Here is the summary of the book:
A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.
When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.
On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings...or is the motive more sinister?
Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.
Steam powered dirigibles, clockwork gadgets and nonstop action. This is Lisa Mantchev's first tale since Theatre Illuminata and this is my first time reading her work and it proves her prowess with words quite well..... Of course I haven't read the Illuminata series yet, I have them and I am definitely going to read them soon .... because this has everything I love in Steampunk and add to it the non-stop action it was a must.
Penny Farthing and her clockwork heart. Afflicted with the same rare genetic heart disease that took her sisters, Penny on the other hand got the timely augmentation of a clockwork heart that has kept her running till now but she knows that her ticker is on its last legs. The only one who could help is about to face court because of illegal operations on kidnapped innocent bystanders.
Penny is our protagonist, She is easy to like. She is honest, intelligent, brave and quite brash. She lives in an alternate society, an era of history that has apparently achieved equality for women. She is also resourceful and leader-like, so that's a few more positive adjectives to her list ... and she likes collecting clockwork butterflies. She is moralistic enough to the distinction between good & evil.
Romance can be found also within the confines of the pages. Between Penny & Marcus and her twin Nic & best friend Violet but thankfully they don't overpower the story and its not insta-love for the lead pair, so we can breathe a sigh of relief. As far as the steampunk part is concerned, the story is actually quite jargon heavy, but Mantchev balances it out by trying to explain what the contraptions do. Mind controlling spiders, mechanical augmented organs and floating fortresses not withstanding, I would have definitely loved a glossary at the end though.
Although a few instances still remain unclear but all in all I loved this book very much. Lisa Mantchev's play on words was definitely the highlights. Instead of using heavy Victorian English (like many authors do) she used easy to understand common tongue with Victorian touch, beautifully incorporated the steampunk-iness tot he lot and served us a full-fledged action adventure page turner ..... It goes on and on without stopping, just how I liked it. Of course Calvin Warwick's part as the antagonist could have been a bit more profound but 'Ticker' is a world onto itself and this experience enthralled me very well.
Penny Farthing and her clockwork heart. Afflicted with the same rare genetic heart disease that took her sisters, Penny on the other hand got the timely augmentation of a clockwork heart that has kept her running till now but she knows that her ticker is on its last legs. The only one who could help is about to face court because of illegal operations on kidnapped innocent bystanders.
Penny is our protagonist, She is easy to like. She is honest, intelligent, brave and quite brash. She lives in an alternate society, an era of history that has apparently achieved equality for women. She is also resourceful and leader-like, so that's a few more positive adjectives to her list ... and she likes collecting clockwork butterflies. She is moralistic enough to the distinction between good & evil.
Romance can be found also within the confines of the pages. Between Penny & Marcus and her twin Nic & best friend Violet but thankfully they don't overpower the story and its not insta-love for the lead pair, so we can breathe a sigh of relief. As far as the steampunk part is concerned, the story is actually quite jargon heavy, but Mantchev balances it out by trying to explain what the contraptions do. Mind controlling spiders, mechanical augmented organs and floating fortresses not withstanding, I would have definitely loved a glossary at the end though.
Although a few instances still remain unclear but all in all I loved this book very much. Lisa Mantchev's play on words was definitely the highlights. Instead of using heavy Victorian English (like many authors do) she used easy to understand common tongue with Victorian touch, beautifully incorporated the steampunk-iness tot he lot and served us a full-fledged action adventure page turner ..... It goes on and on without stopping, just how I liked it. Of course Calvin Warwick's part as the antagonist could have been a bit more profound but 'Ticker' is a world onto itself and this experience enthralled me very well.
"A non-stop enthralling and action-packed page turner"
Genre : Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Steampunk
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: 1st December, 2014
My Copy: publisher and netgalley
Rate: 5/5 (It was Amazing)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: 1st December, 2014
My Copy: publisher and netgalley
Rate: 5/5 (It was Amazing)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository
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