Stonewall Jackson survived Chancellorsville. England broke the Union’s naval blockade, and formally recognized the Confederate States of America. Atlanta never burned.It is 1880. The American Civil War has raged for nearly two decades, driving technology in strange and terrible directions. Combat dirigibles skulk across the sky and armored vehicles crawl along the land. Military scientists twist the laws of man and nature, and barter their souls for weapons powered by light, fire, and steam.But life struggles forward for soldiers and ordinary citizens. The fractured nation is dotted with stricken towns and epic scenes of devastation–some manmade, and some more mysterious. In the western territories cities are swallowed by gas and walled away to rot while the frontiers are strip-mined for resources. On the borders between North and South, spies scour and scheme, and smugglers build economies more stable than their governments.This is the Clockwork Century.It is dark here, and different.
Cherie Priest is the author of about thirty books and novellas, most recently the modern gothics It Was Her House First, The Drowning House, and Cinderwich. She's also the author of the Booking Agents mysteries, horror projects The Toll and The Family Plot � and the hit YA graphic novel mash-ups I Am Princess X and its follow up, The Agony House. But she is perhaps best known for the steampunk pulp adventures of the Clockwork Century, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and the Locus award � which she won with Boneshaker.
Cherie has also written a number of urban fantasy titles, and composed pieces (large and small) for George R. R. Martin’s shared world universe, the Wild Cards. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Publishers Weekly, and numerous anthologies � and her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries.
Although she was born in Florida on the day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, for the last twenty years Cherie has largely divided her time between Chattanooga, TN, and Seattle, WA � where she presently lives with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.
"it is 1880 (or thereabouts). The Civil War is still underway, drawn out by English interference, a different transportation infrastructure, and a powerful Republic of Texas that discovered oil at Spindletop some fifty years sooner than real life allowed.
The competition of war has led to technological progress and horrors unimaginable, and many people have fled the combating states, hoping for an easier life out west."
Here is the story
"Tanglefoot" It's about a young boy who invents a mechanical man who becomes sentient.
Published by Subterranean Press in 2010 and issued with the limited edition of "Clementine" of which 200 were printed.
3.5� Theoretically a horror clockwork story, but with even more interesting secondary narrative: orphan boy taken under the protection of a doctor-and-inventor who now suffers from dementia, now living in the basement of a mental institution.
My, that was a dark little story. I could have lived without it. I liked the little boy and the old Doctor, but not the dark entity that took over the little automation. Sad.
I read “Tanglefoot: A Story of the Clockwork Century� (2008 or 2009 depending on what source you believe) by Cherie Priest shortly after I finished In the Garden of Iden. “Tanglefoot� is a longish short story or a short novella. It is the first published work in Priest’s new Steampunk series, the Clockwork Century. It’s available online from Subterranean Press at .
Remember what I said about not being into series as much as I used to be? Well, I used to *really* be into series. In my defense, when I bought the first book in the series, Boneshaker (2009), I didn’t know it was going to be a series. I bought it because it is Steampunk AND it takes place in Seattle (according to Wikipedia there are also zombies, but that’s not a selling point for me).
“Tanglefoot� is the story of a boy and his automaton. Sounds sweet (unless you remember Don Johnson and Blood from “A Boy and His Dog� (1975)). “Tanglefoot� is also darkish story (but in a totally different way). Most of the action takes place in the basement of a sanitarium in 1880. The boy in question is Edwin, an orphan who the nominal assistant to Dr. Archibald Smeeks, a once brilliant weapons designer who is increasing slipping away into dementia.
Steampunk is always a bit odd; people manage to build amazing contraptions out of amazingly little. Edwin, for example, is lonely and manages to build himself a friend (“Everybody makes friends�) out of the good doctor’s odd and ends. But “Tanglefoot’s� oddness goes beyond this. It’s an interesting story, and a little disturbing; I hope it doesn’t stick with me too long.
Free to read online, Tanglefoot is a short steampunk story set in The Clockwork Century universe.
Edwin is a young boy living in hiding in the basement lab of an old inventor. As the inventor slowly slides into dementia, Edwin becomes more and more lonely, eventually building himself a robot friend he names Ted.
But robot Ted isn’t as friendly as Edwin hoped it would be.
I love Cherie Priest’s books, and this is a good starting point for the Clockwork Century series.
This short story exists in the same universe as the Clockwork Century, but having read any of the books in the series is not a pre-requisite.
Tanglefoot is a darn disturbing little story, for all that it's been told before. A tale as old as time, and really we should know by now not to build automatons and AI. Just don't do it, I don't care how lonely you are, or how much you think it will help society. Best case scenario, it won't be a friend to you, and worst case, you're looking a veritable homicidal demon spawn.
Anyways.
I was much impressed with how well the creepy tone of the story is brought across in the simple and yet horrifyingly disturbing descriptions of Tanglefoot - even just in his motions! It's written in such a way that's hella scary, but it's not grotesque and overt.
I was all set to start on Dreadnought, the next book in the Clockwork Century series, and saw that this short story actually came next, according to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I downloaded it and sped through it in about a half an hour.
The story features two characters who appeared in Clementine, but the story takes place before the events in that book (and in fact even foreshadows some of those events). I'm not sure why this story falls after Clementine in the chronology of the series, especially when this story was also written before Boneshaker. I prefer to read stories in the order they were written, not based on the internal chronology of the series, since there can usually be subtle references to upcoming events if you read them out of order ( see: the Foundation series).
Dr. Smeeks, the senile inventor in the sanatorium, and his assistant Edwin are the main characters here, but this time Edwin is the inventor. He creates a clockwork friend, since as an orphan he has a hard time making friends, but what he assumed would be a machine under his control slowly begins to take on a life of its own. It's ostensibly a horror story, but its setting and feel fit right in with the series so far.
As a horror story, it's not all that satisfying. There's no real sense of why things are happening, as there's no explanation for why events happen the way they do. Not all horror requires it, but here, aside from a spooky prophecy from an inmate at the sanatorium, there's no other hint that the supernatural should happen here. In fact, the way the series has progressed, the supernatural feels out of place all together. Also, the threat felt mild, and I never felt like either of the characters in the story were in dire straits. There certainly was a threat, but it didn't feel severe enough for me to be concerned.
Fans of the series would probably enjoy the story, but it doesn't really add anything to the world of the Clockwork Century. I don't feel like it was a waste of time to read it, but I also feel like I could have skipped it and not suffered for it.
So if Victorian speculative fiction is "steampunk," and Victorian fantasy is "gaslamp," does the realm of Victorian horror have a snappy nom de guerre? Is that what "gothic" means nowadays?
Because while this short story takes place in a steampunk setting, (Priest's The Clockwork Century,) and has some steampunk elements, it is most definitely a horror story.
And really, who would ever expect something to go awry with a mad scientist living in the basement of a sanatorium?
This review is for the series. I started this book 1 and was immediately drawn to the Steampunk alternative history. The first story sets up the universe but only a tiny portion of it as the rest of the series reveals. What I love most is that each book focuses on one particular viewpoint but as the series expands we see people from different lives and at some point intersect, pass by and change the course of history. Each book completes the interwoven fabric of this alternative world to a climactic end. Unfortunately each book does not stand on its own so you must ingest it as you would binge watching Netflix.
This was an ok sort of short horror story it didn't really feel like it was part of the main clockwork century series just a short story that had been repurposed with very small elements from there. I really enjoyed the main series so I was a little disappointed this wasn't something that added to that world or expand any of the characters or lore from there. Also this stories supernatural theme seemed at odds with the main stories more science and tech based themes. I mean there are zombies in the main books but they are not really supernatural in origin.
This feels more like a standalone short story unrelated to the series that just happens to have a tiny amount of vaguely steampunk elements.
I read this in the "" collection of shorts (Ann & Jeff Vandermeer). As all of the Clockwork Century series, this is a standalone story set in a Louisville sanitarium. Definitely a bit of fun and creepy clockwork paranormal.
I haven't read the other books of Clockwork Century yet so I cannot be sure if this short piece serves as a prequel or just a standalone piece. The story is ok but feels incomplete. And the background of the world isn't totally clear to me either. Maybe I should re-rate it after I finish the whole series.
A creepy little story about a possessed doll, which goes the way of every other creepy little story about possessed dolls ever. This version of that old favourite has a steampunk flavour, however, and it's nicely told for all it's not too high on the originality scale.
One hour long Graphic Audio adaptation with a glint of a horror about a boy who creates a very autonomous automaton. It's a sort of Sorcerer's apprentice variation. Even though the sorcerer here is unfortunately rather senile...
So, again, this was just a tidbit of apparently the series, but it has my curiosity. It was done more like a story than GrphicAudio usually does, but the voice acting for the few characters were great. This was a bit creepy though, so I have no idea what the series is.
A quick, enjoyable tale of the Clockwork Century. Perhaps not essential, but a fun read and worth the price of admission. Anything Cherie Priest writes is worth reading.
Ehh. I was happy to see Dr. Smeeks and Edwin again, but weird stuff happens with no explanation and I am positive this story goes chronologically before Clementine.
I loved this short story. Tanglefoot is the story of the Scientist Dr. Smeeks and the little orphan, Edwin, from The clockwork series book 1. I really enjoyed getting a back story of these two characters. I even enjoyed Madeline's part in this book. She is still a very mysterious character. The reader never really learns much about her, but she always adds something interesting to the story. Even though the book was only about 35 pages long I still feel like it gave the reader a lot of information. 3/4 of the book was about Edwin and his creation, and new and only friend, the robot Ted. The story was a bit predictable but it was a very quick and fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Tanglefoot is a short story. I actually read it aloud in the car in a little over an hour. Note this is NOT a novel, it is a very short story and continuation of the Clockwork Century. If you haven't read Boneshaker or Clementine, you won't like it. And even if you have read them, then you might still not like it. I did though, but I was only expecting a fun short story.
After reading it, I actually think it occurs (chronologically) before Clementine. But it might be easier to follow the story if you read it afterwards. Nothing that's in Tanglefoot is in Clementine so you're not spoiling either book.
This book follows the boy and the doctor from the Sanitarium in Clementine. Basically, the boy builds a mini robot. He's extremely proud of it. The doctor (who's memory is going) is also proud of it - and needs to be reintroduced to the robot almost everyday.
But of course it's not that simple. Nothing is in the Clockwork Century. As the summary says above - it's dark here. And different. So let's just say for now that the robot is not what it seems.
If you like the series and want to read a quick short story about a single place and basically just 3 (or 4 if you count the robot) characters, then spend an hour and give it a read. If you're not sure about the Clockwork Century or are expecting a great narrative, then pass on this one.
TL;DR: An odd, short little story that adds background to a couple minor characters from Clementine; fun but not essential.
Tanglefoot is a rather short story concerning two very minor characters from Clementine: an old, doddering scientist and his apprentice, a clever boy who invents a friend automaton. However, his friend isn't all that he seems, and before you know it, they've gotten themselves into a chucky situation.
Unfortunately, this story, while written well, isn't the most well-paced. It takes a long time for them to set up the story, but once spooky things start happening, they start happening //too// fast - in the span of five pages, we get a "he tried to hurt me!" story, and then the next thing you know the machine has tied up the feet of the young boy and is running after him with scissors. Proper horror needs time to set an atmosphere, which this story doesn't have.
Nor does it feature much resolution, with it's three main characters all in states of in media res when the story concludes. There's little explanation of why the doll is possessed or who is doing it; those who want answers will remain unsatisfied.
This little novella is well written, and worth the 1.99 it costs on Amazon. However, unless you really love a Clockwork Century, it's easily missable.
I went into this book knowing that it was nothing more than a short story. So I wasn't expecting it to be something grand like Boneshaker was. That being said I still enjoyed it. It felt like I was reading a creepy pasta. I was also listening to the soundtrack for Bioshock while I read it so it made the story seem extra creepy.
The reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was because parts of it were confusing for the entire clockwork century universe.
Like is the woman in the hospital actually a witch? Can she truly see spirits and demons around her? How did she know that the boys robot was going to end up possessed? Can she see into the future too? Are there other people out there like her?
I know that there are zombies in this universe, but I didn't know that there were witches and spirits in it too. Priest never mentioned that type of stuff in Boneshaker or Clementine. Well, the woman from this book was also in Clementine, but only briefly. And they played her off as just being insane.
I think it would be cool if they had witches and magic in this series. I'm sure Priest would be able to incorporate it well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
My sci-fi/fantasy consigliare (especially of free stuff), pointed out this freebee, when I told him about Priest's new book, Dreadnaught. I know it's a short story, but, I dunno, I found it lacking in substance. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I really hope the rest of her stuff is a little more dense (I can only assume that it is, as she's nominated for the Hugo, and what not ... and I should have started out there).
That's the only really negative thing I have to say.
Now, the postivie is that it's pretty f'n creepy. You know as a kid, how you would have a stuffed animal, or toy, and you would swear that it moved ... kinda like the clown in poltergeist? THAT, is what this story does well. Not only that, Priest does a really good job in building sympathetic characters ... especially in Edwin, and the mentally enfeebled doctor he cares for.
I would hold off reading it (if you can), until later in October, especially if you're into horror, or spooky stuff.