GALAXY BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Like a fine timepiece, this story is intricate and elaborate, exceptional and precise. It's unique and engrossing. Incredible and inspired. It really is a hell of an achievement, and more than that it is an instantly compelling and enjoyable read.
Set in 1758 London (mainly), in a world where England is locked in a war with France. In a world where military superiority could hinge of who has the finest timepiece and can manage their troops more accurately. There's a hint of steam punk, a drop of history, a twist of fantastical fairy tale. Into this mix comes a pocket watch, rumoured to possess unbelievable qualities that seem almost magical. Whoever can unlock its secrets may have a huge and deadly advantage against their enemies. Commence the squabble to have it (but it's much more than that).
The storyline twists and wriggles in your hands like the memory of a cat. You think you know what kind of story it is – until you hear a faint click, and as you look up to see what's made the sound, you feel it writhe in your grip again, and when you look back, it's something slightly different. Something even more compelling. It's a tale full of beauty, like moonlight on virgin snow. A tranquil scene that captivates the senses, but as you stare you notice a smear of dark blood, cast like a ruined shadow across cold canvas, and you can't help but look a little closer.
Not since Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind have I been so surprised and impressed by a book. I think this is a must read for everyone, and I can't wait for the more. Give me more! ~ Craig
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Tempus Rerum Imperator: Time, Emperor of All Things. 1758. England is embroiled in a globe-spanning conflict that stretches from her North American colonies to Europe and beyond. Across the Channel, the French prepare for an invasion - an invasion rumored to be led by none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie. It seems the map of Europe is about to be redrawn. Yet behind these dramatic scenes, another war is raging - a war that will determine not just the fate of nations but of humanity itself...Daniel Quare is a journeyman in an ancient guild, The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. He is also a Regulator, part of an elite network within the guild devoted to searching out and claiming for England's exclusive use any horological innovation that could give them an upperhand, whether in business or in war. Just such a mission has brought Quare to the London townhouse of eccentric collector, Lord Wichcote. He seeks a pocket watch rumoured to possess seemingly impossible properties that are more to do with magic than with any science familiar to Quare or to his superiors. And the strange timepiece has attracted the attention of others as well: the mysterious masked thief known only as Grimalkin, and a deadly French spy who stop at nothing to bring the prize back to his masters. Soon Quare finds himself on a dangerous trail of intrigue and murder that leads far from the world he knows into an otherwhere of dragons and demigods, in which nothing is as it seems... time least of all.
