Sunday, September 9, 2018

Clockwork Angels

This is the first time I’ve ever read a novelization of a music album, and it does not disappoint.  Neil Peart of the band Rush wrote the album Clockwork Angels with each track being a characterization or expression of an idea or experience in this steampunk world.  It’s told in third person in the perspective of Owen, a young man who dreams and imagines.  He’s tired of his small town life and jumps a train to adventure.  He falls in love, travels, explores, and learns about the world and his place in it.  While he thought it was all for the best and didn’t have a design for himself, the leader of Utopian Albion, the Watchmaker and his rival, the Anarchist were manipulating him to their own ends.
The story told is written by Owen as a grandfather, telling his family about all of his adventures, and watching over his own piece of paradise far away from the Watchmaker or the Anarchist.