Welcome back to another T. Kingfisher book review. Yes, this is my 3rd book by Kingfisher this year, why do you ask? (I know I am obsessed)

I am only happy to go back to the world of paladins are their headstrong yet adorable partners-in-crime as they embark on new adventures. This book’s adventure is a rescue and reconnaissance mission in Anuket City. The crew that is tasked with this suicide mission is the third to be on the same task.

As expected, the Dowager has run out of suitable candidates to send on this mission due to the raging war with the clockwork boys. She has now turned to criminals. Slate, Brenner and Caliban are brought together for this task as they accompany Learned Edmund, a 19YO sheltered-but-genius monk, to Anuket City to learn about Brother Amadai’s whereabouts and the secret behind the clockwork boys.

I was so excited to be back in The World of the White Rat series that I even checked in with first impressions once I was 50% through the book.

The way secrets are revealed about each character is extremely intriguing. For a character-driven story, the plot movement was extremely slow-paced. I, however, was not bored. The journey and all the uncertainty surrounding it were intriguingly engaging.

We are not talking miles and miles of landscape descriptions here. We are talking about the actual details of journeying through miles and miles of forest — lack of food, sleeping quarters and bathrooms. I love Kingfisher for being as real as possible, even in her fantasy novels.

But let’s talk nuance of the mission. It is great that these people are pretty suicidal, considering they are on a suicide mission to gather intel and find a missing monk. The fact that they are not only fending off the clockwork creatures on their journey complicates their mission. There are magical people as well as regular old bandits.

A war-torn city-state is functioning almost normally with a rare blight affecting people here and there, but it does not feel any different, not even to Caliban, who has spent more than a few seasons in a cell. But as the group gets closer to the border that the army is supposed to be holding, they see the villages ravaged, people slaughtered and villagers fleeing with all the earthly possessions they can carry.

It paints a bleak picture of the contemporary socio-economic situation. But it also balances this with a similarly bleak humour. Slate and her inner monologues are the primary source of this fatalistic humour.

In a way, you would expect to know Slate the best because we have so much insight into what she is constantly thinking. But ironically, it is Slate who is hiding the most, it is Slate whom we know the least about. Slate is the clueless mastermind who is leading this team to Anuket City but she is betting on dying on the road. She has secrets in Anuket City and she does not want them revealed.

Slate’s wish almost comes true as the team faces weather calamities, horses spooked, bandits trying to rob them and then deer people abducting them. The deer people definitely reminded me of The Twisted Ones. You can trust T. Kingfisher to nail folk horror the right way.

The way this book takes a quiet approach to a pretty epic adventure is really calming. It is almost cozy fantasy in the way it handles the whole narrative. If you need to read something that has a balance of science and fantasy with an exciting adventure but told in a soothing manner, this one is it.

This book was a great read for me and I do recommend it. I am looking forward to getting to the sequel and finding out all the secrets that were hinted at in this book.

You can grab your copy of Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher here.

(I earn a small commission from every qualified purchase from the link to continue reading and reviewing)

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Have you read Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher? What are your thoughts on it? What are your favourite T. Kingfisher books?

Feel free to drop a comment or reach out to me across social media at @thecalcuttanbibliophile. I would love to hear from you.