Clockwork : Or All Wound Up

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Summary: Scary fairytale!
Review: Clockwork is the first book that I've read by the author Philip Pullman. It is also the first book I've read in a fairytale style. At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy Clockwork because I usually don't read fairytales, but once I got into it, I started to enjoy it! It was scary, and I like scary stories. It was also very complex, a sort of story inside a story inside a story - if you know what I mean. I recommend this book for older kids. My favorite part is when Fritz the writer is reading his story.

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Summary: Philip Pullman does it again
Review: Great book. Very creepy, with some great suspense. The illustrations are beautiful and very appropriate. Some readers have pointed out that the characters are underdeveloped--yes, they are, but that's not at all a fault, as this is a story in the style of folktales, where the characters aren't meant to be fully developed. They don't have to be. All of you who were enchanted by Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy will want to check this out. It's an entertaining quick read, and it will satisfy your hunger for more Philip Pullman books.

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Summary: a fine fairy tale in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm
Review: Having read and enjoyed Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, I decided to read this tale. It is definitely a fairy story in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm -- not for very young readers, but very entertaining for kids over 10, I'd say. Three interconnected stories revolve around the deeds of the mysterious and ingenious Dr. Kalmenius and his dealings with princes, apprentices and clockwork mechanisms. Though it is 109 pages long, the type is big and there are over 20 full-page illustrations, so this would be a good book for a child who shows an interest in the genre and seems ready to move on to a lengthier and more complex format.

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Summary: Amazing Book!
Review: I absolutely love this book! 'Clockwork' is the only book I've ever read that's actually frightened me. I've never experienced so many emotions in one book and I'm so glad that I found it on my teacher's bookshelf. It was full of suspense and frightening encounters! I devoured it within a few hours and by the time I was finished I felt like something had a cold, iron grip around my heart. It was extraordinary...

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Summary: A wonderful story by a master story-teller.
Review: I am a huge fan of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, the first two in the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and am anxiously awaiting The Amber Spyglass, the third. Even though this is a different style of witing it is still very good. It has an amazingly complex plotline for such a short book. Set in a small town in Germany, it's about Karl,a clockmaker's apprentice, who must make a new clockwork figure for the famous clock in town square, Fritz, a novelist, who must finish his oddly spine ting story, Clockwork, before it's to late, and Gretl, a young barmaid, who becomes our brave heroine. It's an intriguing story that I recomend to anyone who enjoys the utterly strange mixed into their fantasy. (Note: The characters aren't very advanced and need imagination)

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Summary: A Page Turner
Review: I did not think that I would like this book, but it was a real page turner. This is a complex story of good and evil although the characters are not that developed the story still gets its point across. Karl does not start out as an evil character, but greed and power gets the best of him. I recommend this story to children 10 and up.

Rating:
Summary: Clockwork
Review: I didn't really like this book. We read it in class and I was absent for one day and became totally lost. The book moves too quickly and isn't fit for anyone with an IQ above four. It was an insult to my intelligence and I don't like books that take place in Germany, they are scary. I wish that Phillip could have come up with something more like the Golden Compass or the Subtle Knife, this book was definetly his worst work. I'm sorry to say that I could not sit in class while this book was being read, I was forced to block it out and pretend that I was on Who Wants To Be A Milliionare.

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Summary: A gem of a tale
Review: I discovered this book by chance in the local bookshop and bought it because I enjoyed Philip Pullman's other books. It's an haunting, spooky and ultimately romantic folktale in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm and Oscar Wilde. The characters are memorable, there is a strong moral element and the author's imagination powers the whole book like...well, like the clockwork described in the book. A great bedtime story for parents and children alike. I loved it!

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Summary: A complex fairy tale
Review: I had to read this one before I read it to my kids. I would suggest 9+ in years before reading it as it is somewhat scary and dark. Nonetheless it is a good, well written, and complex story which works forwards and then backwards and leaves the reader wondering what was real and what is not. For those Harry Potter fans looking for a quick book to tide them over - I would highly recommend this one. It certainly is true to its title.

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Summary: A REAL Disappointment
Review: I have read and liked other books by this author but this was a REALLY HORRIBLE disappointment. It skips back and forward in time in a fairly confusing way, because when it does that, it moves to locations that seem to have no purpose in the story. But even if you can follow that, the book is just plain creepy! It has horrible clockwork robots that'll kill you if you say a wrong word. I was also saddened by the fact it was such a short, easy read. It is also a purely recreational book; I got nothing out of it. So unless you like creepy, coufusing, short books, I think you might want to look for something else.