I’d like to have lunch with Ursula Vernon, a.k.a. T. Kingfisher. After perusing her blog and reading a few of her stories, I suspect she’d keep me engaged and entertained. Unfortunately, I’d probably bore her to tears…so I guess lunch is out. But she’s written a lot of books!

The Clocktaur War is a duology written by Ursula Vernon (when she’s creating art or writing for kids) under her pseudonym T. Kingfisher (when she’s writing for grown ups), and I felt like they were a great primer for future fans. The two books, Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine, are really one book in two parts, so don’t jump into book one thinking you’ll stop there.

This is a fun twist on a classic underdog story. There’s a war going on! Mysterious, enormous, statue-like, gear-and-ivory Clockwork Boys are roaming the country, crushing everyone and everything in their path. No city is safe! Alas, all attempts to send spies to the source of these autonomous destroying machine to figure out how to stop them and win the war have failed.

The last resort? Send the expendables–prisoners who would otherwise rot in their cells or be executed.

It’s a suicide mission anyway, right?

A skilled thief and document forger with really bad allergies. An oily assassin with impressive knife skills. A demon-slaying knight with his own demon problems. A naive, celibate monk with girl issues.

Help us, sarcastic band of misfits, criminals, and troubled souls. You’re our only hope!

This story is as fun as it is funny. Excellent writing, an engaging story, clever characters, rich sarcasm, unique world building. A nice love story mixed in as well.

Watch out for a bit of PG language in book 1 and an instance of PG-13 language in book 2. Probably best for 18 and up because of one mildly descriptive sex scene in chapter 37 of book 2.

Happy reading!