Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare Pages: 336
Published by Macmillan/Imprint on February 20, 2018
Series: Ink Iron and Glass #1
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy & Magic, Steampunk
Source: ARC from Publisher
Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation by her mother—a noted scriptologist.
But when her home is attacked and her mother abducted, Elsa must cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative 19th-century Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of pazzerellones—young people with a gift for mechanics, alchemy or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and a tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
In this thrilling debut, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created—and only she can stop it.
Ink, Iron, and Glass is the first book in a new duology by the same name from debut novelist Gwendolyn Clare. Ink, Iron, and Glass is a steampunk fantasy duology about a world where a type of science called scriptology exists. Scriptology is a science magic hybrid where the “scientist” can actually create a new world by scripting or writing it into existence. This concept gripped me right from the start. How awesome and complex it would be. And I was immediately intrigued to see how Gwendolyn Clare would handle such a big idea. And I have to say, she handled it really well. I loved that she didn’t water the idea of writing a world into existence. She embraced how complicated and complex it would be. You have to make it livable world. If you create a world that does not support air, then everyone in that world would die. Same with gravity, warmth, food. Creating a world was not just about writing flowery descriptions of the rolling hills and beautiful field of flowers. Your coding had to back up with a world that was actually inhabitable. And I loved that. That also meant that the start of the book is a little dense. In a good way. There is a lot going on in the world of Ink, Iron, and Glass.
Ink, Iron, and Glass is a book that really builds as it goes on. It was a book that just kept getting better and better. By the time I was done, I didn’t want it to end. I loved the whole gang of characters. We follow Elsa who is on a quest to find her worldbook, after her home world was attacked. Elsa is a special kind of person and soon she finds herself a group of people who have abilities like she does. The group home kind of reminded me of refuge for masterminds, but with a magical element. They are called pazzerellones, and it was here that the steampunk elements of the story really came to life. I loved watching Elsa interact with people who were gifted either mechanically, or able to perform alchemy or scriptology, like she could. They set off to help her find her wolrd book, and they become entwined in something much larger than they expected. I loved the politics and all of the secrets.
Ink, Iron and Glass combines so many elements that I love in a fantasy. It has great characters, a really cool science and magic system, and a great plot line. The world itself was my favorite part of the novel. I just could not get enough of Scriptology. I really appreciate how much time and detail Gwendolyn Clare went into. She describes the world structure very well, which gave me a really solid foundation while I was reading. And then the adventure she sends the characters on was great. I loved some of the twists and secrets that were revealed, and I really liked the friendships that were formed. I was so happy to see positive friendships come from the group of pazzerellones.
Ink, Iron and Glass is a fantastic debut novel, filled with magic, politics, intrigue, magic and a really fascinatingly complex world. This novel had me thinking all kinds of fantastical things. I cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy of this one as well. The cover is stunning. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book. I am excited to see how this duology wraps up. This is a book you want to keep on your radar for sure.
Dive into the 'fascinatingly complex world' of Ink, Iron, and Glass by @gwendoclare @FierceReads @Imprintreads. @BookBriefs #ARC #Review Click To Tweet
About Gwendolyn Clare
Gwendolyn Clare’s debut novel — INK, IRON, AND GLASS — is the first in a steampunk duology about a young mad scientist with the ability to write new worlds into existence, forthcoming from Imprint in 2018. Her short stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others, and her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award. She holds a BA in Ecology, a BS in Geophysics, a PhD in Mycology, and swears she’s done collecting acronyms. She lives in North Carolina with too many cats, too many ducks, and never enough books.
Natalie Aguirre
So glad you liked this so much. I am interviewing Gwendolyn on my blog next week and can’t wait to read this. The world building sounds fantastic.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I’ll definitely be putting this one on my TBR list! I had flagged it as intriguing, but wasn’t sure I wanted to read it. But all that stuff about the worldbuilding? Yes, please.
Dianna
I think my daughter would LOVE this book! Can’t wait to tell her about it.
SABINA EDWARDS
I totally get lured in by an awesome book cover
Jen
Oh this book sounds AMAZING! I love all of those elements too and I’m so happy to hear that it’s just a duology. It’s so nice knowing that it won’t take as long to see how the story wraps up. Wonderful review, Michelle!