Early on in this book I was struck (and a bit irritated) by how the plot seemed to borrow so much from two fabulous books that I have recently read: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, by Natasha Pulley and The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner. Like The Watchmaker of Filigree street, the protagonist was a gifted maker of clockwork models and automata, main characters had the gift of precognition, and were engaged in both diplomatic espionage and same sex romance. Like The Weather Woman, someone hid inside an automaton and played unbeatable games of chess. Of course, no story is ‘new’ and any writer is (hopefully) also a reader, and even on a subconscious level must be influenced by what they have read, and equally, could easily have come up with the same plot by chance. The similarities were so striking however, that I found myself wondering if the writer had read the same article which I once did that suggested the way to write a bestseller was to take an already successful book and re-write it changing one or two details like the setting or the gender of the main protagonist etc. Hmmm, I don’t know.
Anyway, that rant now over, I have to say that the book really grew on me and by the end of it I had to grudgingly admit that I had very much enjoyed it and found the ending satisfying. I liked both of the narrators too.
Sarah Wray Writer 