The Clockwork War by Adam Kline, Dan Whisker
Genres: Fantasy
Intended Age Group: Children
Publisher: Insight Editions
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-68383-236-2
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book
Beast friends Karlheinz Indergarten and Leopold Croak clash in an epic, imaginary battle waged in the branches of an enormous, ancient oak tree. But when lightning strikes young Leopold, he loses his imagination, and with it, his sense of right and wrong. The damaged boy grows to adulthood, treading a sinister path of industrial conquest. And Leopold’s thirst for power soon threatens the tree, the village, and worst of all, the children within.
But humble Karl discovers a gift for clockwork—the magic of gears and cogs—and assembles a mechanical army to fight back. Joined by the children themselves, Karl endeavors to save the village, the ancient oak, and maybe—just maybe—something more besides.
Personal & Info
This book is from an overstock discount store. I go there occasionally to find some new things to try. It looks like a cute and short stand alone story, so as long as it’s not terrible, it’s worth the purchase.
Characters
Karl Indergarten is the main character. He has a gifted imagination and owns the business K. Indergarten Clock and Watch Repair.
Leopold Croak is Karl’s childhood best friend.
Miss Understood is a kind woman who runs the local Preparatory School and Home for Orphaned Children. She has a habit of saying things that are not quite right, mostly in the case of common expressions.
Dr. Pimpledink is the village doctor.
Pim is Karl’s best friend after the incident, and a clockwork mouse.
Agatha Croak is Leopold’s daughter, who is allergic to everything, and thus lives isolated in a room at the top of a tower.
Toby, Stuart, and William are some of the kids who live at the orphanage once Karl and Leopold are grown up.
There are a few other minor characters, like Madeline, her grandmother, and the clockmaker.
Story & Thoughts
I actually forgot to read the description on the inside of the book jacket, so I had a misunderstanding of what the story was like going into it. It’s labelled as fantasy, there is a clockwork mouse on the cover, and the excerpt on the back describes a clockwork dragon defending a tree. These three things led me to believe it was a lot more fantasy than it actually was.
Don’t get me wrong, it is fantasy, just not the elves and spell casters kind. The world is a normal setting in an unspecified time. The fantasy aspect of the story comes from the fact the clockwork creations are fantastical to the point of actually being independently intelligent as if they have a heart or a soul.
Despite my misunderstanding, the story is cute. A little girl is afraid to go to Kindergarten, so her grandmother tells her a story about someone by the name of Karl Indergarten, which is supposed to be relevant to the origin of Kindergarten. But, the book is very clear, the story is not about the little girl. It’s about Karl Indergarten.
The book has the same feel as short stories kids would normally hear read aloud at a library. It even has the rhyming. The only differences are, it’s a bit longer and the vocabulary level might be a little higher. The recommended age group is closer to ten but I think kids around five might also enjoy it if read to them, and if they have a long enough attention span.
Overall, this book is not really my thing, but I think it’s a decent children’s book. My only issue with it is that Leopold’s logic has many flaws. The description says he loses his sense of right and wrong, though, so it makes sense. Children’s books don’t always have to make perfect sense anyway, either, so I don’t hold that against it.