Angelmaker
Registered by cluricaune of Armagh, Co. Armagh United Kingdom on 2/16/2014
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
2 journalers for this copy...
Nick Harkaway was born in 1972, in Cornwall, and is the son of author John le Carré. He studied at Clare College, Cambridge, and, before becoming an author, wrote screenplays. His first novel, "The Gone Away World" was first published in 2008 and was nominated for a Locus Award and a BSFA Award (Best Novel). “Angelmaker” is his second novel and was first published in 2012.
Joe Spork is the son of the notorious gangster Mathew ‘Tommy Gun’ Spork; he spent his boyhood idolising his father and has spent his adult life trying not to follow the same path. He’s now in his thirties and lives, alone, in a dingy part of London close to the river. His home is the warehouse space above his workshop, a building he inherited from Daniel, his grandfather. Daniel was something of an inventor in his day, and a gifted one that that – if a little left of centre. (One of the other items Joe inherited was a ‘Death Clock’, something Joe has written off as a bit of Victorian tat – though Daniel himself rated it very highly). Nevertheless, Joe seems to be taking after his grandfather; both apparently specialise in clockwork items.
Although Mathew is now dead, Joe retains certain links to the underworld. He is familiar with the Tosher’s Beat, an underground network of tunnels and caverns which allows the initiated to move around London unobserved. (Admittedly, only the Toshers themselves have access to the complete network). There’s also the Night Market, which was founded by his father many years back. It provided an enjoyable training ground for Joe in his younger days – even now, what he learnt there can help keep him safe - and was where he first met his most trusted friends.
Joe’s internal alarms start ringing when he receives a visit from two clearly shady characters called Cummerbund and Titwhistle. The pair claim to represent a scientific museum with branches in Edinburgh and Chicago and they’re looking to acquire as many of Daniel’s items as possible. In fact, from their subconscious gestures, it’s clear they’re after an unusual clockwork book. (Joes suspects he has seen the book in question, though it has since passed through his hands. It had been brought to Joe by one of his oldest friends, Billy Friend, on behalf of a mysterious old lady who may have acquired it somewhat questionably).
Shortly afterwards, he receives another visitor – a Ruskinite, fully hooded and robed, and thoroughly menacing. (The Ruskinites are a minor religious sect, though so dangerous that everyone gives them a very wide berth). He, too, is looking for the very same book – a book that could, apparenty, bring about the end of the world. Joe realises he has been dropped into something he’d rather have avoided – but it’s only when he starts asking the right questions of the right people that he starts to realise just how much trouble he’s in.
What he doesn’t realise, of course, is that he’s been dropped into that trouble by Edie Bannister – the book’s other lead character - quite deliberately. Joe has done a little work for Edie in the past, never knowing what she had in store for him. In fact, he never suspected that she’d known Daniel and had been very close to his mysterious and long-disappeared grandmother...
A steampunk, apocalyptic thriller, with plenty of humour that, despite being over 500 pages long, never drags and keeps you turning the pages. Great fun, absolutely recommended.
Joe Spork is the son of the notorious gangster Mathew ‘Tommy Gun’ Spork; he spent his boyhood idolising his father and has spent his adult life trying not to follow the same path. He’s now in his thirties and lives, alone, in a dingy part of London close to the river. His home is the warehouse space above his workshop, a building he inherited from Daniel, his grandfather. Daniel was something of an inventor in his day, and a gifted one that that – if a little left of centre. (One of the other items Joe inherited was a ‘Death Clock’, something Joe has written off as a bit of Victorian tat – though Daniel himself rated it very highly). Nevertheless, Joe seems to be taking after his grandfather; both apparently specialise in clockwork items.
Although Mathew is now dead, Joe retains certain links to the underworld. He is familiar with the Tosher’s Beat, an underground network of tunnels and caverns which allows the initiated to move around London unobserved. (Admittedly, only the Toshers themselves have access to the complete network). There’s also the Night Market, which was founded by his father many years back. It provided an enjoyable training ground for Joe in his younger days – even now, what he learnt there can help keep him safe - and was where he first met his most trusted friends.
Joe’s internal alarms start ringing when he receives a visit from two clearly shady characters called Cummerbund and Titwhistle. The pair claim to represent a scientific museum with branches in Edinburgh and Chicago and they’re looking to acquire as many of Daniel’s items as possible. In fact, from their subconscious gestures, it’s clear they’re after an unusual clockwork book. (Joes suspects he has seen the book in question, though it has since passed through his hands. It had been brought to Joe by one of his oldest friends, Billy Friend, on behalf of a mysterious old lady who may have acquired it somewhat questionably).
Shortly afterwards, he receives another visitor – a Ruskinite, fully hooded and robed, and thoroughly menacing. (The Ruskinites are a minor religious sect, though so dangerous that everyone gives them a very wide berth). He, too, is looking for the very same book – a book that could, apparenty, bring about the end of the world. Joe realises he has been dropped into something he’d rather have avoided – but it’s only when he starts asking the right questions of the right people that he starts to realise just how much trouble he’s in.
What he doesn’t realise, of course, is that he’s been dropped into that trouble by Edie Bannister – the book’s other lead character - quite deliberately. Joe has done a little work for Edie in the past, never knowing what she had in store for him. In fact, he never suspected that she’d known Daniel and had been very close to his mysterious and long-disappeared grandmother...
A steampunk, apocalyptic thriller, with plenty of humour that, despite being over 500 pages long, never drags and keeps you turning the pages. Great fun, absolutely recommended.
To the finder:
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Welcome to BookCrossing!
Please make a journal entry to let me know that this book has been caught so I know that it has found a good home with you. I hope you like the book, but I'd be grateful if you'd let me know what you thought of it by making another journal entry when you've finished it.
Then, whenever you are ready to send it on its way, make a journal entry if you are giving or sending this book to a known person, or a release note if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey.
If you've decided to sign up, you’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. And it’s confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spamless !
Some faqs : http://www.bookcrossing.com/faqs
For Fleurdelys.
Arrived safely. Thank you :)
I found this quite funny and an interesting twist on the fantasy genre.
For InvisibleAng
Dear Finder of this book,
I'm so glad it has found a home with you. I hope you enjoy reading it and that you might take a few moments to jot down here what you thought about the book, or about finding it, or about bookcrossing.
You don't have to join or sign up to bookcrossing to leave a comment but if you do join, you will receive emails to alert you when others make a journal entry for this book. This will allow you to track its travels across the world. If you decide to join bookcrossing I'd be delighted if you would mention me - Fleurdelys - as the person who introduced you to the site.
For more information about bookcrossing in Belfast please click here
Happy reading
Dear Finder of this book,
I'm so glad it has found a home with you. I hope you enjoy reading it and that you might take a few moments to jot down here what you thought about the book, or about finding it, or about bookcrossing.
You don't have to join or sign up to bookcrossing to leave a comment but if you do join, you will receive emails to alert you when others make a journal entry for this book. This will allow you to track its travels across the world. If you decide to join bookcrossing I'd be delighted if you would mention me - Fleurdelys - as the person who introduced you to the site.
For more information about bookcrossing in Belfast please click here
Happy reading
