Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire

Clockwork Heart #3

by Dru Pagliassotti

The conclusion of the Clockwork Trilogy, in which Taya and Cristof are sent to Alzana to return the captive airship crews and negotiate for peace with King Quintilio. As international tensions escalate, war is declared on Ondinium, striking at its massive metal heart and resulting in the undoing of Ondinium s isolationist policies as it accustoms itself to a world where it no longer holds military superiority."

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2014

About the author

Dru Pagliassotti is a writer in the genres of steampunk, horror, and fantasy. She's also a professor of communication at California Lutheran University, where she keeps her colleagues guessing by teaching courses on Venetian culture and comic books and by researching subjects such as yaoi and steampunk webcomics.

Reviews

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent conclusion to this steampunk series. There is a lot of action and intrigue and things are tied up nicely. While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first two books (too much politics and war), it was still well done. You definitely want to read the two previous books in the series before reading this one, this book does not stand alone well.

Taya and Cristof are being sent to Alzana to try and prevent a war between Alzana and Ondinium. Enroute they are ambushed and are wrongly accused of killing the Alzanan rulers. They end up on the run with an Alzanan princess and find out that both Alzana and Ondinium are preparing ancient machines for war. Taya and crew end up in Cabisi and find out that Cabisi has been selling dangerous war tech to the Alzanans. Can Taya and Cristoff figure out a way to prevent Alzana from decimating Ondinium?

The book is very fast-paced with our heroes racing from one disaster to another with no breaks. There are a lot of politics and a lot of war scenes.

I continue to enjoy the unique world that this story is set in. I also really enjoy Taya and Cristof as character; they have a wonderful and respectful relationship together. I was a bit disappointed that we spent so much time racing between one disaster to another and less time exploring the interesting parts, cultures, and inventions of this world.

Things are wrapped up very nicely and I enjoyed how everything played out.

Overall a solid conclusion to this unique steampunk fantasy series. I really enjoyed the characters and the world, but thought the pace was almost too fast. Our characters are just thrown from one dire situation to another the whole book without any breaks for character development. I would recommend if you enjoy fantasy steampunk reads that tend a bit more towards epic fantasy in style.

[JW USA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid

This was a reasonable end to the series. But this is a novel of war so it is extremely violent. The violence’s both encompasses mass murder due to weapons of destruction from afar and up close and personal violence. This isn’t my normal style. Cris and Taya feature prominently which was great. But I’m not sure they grew or I got to know them any better which was disappointing.

[Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice ending to a very entertaining trilogy.

Interesting characters, intriguing plot, and well thought out world. Technological details added to the story even if not always consistent with known science.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good ending

This was satisfying conclusion to the other two Clockwork Heart novels. The other countries in that world were well-described and people from those countries were woven throughout the plot.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts at an execution, quickly transitions into an ambush, and leaves our heroes on the run, accused of regicide, and trying to get out of enemy territory. Taya and Cristof have been sent to Alzana to try to prevent them from going to war with Ondinium. However, it turns out that they were just buying time for their country to dig out old weapons and prepare for the war.

They manage to get to another country - Cabisi - while they are fleeing from Alzanan forces in their aircraft. Cabisi sells weapons to the Alzanan; weapons which are going to be turned on Ondinium. Taya and Cristof have to get back home before the enemy gets there and sets off a bomb that will destroy the Great Engine. Along the way they rescue one Alzanan princess and kidnap another.

This book as air battles, land battles, daring deeds, and all sorts of characters who each have their own agendas. I like the relationship between Taya and Cristof. I like the way they are learning to care for each other's needs. Taya and Cristof don't look at the world in the same way. Taya is more optimistic and more religious. Cristof is much more cynical.

This was an interesting fantasy series that had some wonderful steampunk elements.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great conclusion to the clockwork heart trilogy! There are airship battles and cool gadgets along with lots swashbuckling adventure. I particularly liked the parts in Cabiel and the addition of Jinian to the team. If you liked the first two novels, this one definitely won't disappoint.

The only thing that got a bit annoying was Taya's constant whining about the fact that people might get hurt...That's pretty much what happens in war, and I got tired of hearing her cry about it. Thankfully, the other characters were much more pragmatic, so her refusal to hurt people didn't actually cause major problems, but it still seemed silly. Purposefully not bringing a weapon to a clandestine exfiltration is not something to be proud of, Taya.

[Big Otter Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this would be a super good book if you've read the first two in the trilogy. Sadly, I was mostly lost trying to decipher the plot and understand what all the flying is about! Taya is an Icarus which means she has metal wings and flies around. There was a good bit fighting and intrigue between the castes and a nice steampunk setting that was very well written; Pagliassotti does a great job with integrating all these weird elements into the plot and getting the story told. It goes quickly and wraps up nicely in the end. I just wish I had read the other books first. I received a copy of the book-this is my own opinion.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy many of the elements that made the first two books interesting (different cultures, social systems & mores) were not really explored in this novel. Instead it was more a classic race against time to defeat the evil people.

[Donna O'Sin Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this trilogy. The author has a good, descriptive writing style, doesn't get too verbose or overly detailed, and works a nice balance between action and character relationships. Good, exciting plotlines.

[Syahira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it. Except I wish I hadn't read it too fast. Review to come

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No disappointments for me with this third book in a trilogy.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is available at Cannonball Read.