Author: Hilton Pashley
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Rating: WARTY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new novel is reward aplenty!
This is a novel which is heavy on trope. That's not always a bad thing, but I find myself yearning for something different instead of same old, same old. The novel is aimed at middle-graders (or what I call pre-young adult), and is very much written at that level, which some might like. I found it a bit annoying and demeaning. My kids are middle-grade and they're currently reading The Golden Compass, and Watership Down, so this one would be significantly below their reading level. I don't talk down to them, so I find it hard to approve of novels which do. OTOH, there are undoubtedly a lot of kids who would like this novel - maybe even mine!
The novel is set in Britain, and having grown up there, you'd think I would warm to this novel easily, but I did not. I found it very readable, but the reading didn't give me very much and ultimately left me quite dissatisfied with the story, especially since it doesn't end at the end of the book. It's pretty clear this is going to be a series, so one can hope that it will improve, but I honestly do not feel any compulsion to go along for the ride.
The clock of the title is one made by the Archangel Gabriel. When Jonathan actually goes to get the clock, we're told that only someone of Gabriel's blood-line can pass through this portal, yet the gargoyles can go through (no, Gabriel didn't create them so they're not even proxy bloodline), and the cat can go through when Jonathan carries it. So much for that rule. No wonder the village was so easily breached if this is the level of security in play!
The main character is Jonathan, who is (and of course he doesn't know this, trope #1) a special kid. He is creation's only child spawned of an angel and a demon. How that works exactly goes unexplained. I have to say that I have a hard time with novels which introduce exotic creatures such as demons and angels and then have them behave exactly like humans. What's the point?
In this novel it's pretty much all black and white; even as we're told more than once that not all demons are bad and not all angels are good, we see a sharp dividing line with demons being stereotypically evil (I almost expected them to sport waxed mustaches which they would twirl as they cackled). Only two "demons" are good, and there's precious little on the angelic side, with none appearing other than Gabriel.
When three Corvidae (demons named after birds trope #2) burst into Jonathan's home to take him prisoner, his mom runs with him while brave dad stays behind to fight. Genderist much? But of course dad is the angel, mom is only a demon. Jonathan ends up at the bizarrely named Hobbe's End (just like in the movie Quatermass and the Pit). Hobbe, of course, is an antique name for the Devil, which is bizarre because the village is a sanctuary which protects its inhabitants from evil. Ineffectually as it turns out. It's the place where Gabriel slammed into the Earth after he quit heaven, in 1666AD, from whence the village's power derives.
The village is supposed to be sentient - at one point it talks to Jonathan - but the village is evidently suffering some sort of palsy because it seems to consistently warn of attacks after the attack is already in progress. Maybe the village is evil?!
Despite the fact that the Corvidae - acting on behalf of Arch-demon Belial - know that Jonathan is there in the village, and those charged with his protection know that they know, and they also know how critical and valuable he is, nothing at all is done to protect him, unless you class having a cricket bat and a rapier to hand as 'taking steps'. The Corvidae seem to pretty much invade the village at their leisure on more than one occasion, which results in both Gabriel and Jonathan's trope female interest Cay (who has pretty much a cameo role), becoming prisoners of Belial, who may also have Darriel, Jonathan's father.
I don't know for sure because at one point we're told that Darriel's broken body was left at the gate of heaven as a warning, but later we're told he's still a prisoner of Belial's! Meanwhile Jonathan's mom is supposedly petitioning Lucifer. Like the king of evil will lend a hand to help out? Seriously? This is one more example of females being marginalized in this story.
All of the characters are male except for Jonathan's mom, and Cay, and both of these characters are either almost entirely absent from the story (mom, I'm looking at you), or play the minor role of damsel in distress (yes, Cay, that would be you). There is even a chapter about Cay which is titled "Waiting for the Cavalry" - I am not kidding you. For that matter, people of color are also lacking in this novel - unless you count the cat....
The backstory is that Lucifer wasn't the only fallen angel - there are scores of them, all living in hell, which isn't ruled over by Satan - it's split between him and three demons, but Belial wants it all. He wants back into heaven. Why? I have no idea. He wants to bring misery upon the Earth. Why? I have no idea. None of this is explained. We're given neither reason nor rationale. What's in it for Belial? I have no idea. Quite clearly he can already wreak havoc in people's lives at will. No one stops him, so where is there any increased benefit in pursuing his plan? Nowhere.
The entire opening premise of the novel makes no sense: if Jonathan is so vital and so critical, and so vulnerable then why would his parents be living outside the protection of the village? Why would they lie to their son instead of protecting him and arming him against the wicked which will inevitably come this way? Well, because they're lousy parents is all I can think of. This is child abuse! I don't even get how that works. Gabriel is supposedly Darriel's father, but how was he spawned? Is he a clone, or is there a Mrs Gabriel somewhere? If there is, then she's marginalized too - to the point of never being even mentioned.
Meanwhile, why is this all on Jonathan and Gabriel to fix? I have no idea. Apparently Heaven is sleeping, because despite all this evil going on down below, not a single angel shows up to help out. God is non-existent according to this story - either that or he has no control over his creation! Or maybe he simply doesn't care what's going on, because he gets no mention at all. For that matter, not a single person (or entity) in this entire story questions what's happening or how evil is getting away with all this, unchecked. It's because of these problems - huge glaring plot holes that I can't recommend this novel.
Oh, and deus ex machina? You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means....
