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Mainspring

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About this listen

Jay Lake's first trade novel is an astounding work of creation. Lake has envisioned a clockwork solar system, where the planets move in a vast system of gears around the lamp of the Sun. It is a universe where the hand of the Creator is visible to anyone who simply looks up into the sky, and sees the track of the heavens, the wheels of the Moon, and the great Equatorial gears of the Earth itself.

Mainspring is the story of a young clockmaker's apprentice, who is visited by the Archangel Gabriel. He is told that he must take the Key Perilous and rewind the Mainspring of the Earth. It is running down, and disaster to the planet will ensue if it's not rewound. From innocence and ignorance to power and self-knowledge, the young man will make the long and perilous journey to the South Polar Axis, to fulfill the commandment of his God.

©2007 Joseph E. Lake Jr.; (P)2007 Macmillan Audio Fantasy Science Fiction Steampunk Fiction Solar System

Critic reviews

<p>“A dark, wild mix of machine and magic--an impressive debut novel from short story maestro Jay Lake.” —<i>Greg Bear on Mainspring</i><br><br>“In <i>Mainspring</i>, Lake has created a grandiose, thoroughly engaging blasphemy. This book blends the best of nostalgic adventure fiction with a genuinely fresh voice and ideas. An instant steampunk classic.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town <br><br><br>“From the sweeping mechanisms of his clockwork world, down to the subtle movements of his characters, all drawn with a clockmaker's eye, Lake gives us a story both grand and intimate, smart and savvy... and a whole lot of fun to boot.” —<i>Hal Duncan, author of Vellum</i></p>
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An interesting concept, with some curious and fun ideas. However, there are huge gaping plot holes and the author is constantly asking huge leaps of faith from the reader. I lost count of the number of times the protagonist "knew" something without any apparent evidence, or the number of times he solved his problems through yelling prayers. Read China Mieville instead.

Tedious and religiously dogmatic

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