Lake, Jay: Mainspring
Mainspring (2007)
Written by: Jay Lake
Genre: Fantasy/Steampunk
Pages: 35/324
It was the cover that got to me, pure and simple. Especially the design and layout of the hardcover, as seen here. To be honest, the premise never really appealed to me, but Jay Lake is one of those big, up-and-coming names in the genre, and I felt compelled to give the book a shot when it came out in mass-market paperback. The only reason I tried to read it now was because he's got a new release, Green, that I'm somewhat interested in, but I have a personal rule: if I already own a book by an author I've not read before, I'm not allowed to buy ANOTHER book by that author until I read the book I've already got. The logic is simple: what if I hate the book I've got? If this happens, then I'll have saved money. Anyway, moving on.
The premise: because I didn't finish the book, here's what Barnes & Noble is sporting on their website: Jay Lake’s first trade novel is an astounding work of creation. Lake has envisioned a clockwork solar system, where the planets move in a vast system of gears around the lamp of the Sun. It is a universe where the hand of the Creator is visible to anyone who simply looks up into the sky, and sees the track of the heavens, the wheels of the Moon, and the great Equatorial gears of the Earth itself. Mainspring is the story of a young clockmaker's apprentice, who is visited by the Archangel Gabriel. He is told that he must take the Key Perilous and rewind the Mainspring of the Earth. It is running down, and disaster to the planet will ensue if it's not rewound. From innocence and ignorance to power and self-knowledge, the young man will make the long and perilous journey to the South Polar Axis, to fulfill the commandment of his God.
My Rating
Couldn't Finish It: no offense to Jay Lake, but here's the deal: from what I read, the world-building is amazing. It seems provide the punch of wonder that seems to be a requirement in the genre, especially back in the old days. Being a more modern reader of the genre, I don't require such a punch, and while I admire the imagination of what I read and what is clearly going into this book, I reached a point at the end of chapter one where I put the book down, mentally threw it across the room, and told myself it wouldn't work. I then went to Amazon.com to read reviews, and they confirmed what I suspected: characterization is lacking and people are good or they are bad, and our sympathies are meant to align on these very simple principles, and conflict comes out of these very simple principles. At the end of chapter one, there is a scene where Hethor is mugged, and the reason for the mugging is so infuriating that it triggered that mental throw I referenced earlier. As a reader, I can't stomach stuff like that. I want a certain complexity, and I want conflict to be an organic part of the plot. Now, it may very well be that the adversaries Hethor finds at the start come back later (surely they must!), but between the 35 pages I read and the reviews I read afterwards, I don't believe I'd be satisfied. The world-building is the star in this book, and while I love fantastic world-building as much as the next person, I have to have something else to go along with it.
And here's the thing: I got the book suspecting it wouldn't work for me, and I shouldn't have done that. I've reached a point where I'm getting pickier and pickier, and just because an author is the latest and greatest thing doesn't mean I'm going to go back to my trend-whore ways and read the book regardless of my instincts. This past month, I've taken certain proclaimed "jewels" and read several online reviews, and I've saved myself a lot of money because of it. This doesn't mean I won't EVER read those books, as there's always a chance a reviewer will speak directly to me as a reader and tell me exactly why I'll love a book others convinced me I'd not like at all, and this ALSO doesn't mean I won't EVER try anything by said author ever again. It just means I'm passing on that particular book.
Had I instituted this rule before I bought the Mainspring mass-market paperback, I would've passed on it. That doesn't mean I won't give Jay Lake a shot in the future: Green looks like it's far more up my alley, but I'm happy to wait for the mass-market, because I'm getting uber-picky about what I buy in hardcover as well. :)
Cover Commentary: The Stephen Martiniere cover art totally suckered me in. It's beautiful and I keep wanting to stare at it. However, I do wish the clockwork aspect of the world was a little more obvious in the art: I have to squint to see what little I do, and that's unfortunate. But my real complaint are the differences between the hardcover and the mass-market paperback you see here. I know that when a book reaches mass-market status, the cover has to somehow be flashier in order to catch the eye of the wandering book-buyer. Okay, fine, but do we really have to use such a gaudy bright yellow, and have the author's name cover up the art itself? That just makes me sad, and I almost bought the hardcover to get the design I preferred. I didn't, and that's a good thing. But still.