Ink, Iron & Glass
by Gwendolyn Clare
♦publisher: Macmillan/Imprint
♦release date: February 20th 2018
♦hardcover, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Ink, Iron, & Glass, book 1
♦source: received from publisher for review consideration
Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation by her mother—a noted scriptologist.
But when her home is attacked and her mother abducted, Elsa must cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative 19th-century Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of pazzerellones—young people with a gift for mechanics, alchemy or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and a tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
{Becky's Thoughts}
This was such a cleverly built world! I loved the idea of worlds being written into existence by a few gifted "scriptologists" and really appreciated how much Clare explained the way this alluring magical gift worked and what went in to creating a new a world.
Elsa climbs out of her home world and falls in with a group of new friends, all part of a secret society for people with different gifts. I loved the sometimes troubled dynamic between Elsa, Porzia, Leo, and Faraz, as they each seem to hold secrets of their own and all had fairly strong personalities. The steampunk aspect was fun and interesting without getting way too technical (as steampunk sometimes does for me lol) and I loved reading about all the mechanicals both in their daily life and some that came up as they worked to solve the mystery of Elsa's missing mother. The story unfolded through a series of riddle-like dilemmas for the characters to solve and kept me constantly guessing! I really enjoyed the way they had to each work together and pull on each of their strengths to face each dilemma. The pacing was a little up and down throughout the story, but most of this unique tale had me enthralled with it's mystery, discoveries, family secrets, and few great fight scenes.
{ABOUT THE AUTHOR}
Gwendolyn Clare's debut novel -- INK, IRON, AND GLASS -- is the first in a steampunk duology about a young mad scientist with the ability to write new worlds into existence, out now from Imprint. Her short stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others, and her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award. She holds a BA in Ecology, a BS in Geophysics, a PhD in Mycology, and swears she's done collecting acronyms. She lives in North Carolina with too many cats, too many ducks, and never enough books.
Elsa climbs out of her home world and falls in with a group of new friends, all part of a secret society for people with different gifts. I loved the sometimes troubled dynamic between Elsa, Porzia, Leo, and Faraz, as they each seem to hold secrets of their own and all had fairly strong personalities. The steampunk aspect was fun and interesting without getting way too technical (as steampunk sometimes does for me lol) and I loved reading about all the mechanicals both in their daily life and some that came up as they worked to solve the mystery of Elsa's missing mother. The story unfolded through a series of riddle-like dilemmas for the characters to solve and kept me constantly guessing! I really enjoyed the way they had to each work together and pull on each of their strengths to face each dilemma. The pacing was a little up and down throughout the story, but most of this unique tale had me enthralled with it's mystery, discoveries, family secrets, and few great fight scenes.
The second book in the series, Mist, Metal & Ash is coming in February 2019, and I can't wait for the continuing story. Especially because the exciting end of Ink, Iron, & Glass left it's readers on a heart-stopping, back-stabbing cliffhanger!
{ABOUT THE AUTHOR}
Gwendolyn Clare's debut novel -- INK, IRON, AND GLASS -- is the first in a steampunk duology about a young mad scientist with the ability to write new worlds into existence, out now from Imprint. Her short stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others, and her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award. She holds a BA in Ecology, a BS in Geophysics, a PhD in Mycology, and swears she's done collecting acronyms. She lives in North Carolina with too many cats, too many ducks, and never enough books.
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