Comments (14)

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Apr 24, 2023
This wholly original mix of gangster noir, steampunk, espionage adventure, and picaresque tells the raucous tale of Joshua Joseph Spork - an antique clock repairman and the son of a legendary London mobster. Shaken from his quiet life when…
Jan 01, 2021hamerkop rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This quirky novel kept me engaged until the end. The author's quick witted dialogue contains an underlying depth the goes beyond the comedy.
Apr 08, 2020JLMason rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A fantastical story, similar to a comic book in its exaggerated style, with outrageous technology, over-the-top dialogue, a world-destroying villain, mad scientist, plucky patriots, old-school criminals, and a reluctant hero who gets the…
Apr 24, 2018NedSu rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Other reviewers have said it before, but it bears repeating. Some novels, like Gravity's Rainbow (Pynchon) or the Baroque Cycle (Stephenson) grab you and take you for a ride that overloads the mind, and you are not sure what's going on.…
Jul 20, 2017SCL_Justin rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Angelmaker was my first Nick Harkaway book. It’s about superspies, the clockworking son of London’s criminal king (but the good kind of crimes that are all about sticking it to society’s betters), a corrupted cult of technologists against…
May 09, 2017
I think that if someone had a lot of money this would make a good movie as long as they paid attention to the details of the story and also included a prologue statement on the screen(like they did in "Star Wars"(the first movie).
Dec 22, 2014Chapel_Hill_KenMc rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A richly constructed fantasy world of London gangsters, wildly improbably technology, apocalyptic threats, and an eerie cult of John Ruskin followers. Hugely entertaining, and a bit like reading a hybrid of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
Jun 05, 2014Eosos rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved this book. If it was possible to give it more than 5 stars I would have. Joe Spork fixes antique clocks for a living. It is a quiet life and nothing like that of his fathers, the infamous Mathew “Tommy Gun” Spork, which is just…
Dec 14, 2013strat rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a complex and hilarious read. I really enjoyed it and now I am enjoying listening to my husband laugh out loud as he reads it.
JeremiahSutherland
Jan 11, 2013JeremiahSutherland rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
The author says it most succinctly close to the end of his book. "Windbag". Some great ideas, amusing wordplay and good narrative. Too bad there's so much padding with pointless prose that does nothing to advance the story. Very sad.
Nov 06, 2012emerge rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Like nothing else I've ever read, this book is a combination of modern/victorian England, steampunk, hilarious british wit & mayhem. I'll never look at bees the same way.
Sep 19, 2012
"Is it too early to be picking favourites? I hesitate to say this, but I think I may already have found my best read of 2012 ... Can it really be that everything else is downhill from this book?" Read the Christchurch City Libraries blog…
Jul 04, 2012mdmejojo rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Loved it. Such fun! Spies, sexiness, philosophy, and redemption. Burp.
Apr 28, 2012donhoffman rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Extremely good writing. Highly fascinating page-turner. Completely satisfying climax. Thoroughly unbelievable science. For instance, clockwork bees made of gold? How are they powered? How do their tiny wings move their massive bodies?…