I recently received a review copy of the Kindle edition of Vera Nazarian’s The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass. I’m cross-posting this review here, on Library Thing, and Amazon.
First some quick comments to help you decide quickly if you want to read the book: The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass is well-written and contains some fascinating thematic elements. I recommend reading it with the following caveats: If you’re uncomfortable with strong sexual content in fiction, there is one scene that you may not like. If you’re currently in the mood for adventure fiction, save this story for a later read when you’re the mood for something cerebral.
In Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass, Vera Nazarian presents us with a fascinating and imaginative future setting. The unique setting brought back memories of Silverberg’s Majipoor1,2 and the writing of Ursula K. Le Guin to me, and by the end of the story left me with a desire to explore the setting further.
The characters behave in a believable and consistent manner, while they have a culture and motivations that are somewhat “alien” to us, they’re comprehensible within the context of their situation and the setting. My suspension of disbelief easily maintained throughout the book–it was effortless to become immersed in the story.
As I mentioned earlier, this is not an action/adventure story. Instead its an exploration of the mind3–which can be regarded as an adventure if one’s tastes run that way–which mine do.
I have only two complaints about The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass. The story doesn’t evoke my sympathy for the characters–I didn’t become emotionally invested in the outcome of the story. A smaller issue is that I felt that ‘Part 1’ was either a little long or perhaps too slow moving for my taste. Both of these issues are subjective–other readers won’t have any issue with the pace or have difficulty making a connection with the characters.
Overall an interesting read and I’ll be keeping an eye out for related fiction–either other stories about the main character or those set in the same setting.
- In fact, if I had time right now, I think I’d go reread the Majipoor series. ↩
- But if I’m to read anything right now, its those books I’ve identified as ‘marginals’: books I may remove from our collection after I’ve read them. ↩
- Anyone else hear echoes of Rod Serling here? I’m not actually quoting him but it faintly felt like I had. ↩