Book Review – Mainspring
Author: Jay Lake
Cover Artist: Stephan Martiniere
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: June 2007
“I am Gabriel,” said the angel, “come to charge you with a duty.”
By the second page of Mainspring, the teenaged clockwork apprentice Hethor has been given the task of finding the Key Perilous to re-wind the world’s mainspring, which is slowly but surely winding down.
The setting reflects an alternative history in which the colonies remain under the rule of Queen Victoria. The Earth orbits on brass tracks and runs on gears much like a clock. Even Christianity furthers the steampunk atmosphere with references to Our Brass Christ and Our Father, Craftsman be thy name.
In his quest to find the key, Hethor is press ganged into Her Imperial Majesty’s service to sail the high skies aboard an airship, is captured by savage winged men, battles a wizard who would let the world run down, and meets a tribe of “correct” people, smaller and furrier humans, who follow him like disciples.
But Mainspring’s protagonist is not so much a hero as he is an instrument. A stumbling, bumbling youth relying completely on his faith to see him through his trials in pursuit of the key. And with the frequent use of deus ex machina, it soon becomes apparent that Hethor’s destiny is, in fact, preordained leaving little room for doubt that his task will be met with success.
The book has its moments of levity and is filled with intriguing descriptions of the orrery.
“The brass ring of the Earth’s orbital track glinted bright in the cloudless sky, its curve making horns that arced across the blue.”
Mainspring is also about a more personal journey: Hethor’s coming of age and maturation. He comes to question his preconceived notions, and shows considerable emotional growth by the final chapters.
“We are in a wondrous place,” she said. “None of my people ever thought to fly. It would be a gift to die here.”
“Of course,” he said. Sometimes it was very hard to see the world she lived in, even though they stood right next to one another.”
Mainspring has all of the makings of a grand adventure, but the excitement factor is tempered somewhat by a pace that seems to drag at times coupled with the foreknowledge that Hethor simply cannot fail in his mission.
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