The Clockwork Dagger: A Novel

by Beth Cato

Overview

Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.

Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened.

Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062313843
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/16/2014
Series:	A Clockwork Dagger Novel , #1
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	970,205
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Nebula Award–nominated author Beth Cato hails from Hanford, California, but currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair west of Phoenix, Arizona. She’s the author of the Clockwork Dagger duology and the Blood of Earth trilogy, plus scores of other short stories and poems across a multitude of publications. She shares her household with a hockey-loving husband, a numbers-obsessed son, and three feline overlords.

Editorial Reviews

There's a lot of fascinating world-building here…a delightful espionage-inflected adventure.

The New York Times Book Review - N. K. Jemisin

07/07/2014
This rousing tale of airborne intrigue and romance keeps itself grounded with a story as disarming and forthright as its appealingly capable heroine. Debut author Cato swiftly and adeptly introduces the barbaric, desperately impoverished kingdom of Caskentia, with its shabbily handsome steampunk veneer laced with mysticism and magic. Octavia Leander, who has preternatural healing skills, takes a ramshackle airship to her new post as a medician. An attack on her delightfully starchy roommate, Mrs. Stout, is followed in short order by an attempt on her own life. Aided by Mrs. Stout and Alonzo Garrett, a gallant steward who is much more than he appears, Octavia soon realizes that she is a pawn in the conflict between Caskentia and the rebellious province of the Dallows. As she rescues an endearing clockwork gremlin, fends off a suspiciously ardent suitor, and survives being shot at, kidnapped, and defenestrated, Octavia displays charming Victorian sensibilities, staunch determination, courage, and outspoken independence. Ample action and a delectably delayed romance propel the story toward a riveting finale, marking Cato as an author to watch. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Company. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“This rousing tale... keeps itself grounded with a story as disarming and forthright as its appealingly capable heroine. ...Ample action and a delectably delayed romance propel the story toward a riveting finale, marking Cato as an author to watch.” — Publishers Weekly

“Beth Cato handles this heady mix with a fine sense of language, emotion, and event, making the whole thing flow more like a force of nature than the work of a first novelist.” — Locus

“The Clockwork Dagger was an immensely fun and entertaining novel... and kept me hooked into the narrative and turning the pages at a dogged pace.... I’m looking forward to picking up Octavia and Alonzo’s story in The Clockwork Crown.” — SFFWorld

“A light read that ... may offer an interesting new world to readers who enjoy the flavor of steampunk fantasy and soap-opera intrigue.” — Kirkus Reviews

“[A] captivating read with fantastic contraptions, an intricate plot, and imagery so colorful and vivid it will make readers wish the internal combustion engine had never been invented.” — Arizona Daily Star

“The Clockwork Dagger was just what I needed: A steampunk adventure with an uncommon heroine, a fascinating magic system, and a young gremlin! I’m hooked and can’t wait for more Octavia and Leaf!” — New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne

“Full of magic and steampunk adventure, Beth Cato’s Clockwork Dagger will delight fans of Meljean Brooks Iron Seas Series.” — Nicole Peeler

“DR. QUINN meets DREADNOUGHT in this thrilling, delightful tale combining the political stakes of epic fantasy, the airships and corsets of steampunk, and the heartwarming joy of romance. Excellent fun for lovers of Cherie Priest and Scott Westerfeld.” — Michael R. Underwood, author of GEEKOMANCY

“Airships, assassins, pulp writers, and an independent, appealing heroine: THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER is an exciting debut full of mysterious magic, forbidden romance, and adventure at 5,000 feet.” — Tina Connolly, author of IRONSKIN

“The Clockwork Dagger had me at hello and kept me with unexpected twists, intriguing magic and splendid betrayals. At the satisfying conclusion, my immediate impulse was to enquire in tones of gentle inquiry, when do I get to read the sequel!?!?” — C. E. Murphy

From the Publisher

Beth Cato handles this heady mix with a fine sense of language, emotion, and event, making the whole thing flow more like a force of nature than the work of a first novelist.

Locus

DR. QUINN meets DREADNOUGHT in this thrilling, delightful tale combining the political stakes of epic fantasy, the airships and corsets of steampunk, and the heartwarming joy of romance. Excellent fun for lovers of Cherie Priest and Scott Westerfeld.

Michael R. Underwood

The Clockwork Dagger was just what I needed: A steampunk adventure with an uncommon heroine, a fascinating magic system, and a young gremlin! I’m hooked and can’t wait for more Octavia and Leaf!

New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne

The Clockwork Dagger had me at hello and kept me with unexpected twists, intriguing magic and splendid betrayals. At the satisfying conclusion, my immediate impulse was to enquire in tones of gentle inquiry, when do I get to read the sequel!?!?

C. E. Murphy

The Clockwork Dagger was an immensely fun and entertaining novel... and kept me hooked into the narrative and turning the pages at a dogged pace.... I’m looking forward to picking up Octavia and Alonzo’s story in The Clockwork Crown.

SFFWorld

[A] captivating read with fantastic contraptions, an intricate plot, and imagery so colorful and vivid it will make readers wish the internal combustion engine had never been invented.

Arizona Daily Star

Full of magic and steampunk adventure, Beth Cato’s Clockwork Dagger will delight fans of Meljean Brooks Iron Seas Series.

Nicole Peeler

Airships, assassins, pulp writers, and an independent, appealing heroine: THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER is an exciting debut full of mysterious magic, forbidden romance, and adventure at 5,000 feet.

Tina Connolly

2014-09-17
In a debut that promises to be the first of two novels set in this world, Cato introduces a likable heroine and a serviceably imagined steampunk fantasy painted with broad strokes of magic and political intrigue. Octavia Leander is a young healer, a "medician," whose magical ability to heal is extraordinary even in a world flush with airships, chimeras, and the expected steampunk trappings of clockwork science and unusual magic systems. Her journey to a new life as the resident healer of a small country town takes her onto the airship Argus, where unlikely plots and assassination attempts pull her deep into the troubles of a country suffering from the effects of war. The companions she collects in her travels are, unsurprisingly, not what they seem, and Cato employs many conventions of fantasy adventure to set the story in motion: a kidnapped princess, elite spies, a patchwork religion and an enthusiastic embrace of simple romance. The characters Octavia meets are appealing in an exaggerated way; the plot is often graceless but has the undeniable ability to encourage the dogged turning of pages. While the narration is sometimes tripped up by awkward shifts into Octavia's interior monologue and swathes of absurd description—like the comparison of a woman's bosom to "planets of flesh that hovered above an unblemished satin sky"—it gains a prickly insistence from a depiction of magic that depends on sacrifice as well as power. The magic in this world does not always arrive without a price, and that gives it a depth that would otherwise be missing.A light read that suffers from heavy-handed prose but may offer an interesting new world to readers who enjoy the flavor of steampunk fantasy and soap-opera intrigue.

Kirkus Reviews

★ 08/01/2014
Having left the school for medicians at which she trained, Octavia Leander is traveling on the airship Argus when attempts are made on her life. Octavia is a highly principled young woman who can channel the powers of the Lady to enact miraculous cures on the sick and injured, but her abilities should make her valuable, not expendable. As agents of the crown and spies from the Wastes come out of the woodwork, Octavia must rely on her few allies: middle-aged Mrs. Stout, who has a deadly secret of her own, and the alluring airship steward Alonzo Garret, who seems always to be in the right place to help Octavia. VERDICT The action is pretty much nonstop in this debut steampunk fantasy. The attraction between Octavia and Alonzo is sparked right away, but it's hard for the former to know whom to trust as her talents have made her a pawn between two political powers. Although readers will enjoy the satisfying climax of this adventure, there is plenty to the plot for a sequel from promising novelist Cato.

Library Journal