This is the second book in the Clockwork Heart trilogy. I really enjoyed this steampunk read, it was full of intrigue and adventure. This was a good continuation of the story started in Clockwork Heart. I love the characters and enjoy all the intrigue.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was really well done. The narrator has a higher pitched voice, which is always a bit surprising when I first start listening to these but I got used to it a few chapters into the book. The narrator does an excellent job with having unique voices for each character and does well conveying emotion too.

In this book Taya (an Icarus who uses metal wings to fly) and her exalted husband Cristof go on their first ambassadorial mission. They are sent to Mareaux to learn about Mareaux’s experiments in airships and weaponry. Things go awry when they stumble upon a plot that could mean war against their home country of Ondimium.

I really enjoy these books. I love Taya with her metal wings and her love of the air. I love Cristof with his gearhead sensibility and his slight confusion as to why Taya loves him. The two are married now and have a wonderful relationship that I really loved reading about. They both go through some very tough circumstances which require a lot of love, respect, and trust on both sides of the relationship.

The world building is really well done too. This is a broad and well thought out world; I love Ondinium with its large Engine that drives the whole city and I enjoyed seeing some regions outside of Ondimium as well.

There is a lot of intrigue and action in this book. There is also a lot of wry humor throughout. I just really enjoy the tone of this series.

Overall this was a well done continuation of the Clockwork Heart series. I loved the characters, the world building, and the intrigue and action. I would recommend to those who enjoy steampunk and fantasy reads. I will definitely be picking up the third book in the series at some point. ( )

Taya and Cristof are sent as ambassadors to the neighboring country of Mareaux. Taya is thrilled with her first diplomatic assignment, but then the assassination attempts against Cristof begins. Taya and Cristof have several mysteries to solve. Who is behind the increasingly desperate attempts to kill Cristof? And why does the assassin not want Cristof to return home alive?

This was a fantastic sequel to Clockwork Heart. I loved the world-building in the book (the steampunk city, airships, trains, reincarnation, and caste system). I loved the plot and all the characters, especially Taya and Cristof. ( )

Taya and Cristof are married and the council in wondering what to do with them. Since Taya is interested in the diplomatic corps, the Council decides that Cristoff would make a good ambassador. Their first mission is to Mareaux where Cristoff survives a couple of assassination attempts. It seems that someone is trying to get him out of the way.

There is no shortage of potential enemies. Alzana is casting a greedy eye on Ondinium's wealth. Demicus is divided into clans and a number of them would be willing to ally with Alzana. Ondinium doesn't treat its Demican citizens very well and a rebel party has sprung up which would like to throw the Ondinium's out of their country. Then, there are the Ondinium residents who might be more interested in making money than keeping Ondinium safe.

The story is filled with one hair-raising episode after another from train derailments to kidnapping to stowing away on a train carrying weapons to an unknown destination. Taya and Cristof are put in all sorts of danger and Taya is forced to do many things that are very troubling to her conscience and to her perception of what her country is and what it stands for.

I loved the action and excitement. I loved the description of the inflight battles and the various technologies that are being created or that already exist but that Taya had never heard. of. Since this is the middle book in a trilogy, I am really anxious to find out what lies ahead for Taya and Cristof. ( )

_Clockwork Lies_ is fantasy steampunk in an interesting world that includes humans that can fly with metal wings, "engines" programmed via punch cards, and dirigibles. Taya Icarus and her "Exalted" husband are on a diplomatic mission to further Ondinium's interest. However, things seem to keep going wrong and it's up to Taya to figure out why. While investigating, Taya is forced into situations that make her re-evaluate some of her core beliefs.

This book is the second in the "Clockwork Heart" series and I felt it was smoother than the first book. That being said, I think the first book, _Clockwork Heart_, provides a lot of context for this book. _Clockwork Lies_ really starts to explore and challenge some of the beliefs that the people of Ondinium are taught and it'll be interesting to see how the third book addresses some of the issues brought up in this book.

I received a free copy of this book via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. ( )

It's been several years since I read the first book in this trilogy: Clockwork Heart. When I started reading this one, I had trouble remembering who was who, given that each character other than Taya was referred to by more than one name and their title interchangeably. Add to that the fact that one character was pretending to be another and it all became name/title soup.

I also found the first third of the book slow-going. Despite there being assassination attempts and political intrigue, it just didn't draw me in. To me it felt like Taya didn't care that much about what was happening, and therefore I didn't, until the decision to leave Mareaux.

That said, once the story hit its stride, it was as compulsively readable as the first book. I especially enjoyed the expanded world-building. The Demicans are no longer just "those barbarians to the North" but real people with real concerns. Lieutenant Amcathra - whom I was completely indifferent to in the first book - becomes a much more human and sympathetic character. And there's some really cool new steampunk tech introduced.

I still have quibbles with some of the world-building: for example, even emergency first aid will tell you not to pop the blisters of a second-degree burn, especially on the hands, due to risk of infection. And what I swear I read as an embedded object eye injury turned out to be just a laceration of the eyebrow/face. These things happen in an uncorrected proof.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I like seeing characters like Taya grapple with big issues like morality. It's also refreshing to see a young married couple as the protaganists, with a focus on the woman's capabilities. Taya spends a lot of time rescuing Cris.

I would recommend this series to any readers who like steampunk, and books like Cherie Priest's Boneshaker. ( )