(no subject)

Thanks to Tor.com, I was able to read Chapter 1 of Mainspring, a novel by Jay Lake (jaylake).  I was very intrigued by this chapter.  In it, I learn that this is an alternate earth, one in which America is still part of England, but there are newly developed "electricks" and steam-driven foghorns.  Hethor works as an apprentice to a horologist (clock-maker) and although he's been trained to listen to the mechanisms of clocks, he's found he can also listen to life and, if he listens very hard, the rattle of the world's turning. 

I love how small items of this alternate world are dropped seamlessly into the narrative, so that one learns in bits and pieces that there are Indians and dark magic in the Southern Earth and that Christ's horofixion took place on a wheel-and-gear. I also admire the way descriptions are handled.  Isn't this a much more interesting way of saying a character caught his breath:  "Hethor sucked air between his teeth and lips, finally filling aching lungs with breath he had not even realized he had been holding in the strangeness of the moment."  And when a character "blew a breath that sparkled like shooting stars in a summer sky", I damn near had to clap in appreciation.

Mainspring looks to be a treat.  I was sucked in immediately to Hethor and his plight and am ready to read more.  I've just ordered the book, in fact.  I can tell that Hethor will be beset by many troubles and problems, but his earnestness and good nature will carry him through and I'll be entertained endlessly in the process.