading the next book in the actual series. But I didn't find that with this one. Do I think it will be helpful to read this before the third in Shadows of Asphodel? Probably. But that doesn't mean you have to.
I liked that there was no shying away from the romance in this one; this relationship was treated the same way as Ardis and Wendel's. That was the best part. Like I love when authors do this.
I rated this one 4/5 stars because I found myself smiling the entire time I read it. It was beautifully written (of course) and it made me fall a little more in love with this series than I already was. I would love to see more of the series from Konstantin's perspective!
About the Author
Karen
Kincy (Kirkland, Washington) can be found lurking in her writing cave, though
sunshine will lure her outside. When not writing, she stays busy gardening,
tinkering with aquariums, or running just one more mile. Karen has a BA in
Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College.
So happy you enjoyed this! I also loved Konstantin's POV, he's different when you're in his head. :) Thank you for hosting a tour stop!
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