Mainspring

This fantasy has the bizarre and interesting premise of a literal clockwork universe. The Earth's mainspring is winding down and young apprentice clockmaker Hethor Jacques is charged with finding the Key Perilous and winding it up again by a Brass Angel. The equator of the Earth is a giant gear that meshes with another for Earth's journey around the Lamp of the Sun. Set in an alternate 19th-century Earth where Her Imperial Majesty Queen Victoria rules over England and Her American Possessions, the story is set up in an interesting fashion with the promise of armed zeppelins to boot. But then the sluggish pacing sets in and before you're halfway through you're half convinced the protagonist is a dull-witted simp who often just gets lucky to get out of any particular scrape he's gets into. It often seems that deus ex machine is at work several times within the story. Until finally, the story completely sputters out and leaves the reader wholly unsatisfied. There wasn't even a compelling villain to hate. And also, several questions go unanswered. This was a waste of time.