Starred review from November 4, 2019
The phenomenal sequel to Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street moves the series from Victorian-era London to a haunted, steampunk version of 19th-century Tokyo. Thaniel Steepleton is offered a translator position at the British legation in Tokyo on the same night his lover, clairvoyant Japanese clock maker Keita Mori, returns to their London home after months abroad. The pair travel together to Japan along with Thaniel’s adopted, autistic daughter. There, Thaniel meet’s Takiko Pepperhow, Mori’s wife, a woman Thaniel hadn’t known existed. As Thaniel questions his relationship with Mori, Mori uses his clairvoyance to manipulate the affairs of the people around him. After Mori goes missing, it’s up to Thaniel to find him as a massive electrical storm strikes Tokyo and ghosts wander the streets. Pulley’s intricate plot, vibrant setting, entrancing magic, and dynamic ensemble of characters make for an un-put-downable historical fantasy. New readers will be pulled in and series fans will be delighted by this tour de force. Agent: Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
December 1, 2019
More steampunk adventures of a samurai prognosticator, his clockwork octopus, and his human lovers. Five years after her charming debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2015), Pulley brings back the main characters for another scramble through the dangers and consequences of clairvoyance. Readers of the first book already know the big reveal: that Keita Mori--the eponymous London watchmaker--has an unusual memory that works both backward and forward. (Readers new to the series should put this book down and start with Watchmaker.) This time Pulley sets the action principally in Japan, where Mori; Thaniel Steepleton, a British translator and diplomat; Grace Carrow Matsumoto, a physicist; and Takiko Pepperharrow, a Kabuki actress and baroness, are working together to foil a samurai's power grab and turn away a Russian invasion. At least, that's what Mori's doing; the others are rushing blindly down paths he's laid out for them, which may or may not get them where he wants them to go. But if Mori knows what's coming and what steps they can take to change the future, why doesn't he just tell them what to do? The answer is half satisfying (because, as in any complicated relationship, communication isn't always easy; because the characters have wills of their own and might not obey) and half irritating (because if he did, there wouldn't be much of a story). Pulley's witty writing and enthusiastically deployed steampunk motifs--clockwork, owls, a mechanical pet, Tesla-inspired electrical drama--enliven a plot that drags in the middle before rushing toward its explosive end. Perhaps more interesting than the plot are the relationships. The characters revolve through a complex pattern of marriages of passion and convenience, sometimes across and sometimes within genders and cultures, punctuated by jealousy and interesting questions about trust. Although this sequel doesn't break new ground, it will appeal strongly to fans of the first book.
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January 1, 2020
Pulley revisits the heroes of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2016) in this sequel that takes place five years later, in 1888. Translator Thaniel Steepleton and psychic watchmaker Keita Mori are living together and raising their adopted daughter, Six, as they keep their relationship secret from a society that would, at best, never approve and, at worst, might turn downright threatening. But danger manages to find them anyway when Thaniel is sent by the British government to Japan, where tensions between the new prime minister, Kuroda, and Russia are threatening to start an international incident. That Kuroda is an old friend of Mori's isn't the only surprise awaiting Thaniel when he and his family arrive in Japan. Thaniel is shocked to discover that the half-Japanese, half-English woman living on Mori's family estate, Takiko Pepperharrow, is Mori's wife. Thaniel is keeping secrets of his own; he's been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is hoping the climate in Japan might stave off the disease's death sentence. Again Pulley mixes supernatural intrigue, politics, and romance to create an absorbing adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)