Thank you to T. Kingfisher, Titan Books, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was interesting and the beginning was promising until… literally nothing happened for half the book. The characters seemed to just be sitting / standing / disappearing / twiddling their thumbs. No fantasy / sci-fi elements or adventuring to be seen, just badly forced romance that didn’t work. The writing style itself was good though, just a shame the plot / characterisation let it down. I had to dnf at 40% and I’m glad because it seems the book actually cuts off before any real action happens. I’ll definitely try their other books.

I am biased when ever I read a Kingfisher book because I usually love their writing. They often mange to combine a bit of comedy into whatever they write and it’s usually very unique. I’m glad to say that is true of Clockwork Boys. I adored the motley cast of characters that are brought to life with Kingfisher’s usual flair. The story keeps you hooked and wanting to read more. I am also a sucker for anything a bit steampunk like and it certainly had elements of that. This is a must read for fans of Kingfisher or fantasy who love unique characters and a compelling story.
As always thank you to Titan Books for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.

We're back in the world of Paladins and the Dreaming God in this story and I completely ate it up. I love this world, and it was a nice twist to see it from the angle of outcasts and criminals this time. This unusual group made up of a master of forgery, a deadly assassin, an ex-knight, and a young scholar brings a real mix of personalities and dynamics on this dangerous journey, one they don't expect to return from. This book gets off to a strong start, bringing some curiosity and a little magic from the beginning, and keeps delivering as it progresses. There's plenty of humour, great banter, and interesting characters that really drew me in. It's safe to say, this is another T Kingfisher book that completely hooked me into its story and its characters. We don't necessarily get too far into the heart of the story just yet, so it did feel a little early to finish where it did but I also understand the reasoning and it doesn't take away from how much I enjoyed it - it only means I was left wondering what was going to happen when I next picked up the book and realising that I'd have to wait for the sequel. I really hope it's not a long wait because I can't wait to pick up this adventure where we left off, find out what Slate's ominous hints were about, and see if they add any more people to their rag tag bunch.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

This is my first T. Kingfisher book and I went in excited for adventure....then I got bored of waiting.
The adventure doesn't really start until 40%, prior to that there's a lot of explaining and set up. I almost gave up.
Once it gets started it's ok. A little adventure, a few fantasy creatures and the titular Clockwork boys all make an appearance.
The mix match group gets better as the story goes. The attempt romance element feels a little forced and awkward, I don't think it added anything to the story.
My main issue with the book was the POV it was told from. Sort of a 3rd person point of view with insight into most characters thinking. It was a little jarring at first and different from other narratives I've read.
This book ends at a half way point of the characters journey without a cliffhanger. Will I read book 2? Maybe
Grab this book for a slow journey or a weekend read. Pack tissues for the sneezing.

I haven't been as eager to pick up a book and get immersed in it for a while! Kingfisher is a better fantasy writer than she is a horror one, but her fantasy works best if she adds some uncanny to it. If you only read one Kingfisher book, make it Nettle&Bone, but The Clockwork Boys, her older novel due to be published in the UK this week, does something in my opinion equally valuable - it provides exactly what I am in the mood for.

The author does not hide the main influences on the novel - Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age. Reading this book felt like an old-school Bioware RPG-lite experience. We have quite established tropes - a thief, an assassin, a paladin, and a scholar go on and quest - but Kingfisher managed to bring them to life and make me care about them, if not about their world. I felt like this is a particular playthrough of a mutilate choice game; the reader can even pinpoint where a video game writing team would have placed decision-making opportunities. You can even see the different romance options (with Slate, the protagonist, quite clearly choosing a particular one of those). A Bioware game would have had much more time to develop the story and the lore, so TCB feels much thinner on the ground.

Whilst Slate and Caliban came across as three-dimensional enough, I wish Brenner and Learned Edmund were a bit more fleshed out. From Zevran to Astarion, the neutral/evil charismatic rogue is my favourite type of character in these kinds of stories, but Brenner didn't get enough of a chance to shine. The world itself also needs a bit more depth, and whilst I liked the whole artificer focus, I am looking forward to more of it. The world came to life when Kingfisher chose to add something a bit more macabre to it (the dancing rat corpses were particularly memorable), and I hope she brings together her fantasy and horror sides a bit more in the second volume (yes, it is a duology, although old-school fantasy writers would have easily made this length of a text into one volume).

I chose to read this book because I am currently obsessed with BG3, and it delivered. It does not offer anything innovative, but it is really well executed.

4.75/5
This was a reread for me as I have read the Indie pub version...and no surprise, I still love it! Do a lot of T. Kingfisher male love interests blend together? Sure, but I eat it up every time! I also think this duology could've been one book, so the ending is pretty abrupt, but those are my only complaints.

Slate is tasked with the suicide mission of trying to stop the Clockwork Boys, mechanized soldiers who are wreaking havoc. She sets out with an assassin who had a fling with her in the past, an ex-paladin who is possessed by a demon and accidentally killed a bunch of nuns, and a very prudish scholar. Of course, there are many obstacles along the way and there is a lot of mutual pining between her and Sir Caliban, the hot ex-paladin. Caliban also has to come to terms with what it means to have been cast out of his order and forsaken by his god. Slate has to come to terms with the fact that she doesn't actually want to die and probably will at some point in their quest. I'm excited to see where the next book picks up!

Fun, funny in only the way that T. Kingfisher books are, sometimes disturbing, and always adventurous, this is a must read for fans of lighthearted fantasy.

I have recommended this to everyone i have spoken to since finishing.
This is such a fun fantasy
-amazing character
-amazing humour
-fun adventure
-quick paced
-i could picture everything perfectly

Cant wait to finish this story in the next book

This book continued the trend of loving every book I read by T Kingfisher. The way she writes characters is wonderful and I love the way some are older and don’t fit into the usual boxes for fantasy main characters. This one followed a 30 year old forger who is too old for this sh*t, her ex lover who is an assassin, a paladin possessed by a dead demon, and a young naive scholar who is scared of women. They are a rag tag team on a quest to find out about the clockwork boys to stop the ongoing war. There were tensions between some of the characters, some romantic notions too and plenty of hilarious dialogue ensues. It is a fantasy quest as you would expect but with humour, steampunk elements and some interesting additional characters and creatures. I like how she brings in elements I find cute or cozy or wholesome and how she brings in darker or sometimes horror elements and melds them together into a story and it really works. I will absolutely read everything and anything she publishes

Assassins, thieves, demons, carnivorous tattoos ( imagine your tattoo trying to eat you 😂!!), funny moments, mystery, and adventure.

A mission lead by an unlikely group:
⚙️Slate - a forger with a great sense of humour and a nose that can smell magic ( literally)
⚙️Caliban - a demon possessed paladin, or a shambling wreck of a paladin ( in his own words)
⚙️Learned Edmund - a misogynist scholar, who is actually quite naive to the ways of the world
⚙️Brenner - Slate’s murderous ex-lover and an assassin
Can they find the secret of the Clockwork Boys?

I finished this fun and fast-paced fantasy in two days. What I liked the most were Slate and Caliban’s interactions, they were hilarious! As well Caliban’s sudden speech in demon tongues which sounded so funny while being slightly unsettling 😅.

I think this book contained some great interesting ideas, but I hoped for more world-building, you are more or less thrown in the middle of the story and the book is quite short. That being said I will probably pick up the next one because I do love T Kingfisher’s slightly odd ideas, like carnivorous tattoos, that’s just brilliant!😂.

Thank you Titan Books for the review copy. All thoughts are my own.

Clockwork Boys is the really fun, first part of a duology that tells the story of a band of mostly criminal misfits sent to find out what makes the Clockwork Boys, a kind of marauding, four- or six-legged almost unbeatable army from the nearby city-state, function. This first book covers their formation as a group, and an eventful journey across enemy lines, to put themselves in a position to discover more about the Clockwork Boys.

The story is comic and mainly told from two of the group's key characters; Slate, a treasonous forger (she's in charge), and Caliban, a paladin previously possessed by a demon and convicted of murdering multiple nuns. Brenner, an assassin, and Learned Edmund, a scholar, make up the rest of the band. The group gets themselves into several scrapes, and there's plenty of banter and shenanigans between them. The whole book has the feel of a Terry Pratchett story (which I mean as the highest compliment) with crazy creatures, oddities occurring and a certain degree of sarcasm and weirdness. For example, Slate has huge amounts of allergies which lead to Caliban constantly buying and providing handkerchiefs for her, but also sneezes in the presence of magic – she senses it by smelling rosemary, which overpowers her senses, and sends her into a sneezing fit!

This was a great start to the story, though it felt a little unfinished, presumably because of where it had to be cut to make the duology, which is why I have only rated it a four. However, I suspect once I've read the second book, the whole of the duology might be five stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

4.5 ⭐️

I did not know what to expect going into this book. The plot sounded interesting, but with like all other T.Kingfisher books I've read, nothing will ever go how you think it will.

This book definitely has a slow pace and a lot of unanswered questions, but the budding formed family is starting to take place, and my heart is full.

Once again, there are the weird and magical elements that come along with any T.Kingfisher book, and this one was no exception. I think, though, the weird and the magical threw me off guard by just how completely bizarre they were.

I am super excited to check out the second book in the series, and hopefully, the pacing picks up more compared to this one🤭

As expected this was EXCELLENT! A forger, an assassin, a paladin and a scholar all get sent off on a mission to try and save the world (essentially) and hilarity ensues. I loved the hints at back story for Slate, always hapy to see gnoles popping up, a disgraced paladin - yes please! Roll on part two I need to find out what happens to our gang!!

Review: Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys is a refreshing blend of fantasy, heist adventure, and dark humor, featuring a ragtag group of criminals and misfits sent on a near-suicidal mission. The book follows Slate, a forger with a sharp tongue, Brenner, a deadly assassin, Caliban, a disgraced paladin haunted by a demon, and Learned Edmund, an overly innocent scholar. Together, they must infiltrate enemy territory to uncover the secrets of the terrifying Clockwork Boys—unstoppable mechanical constructs devastating their homeland.

What sets Clockwork Boys apart is its tone. While the premise leans dark, Kingfisher’s writing is filled with wit, sarcasm, and dry humor that balance out the bleakness. The characters are all deeply flawed yet compelling, and their interactions—especially the reluctant camaraderie between them—are one of the novel’s highlights. Slate’s pragmatic leadership and Caliban’s struggle with his past add emotional depth, while Brenner’s deadpan menace and Edmund’s obliviousness provide comedic contrast.

The worldbuilding is intriguing but not overly complex, with a mix of magic, religious orders, and steampunk-like elements. The pacing leans more on character dynamics and setup rather than high-action sequences, making it feel more like a road trip adventure than a traditional heist novel. Since it’s the first book in a duology (followed by The Wonder Engine), it ends on an unfinished note, but the journey is engaging enough to make the next book a must-read.

Overall, Clockwork Boys is a fun, character-driven fantasy with sharp dialogue, a bit of romance, and just the right amount of darkness. If you enjoy found family dynamics, morally gray protagonists, and a plot that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this book is worth picking up.

I’m a like time T Kingfisher fan and this was a fun addition to her catalogue. It features her usual quirky characters and blend of humour and action. The set up was great and while it was a quick read, I enjoyed every moment of it.

This is my first T.Kingfisher book and overall I loved the humour and the general adventure vibe it gave. The characters were unique and I loved the dynamic we saw in the band of adventurers. This was a great first installment to the adventure and left me wanting to know what happens next. Lighthearted and fun to read.

4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2025/03/06/review-clockwork-boys-clocktaur-war-no-1-by-t-kingfisher/
My FIve Word TL:DR Review:The RIght Book/Right Time

I was really happy to pick up Clockwork Boys, I’m really enjoying Kingfisher’s books, she has such a lovely style and she writes such great characters. There’s always a bit of humour injected and more often than not a low stake style romance in the offing that never threatens to become all encompassing.

The story gets off to a quick start. We meet Slate as she peruses the inmates of a jail looking for a likely character to join an impossible mission. Slate has a mission, to travel across hostile land and infiltrate the neighbouring city that her country is currently at war with – and in dire need of help. The enemy have a robotic sort of army and Slate and her companions need to cross the country, secretly enter Anuket City, and find out the secrets of the Clockwork Boys.

This is quite a short story but there’s no shortage of action or likable characters.

Slate, and two of her companions, are criminals. Should they succeed on their mission pardons will be forthcoming and to keep them in line and prevent any wild ideas about absconding they’re tattooed with a magical image – a tattoo that will literally attack them should they veer from the mission.

So, Slate is a forger. Brenner is an assassin and Calliban (the newest recruit) is a disgraced paladin who seems to harbour a dead demon. To complicate matters further Slate and Brenner previously shared an intimate relationship which has now ended although Brenner still hopes for things to be rekindled. Calliban also fairly quickly forms an attraction to the prickly leader of the group and this adds an extra layer in the form of Brenner and Calliban constantly having a go at each other. The three are joined by a scholar with some very sheltered opinions when it comes to female leadership. Anyway, off they set, they have little hope and Slate is definitely harboring some sort of secret that will come to light in book 2.

What I really liked about this. The writing is lovely, which wasn’t a surprise given the author. The characters are actually really good fun. Kingfisher is adept at inserting humour into salty situations and I just love that about her work.

The characters are really put through the mill with all sorts of weird encounters – not least of which being attacked by vegetables, kidnapped by scary ‘deer’ beasts and traversing an unusual landscape that can change on a whim.

I would mention that this book is not a standalone and indeed finishes at what I would say is probably the halfway point. I didn’t find this a problem although I have a deep hankering for the next book already.

I had a very good time with this, it’s entertaining, the characters are easy to get along with, there’s enough adventure to make the pages practically turn themselves and, put bluntly, I had a lot of fun.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I loved this. Kingfisher has a skill of taking very dark ideas and pumping them full of comedy to the point where it's entirely believable. Man eating tattoos and suicide missions with the handsome former knight and the joy of one sure thing in life. Everything will go wrong. Oh the rats, that was so creepy and twisted.

Except Kingfisher has a delightful trick up her sleeve where she writes good characters. In so many books, people are terrible for no reason but she understands that the default settings for most people is kindness. People do terrible things to survive, but that doesn't make it the whole self, and it's so refreshing reading books where people help each other out because that's what people like to do.

This is not her best work by far, but I think you can see the groundwork for her later books in it and when releasing older stories, its a delight to see how concepts first played with have been shined up in later novels. I look forward to reading the sequel too..

This was a really fun and light-hearted fantasy, about a group of criminals going on a seemingly impossible quest. The dynamics between the characters were all really fun, and I especially liked the trope of Knight fallen from grace. Slate was a fascinating character and had a lot of character depth that could be explored. I'd read mostly horror from the author previously, so I was incredibly impressed that they can also write a really good fantasy novel!

Clockwork Boys (and its sequel, Wonder Engine, together making up up the Clocktaur War duology) is probably the funniest thing T. Kingfisher has written. I am not saying this lightly: I am a big fan of the author's work, and find her ability to navigate the sliding scale of heart-warming romance to eldtrich decapitations, sprinkled generously with Pratchettian sense of justice and approach to humor, second to none. Here, she combining these all into a propulsive story about a forger, her trigger-happy ex, a disgraced demon-slaying paladin, and a sheltered snooty little scholar on a suicide mission -- and it's good at that, it's all of these things, but above all it's HILARIOUS, pause-reading-just-to-have-a-wheezing laugh kind of funny. I don't know how she does it, have such a capacity for humor that makes what could have been an egdy, sarcastic book into a darkly hilarious and warm one. It's also the duology that gave us the world of Swordheart and White Rat Temple stories, and you don't loose anything by reading the Clocktaur War after those like I did: they stand alone in their own right. I honestly may reread this more often than her fluffier books, it's just so enjoyable.

4 stars

This was so much fun!!! A lot of fantasy and adventures. The banter was perfection and my favorite part of the story.
It was interesting, fast-paced, and the magic system was fun to read, and it has the amazing T. Kingfisher writing style.
Overall, it was fantastic!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.