The Mechanical: The vastly imaginative tale of clockwork men, alchemy and revolution

Name: The Mechanical: The vastly imaginative tale of clockwork men, alchemy and revolution
Rating: 4.454545497894287 (11 reviews)

Ian Tregillis

Mar 2015 · Hachette UK

11 reviews

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480

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Eligible

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'A MAJOR TALENT' George R. R. Martin

Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, The Mechanical confirms Ian Tregillis's place as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction.

My name is Jax.

That is the name granted to me by my human masters.

I am a slave.

But I shall be free.

'Tregillis launches a series with this superb alternate history filled with clockwork men and ethical questions on the nature of free will . . . The rich characters and gripping story really make this tale soar' Publishers Weekly

'A hugely entertaining novel' SFX

'Absolutely fascinating, and unapologetically clever' Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviews

'The Mechanical is as intricate and exquisite as the clockwork wonders it brings to life' NPR

'Tregillis presents a fascinating look at the nature of free will and the existence of the soul, wrapped up in an absolutely thrilling adventure story. Jax is an amazing, sympathetic character, and the world of the clockmakers and their slaves is so absorbing that readers will be dying for the next entry in this new series' Library Journal

'With The Mechanical, Tregillis displays the craftsmanship and precision of a master clockmaker . . . I would recommend The Mechanical to any reader with an interest in well-written and engaging fantasy story set in an elegantly constructed alternate history' SFFworld

'His characters are as convincing as ever, the plotting is beautifully articulated . . . readers with an interest in dark, intelligent fantasy will find much to admire here' Kirkus

'In the tradition of Isaac Asimov, Tregillis's latest novel combines classic robotics with historical fiction to riveting ends . . . The story manages to posit broad questions, such as how one defines humanity and free will . . . It's also just plain exciting, with intense fight scenes and exhilarating narrow escapes. Readers will no doubt be rooting for the 'rogue' robots' RT Book Reviews

The Alchemy Wars
The Mechanical
The Rising
The Liberation

Also by Ian Tregillis:

The Milkweed Triptych
Bitter Seeds
The Coldest War
Necessary Evil

'A MAJOR TALENT' George R. R. Martin Set in a world that might have been, of mechanical men and alchemical dreams, The Mechanical confirms Ian Tregillis's place as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. My name is Jax. That is the name granted to me by my human masters. I am a s...

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Ratings and reviews

11 reviews

A Google user

March 6, 2018

I have this guilty feeling like I should apologize for not really liking this book very much. But I feel like the last hours of making my way through this book have truly been an effort, trudging my way along only to realize I need to do the same with at very least the next book - and possibly the one after that as well - to clarify so many open points. However, I lack the interest in this story to continue. It's just not my taste. Don't get me wrong: The author's writing is quite good and the vocabulary even intellectually luminous in places. I wasn't put off by the latter even though I found myself repeatedly looking up words that I only had a vague clue as to their meaning out of context. However, the first third, even first half of the book drags tremendously. Ye gods, the REAL French royals were dreadful enough, but Tregillis has somehow managed to make them even less humane than the recent over-emotive reenactments seen on TV (the gods awful 'Versaille' springs to mind). I am definitely NOT a fan of historical fiction and even in this re-imagined world, I found it particularly distasteful dealing with the 'royals' and/or elite persons depicted. In addition, my own leanings left me feeling outright nauseous to see that a world like this would not have overcome the unenlightened battles between Protestant and Catholic beliefs in all their revealed vulgarities. Instead, these are even heightened to a point where any hope for humanity seems to disappear from one page to the next. There is simply no human with whom I could really sympathize - including even a zombified priest who suffered greatly for his eventual misdeeds - and found the symbiotic characters only slightly more interesting. But hey, if the thought of combining 'The Bicentennial Man' with 'A Tale of Two Cities' sounds like your kind of thing, then by all means, tally ho! For me a solid, unrounded 2 star rating is more than generous.

Michael “Rosy” Luder-Rosefield

May 17, 2018

He's probably my most looked-forward-to author right now, and this book is as good as anything he's written. Looking forward to the next in the series!

1 person found this review helpful

About the author

Ian Tregillis is the son of a bearded mountebank and a discredited tarot card reader. He was born and raised in Minnesota, where his parents had landed after fleeing the wrath of a Flemish prince. (The full story, he's told, involves a Dutch tramp steamer and a stolen horse.) Nowadays he lives in New Mexico, where he consorts with writers, scientists and other unsavoury types.

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