Clockwork Angels

Clockwork Angels
By Kevin J. Anderson

Clockwork Angels is a collaborative effort, being a steampunk-style fantasy written by journeyman author Kevin J. Anderson based on a story and lyrics by Rush drummer Neal Peart. The lyrics (which are for a new Rush album, also titled Clockwork Angels) are included as an appendix, and the text is illustrated throughout with numerous full-colour illustrations of some of the many spectacular visuals.

In a story curiously patterned on Voltaire’s Candide, our young hero Owen Hardy leaves his humble village in search of adventure and is soon drawn into a struggle between the forces of order (led by a figure known as the Watchmaker) and chaos (represented by the Anarchist). It’s all a bit conventional, but still very nicely executed and likely to appeal to younger readers.