‘Clockwork Angels’ – Kevin J. Anderson & Neil Peart
Written by Rob Watkins
Sunday, 25 November 2012 04:00
‘Clockwork Angels’ – Kevin J. Anderson & Neil Peart (ECW Press/Turnaround Distribution)
Canadian`s multi platinum selling band Rush`s latest album release, ‘Clockwork Angels’, is brilliantly adapted into this fantasy novel based around Neil Peart`s story and lyrics fantastically created and fashioned by international best selling sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson, a fantasy project created like no other and a simple must-read for sci-fi aficionados and, of course, for fanatics both new and old of Rush for its intriguing originality….
‘Clockwork Angels’ is the story of a young man`s quest to follow his dreams, becoming entangled within the grandiose forces of order and chaos, a journey that evolves throughout a lavish and colourful world of steampunk and alchemy.
Anderson`s closeness to Rush heralds back to his very first novel, ‘Resurrection Inc’ – itself inspired by the band’s `Grace Under Pressure` release – which was endorsed by Peart and which lead, over time, to this wonderful, mystical collaboration.
The tale revolves around the hero of the piece, Owen Hardy, a young adult brought up in a small town who ventures towards the outside world but whose life is mapped out by the super powerful overseer of this future universe, the `Watchmaker`, who crafts precision on every form of life: basically a fantasy coming of age tale but with levels of mystery involving lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals and the such that all goes into making a must-read.
Numerous references to Rush`s musical catologue and history is hidden interestingly throughout the pages as I’m sure any Rush-esque person will no doubt pick up on; if possible slip the accompanying album into your player and use as background music on low volume whilst reading if that`s at all viable to the individual reader to get that surround sound and fantasy effect vibe.
A pretty basic battle between order and chaos ensues and in particular one man`s voyage of personal discovery and need for knowledge which could be defined as Peart`s philosophy of life re-written and produced in a fantasy that cover various human attitudes and behaviour and individual issues of people and places.
I won`t go into the storyline too deeply as I think that could spoil the anticipation of the perusal but what I would utter is, this novel is an interesting and obsessional read and once picked up you will find it difficult to return to the shelf before the end, and not only for Rush fans but for Sci-Fi/Fantasy obsessed readers of all ages.
This could be described as something not too intense on the brain`s senses and certainly something that would endear itself to the big screen too…..
