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Bezig met laden... The Empty Hourglass (A Deal with the Devil)door Cornelia Grey
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  pwaites | Feb 22, 2016 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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A Deal with a Devil NovelThomas Escott has always wanted to be a toymaker, yet just as he achieves his dream, an accident claims his right hand. He's certain his life is over -- until he hears about groundbreaking prosthetics being made by a reclusive inventor.Jethro Hastings is perfectly content to live alone up in the mountains working on a secret masterpiece: a humanoid automaton that will change the scientific community forever. He's behind schedule, and the date of the unveiling is fast approaching, so when Thomas shows up on his doorstep offering help in exchange for a mechanical hand, Jethro agrees. Time, after all, is running out on another deal he's made: one with the devil.The devil gives Jethro's inventions life, but he can just as quickly take life away--Jethro's, to be exact. As the sand in the devil's hourglass falls, marking the time until the end of the deal, inventions go haywire, people get hurt, and Thomas realizes he needs Jethro just as much as his prosthetic. Now he must find a way to save Jethro's soul, but negotiating with a devil is just as difficult as it sounds. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.92Literature English English fiction Modern Period 2000-WaarderingGemiddelde: (2.5)
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The Empty Hourglass is a steampunk leaning story about a toymaker named Thomas Escott who lost his hand during a fire in his workshop. A mysterious note recommends that he visit Jethro Hastings, a reclusive inventor that is known for making unusual prosthetics. Thomas soon finds that Jethro’s prosthetics are frankly impossible – mechanical limbs that attach directly to the body and work without an obvious power source. And the villagers whisper that Jethro has made a deal with the devil…
Even before I realized that nothing was happening (or that nothing would happen), I thought The Empty Hourglass felt “light.” There was no real depth to the characters, world building, or plot. The world building was presumably steampunk? But it was hard to get a sense of that outside of the three inventors that we meet. There were references to a city with some fantastical name (an alternative version of a real world city?). There were references to a war, which if this is alternate history could be WWI. Mainly, it was just hard to get a feel of anything in regards to the world.
When it comes to characters, I was similarly unsatisfied. There aren’t any major failings with either Thomas or Jethro, but in a week’s time I won’t be able to remember their names. I think Thomas suffered from a weak backstory. He had no prior connections to any other characters, and aside from the laboratory fire, nothing in his past that seemed to have an impact on him in the present day. When it came to the eventual romantic relationship between Thomas and Jethro, I just didn’t really care. At least it didn’t actively annoy me, so there’s that.
The plot is incredibly weak. There should be some sense of urgency. After all, there’s an hourglass in Jethro’s workshop trickling away the time until the devil takes his soul. But instead the characters just amble around living their lives. And when it is time for Jethro’s soul to get taken (at the very end), the climax is completely unsatisfying. Warning for SPOILERS – nothing happens. Apparently the devil was just trying to teach him a life lesson. END SPOILERS.
On the good side, it was a quick read so I didn’t waste much time on it. There were also a few tentative moves towards thematic content regarding disability, and the book as a whole was pretty easy to read.
The Empty Hourglass was mostly boring and bland, and I would not recommend it.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
I received a free ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is released on April 9th 2016 by Riptide. (