Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published November 8th 2016 by Sky Pony Press

ISBN13: 9781510706187

4 books

Series Timekeeper #1

 

Two o’clock was missing. 

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever. 

This was a fun book to read, the setting, the steampunk vibe, the characters, the mythology and the gingerbread

Danny is a Timekeeper which means he has the ability to fix clocks, I know sounds easy, but when something goes wrong with the clock, the town is effected (example the 2 is missing, so time goes from 1:59 to 3:00, if the weights are wrong on the pendulum the town speeds up, if the clock stops, the town stops).

Danny is given an assignment to fix the clock tower in Enfield, he is unsure about this assignment since he is filled with anxiety and guilt after surviving an explosion at one of the other clock towers. Danny is told that he will be working with a new apprentice, something else that he is not happy about. After

showing up at Enfiled, he is met with who he thinks is the apprentice, a young quiet male who seems eager to learn and help Danny fix the clock. After a few trips out to Enfield, Danny realizes that the young male that was helping him was not the apprentice that was assigned to work with him, but is in fact the clock spirit for the Enfield Tower.

Danny has a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that clock spirits do exist, despite hearing rumors of one of the teachers at the academy fell in love with a spirit. Colton (the clock spirits name) has taking an extreme liking to Danny, and Danny finds out that Colton has been hurting himself, which in turns effects to tower, just to get Danny to come out there.

While Danny is fighting with his feeling for Colton, he is also trying to figure out how he can possibly save his father from Maldon. Along with trying to stop the other clock towers from possibly being destroyed. When I found out who was behind the attacks and why, I felt both anger and pity.

One aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the breaks in the story which explained the mythology background of Chronos and his children. I do hope that there will be more of that in the future books.

One character I hope shows up in the next book is Cassie. She is Danny’s best friend and she works as a mechanic fixing cars. When she first appeared in the book, I fell in love with her, she reminds me of Winry Rockbell from FMA.

I know Timekeeper just came out, but I am looking forward to the next book and seeing more of Danny, Colton and hopefully the rest of the characters.