Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson: A Review

Clockwork Angels is the new book from accomplished author Kevin J. Anderson and is based on a story and lyrics by the superhuman, Prince of Percussion, Neil Peart. Neil is an gifted author in his own right, but Kevin is more experienced with science fiction and fantasy. He has written over 100 highly successful novels. You may remember him from such books as The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Death Warmed Over, tons of Star Wars books, X-Files books, Dune books (written with Frank Herbert's son, Brian), and the list goes on and on.

Just look at his bio page at Amazon. He's a very successful author. 'nuff said about that. 

As you must know, Neil Peart is the Lyricist and Drummer for one of the worlds greatest rock bands; Rush. Many would argue that Neil IS Rush, but I don't think so.While they have each had solo efforts, nothing they have done on their own compares to what they come up with together.

All that said, Clockwork seems to be more of a Neil thing, than a Rush thing. That isn't a problem, because I can still hear Geddy and Alex's contributions and I really like the music. Songs like The Wreckers is clean and different enough that it sticks and all of the music can stand on it's own. Together, the album works as a story, but it certainly isn't required to sit down and listen to it all at once. Most songs are a little more gritty, but they are supposed to be, and it works. The album as a whole is a big success.

The album and the book compliment each other wonderfully, and you really should experience them both, but this review is specifically about the book.

Owen Hardy is a young man about to come of age in a small dusty town as the assistant manager of the towns apple tree orchard. He feels a pull from somewhere inside calling him to do something bigger with his life than tend apple trees. Before he is locked into the adult life that has been prepared for him, he wants to see the Clockwork Angels of Crown City and experience what life is like in the Capitol where the Watchmaker controls every aspect of existence to precision. The Watchmaker is a brilliant alchemist who provides “Stability” and order, and has taken away the need and (mostly) the desire for people to choose. 

The pull from within Owen soon becomes a push from outside forces and he begins his journey to Crown City with excitement and apprehension. It turns out that not everyone is happy with the imposed Stability. The Anarchist will do anything it takes to bring down the Watchmaker and return choice and accountability to the people.

I enjoy Anderson's Star Wars books and his original standalone work. The real magic and the real fun in this, for me, was the fact that it came to fruition through collaboration with a premier lyricist and philosopher that I admire and it does combine well with the Rush album. It is clear that Anderson had fun writing it because he peppers the book with lines from Rush songs of the past and uses ideas and at times word for word lyrics to move the story forward. He is not just pulling from the Clockwork Angels effort, but touches on music all through Rush's history. As someone who has been touched by these lyrics over the bulk of my life, I felt like it was a personal invitation to experience this with Owen, Kevin, and Neil. While they are sometimes slightly out of place, I always enjoyed seeing the nods to well written lyrics and even saw a few places he could have added more. (There was more than one place for a Jacob’s Ladder reference that he never took advantage of. I kept waiting for it.)

The end is satisfying and the hard cover book also contains the full lyrics to the songs and an Afterword from Neil that gives more insight into the production and origins of the book. I can't speak to the Kindle version as I really wanted this one on my shelf. (However, if you buy the hard cover, the publisher will give you a PDF or ePub version of the book gratis. I do wish they would provide a Kindle version, but I can send the PDF to my Kindle It just means I can't use Whispersync for my reading on different devices. The details for the deal are in the back of the book. I have requested my copy but have not heard back yet.)

I was drawn in and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It isn't complex read, but it is still engaging. The characters were well thought out and while they could have been developed a little more, what he gave us was sufficient for the story. There were a few characters I wanted to know still more about,  because what he did develop was so compelling. I also would have liked to see the Clockwork Angels used for more than just a device to get the plot started. I know there was more to the relationship between them and the Watchmaker, but it wasn’t massaged as much as I wanted. He also could have added more variation to the dialog, but it was always clear to me who was speaking.

In all, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Chapter 1 has one of the best opening lines I think I have ever read.

"The best place to start an adventure is with a quiet, perfect life… and someone who realizes that it can’t possibly be enough."