Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

A rollicking romp of a spy thriller from the acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World. • "A head-spinning cliffhanger that reads a bit like Harry Potter for grownups…. It would be a shame if no movie were made from this glorious piece of kaleidoscope-fiction." —The Wall Street Journal

Joe Spork fixes clocks. He has turned his back on his father’s legacy as one of London’s flashiest and most powerful gangsters and aims to live a quiet life. Edie Banister retired long ago from her career as a British secret agent. She spends her days with a cantankerous old pug for company. That is, until Joe repairs a particularly unusual clockwork mechanism, inadvertently triggering a 1950s doomsday machine. His once-quiet life is suddenly overrun by mad monks who worship John Ruskin, psychopathic serial killers, mad geniuses and dastardly villains. On the upside, he catches the eye of bright and brassy Polly, a woman with enough smarts to get anyone out of a sticky situation. In order to save the world and defeat the nefarious forces threatening it, Joe must help Edie complete a mission she abandoned years ago, and he must summon the courage to pick up his father’s old gun and join the fight.

Angelmaker was a joy to read, so much fun. As with Harkaway's previous book [b:The Gone-Away World 3007704 The Gone-Away World Nick Harkaway https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328322676l/3007704.SX50.jpg 3038235], it's a big epic story, a bit over the top but not pure fantasy. Speculative fiction might be a good term but Angelmaker is unique. The focus is on Joe, a clockmaker trying to avoid falling into the same path as his professional criminal father, Matthew. His circumstances change greatly when he's asked to repair a mysterious device and finds himself part of an apocalyptic conspiracy. There's an exhilarating backstory with Edie, best described as a super spy, who was the first hero to face the master villain of Angelmaker, a dictator, drug lord, and scientific genius in his own way.The backstory and character development were handled very well. Harkaway's style is so entertaining you would miss out if you didn't read all the little details. He's got a way with words, something we hope all authors have but it isn't unfortunately always the case. Every one of the rabbit holes he goes down pays off; no bit of history is wasted. Angelmaker has elements of action, pulp fiction, steampunk, family drama and romance. Harkaway writes with wit and adds humorous dialogue. He reminds me of two favorites, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, but he's not a pale imitation; definitely has his own unique take. It's a bit sexier than either of those two for sure. As with Goneaway World, Harkaway uses a Doomsday device as a method of touching on themes of identity, bravery, and friendship. There's also the idea of Uncertainty and what it means to us as human beings, the role it plays in keeping life alive (so to speak) and worth living. Every character strikes me as having a kind of magic. Not as in “magical powers” but the magic of being so good at what they do. Part of the journey for Joe is learning to find his whole self, and all of the things he can do, not just what he's decided is acceptable.

woot! This really fun.

It stayed pretty fun, but I hate backstory (especially extended backstory), so that was a bummer. But Harkaway writes well, and I like his point of view. I'm not unhappy I read it. As per usual, my 15 year old thought it rocked – “Awesome and Horrific. All at the same time.”

Did not finish.
The book is so weirdly written that I had a hard time concentrating on anything. Verbose, like it swallowed a thesaurus, it just really killed the momentum. I mean many of you would probably like it, but I didn't feel like I was having fun when I had no idea where we were and where we were going. It also all sounded the same. Different characters' inner monologue sounded like the author, not like separate people.
Absolutely not for me.