The Clock Winked

The Sagittan Chronicles #2

by Ariele Sieling

Soon after young Auvek Oliphant finds himself the unintentional curator of his uncle's bookstore, a series of strange events leads him and his new friend Bronwyn towards unraveling an old mystery - the mystery of the winking clock. Meanwhile, Sauvignon Pincer, a local journalist, investigates a series of seemingly normal incidents around the city, which lead him into the middle of a growing altercation between two opposing gangs.

This science fiction tale will pull readers into a brand new world filled with mystery and intrigue, as well as humor and fun.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

206 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2013

About the author

Ariele Sieling is a Pennsylvania-based writer who enjoys books, cats, and trees. Her first love, however, is science fiction and she has three series in the genre: post-apocalyptic monsters in Land of Szornyek; soft science fiction series, The Sagittan Chronicles; and scifi fairytale retellings in Rove City. She has also had numerous short stories published in a variety of anthologies and magazines and is the author of children's books series Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep, and a series of books for authors called Writers Reach.

She lives with her spouse, enormous Great Pyrenees dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[John Maberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Clock Winked carries on the wacky world of Pomegranate City's characters (used in the slang vernacular, rather than the people within a novel). If you liked the first book in the series, Wounded World you'll probably like this one too. The author adds some interesting new characters, like an android monkey to keep readers on their toes. There are some challenges, as in the first, understanding who is who and why they are doing what they are doing. But I got past that and you can too if you find the whimsical action and dialogue amusing like I did. If I said much more, you'd get spoilers. You can get enough idea from the description here on Goodreads or Amazon to know what the book is about.

[R J Royer · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I would like to say that I really enjoyed this book. I think that the premise is a bit odd but that makes it even more enjoyable because it actually works. I mean how often do you see a talking monkey in a bookstore that helps to put the worlds to right in a sci-fi book? This book could have been a total disaster but it ends up being a fun romp through several areas of literary and action adventure serials.

That being said there are several things about the book I wanted to know more about that are never really explained like the ranks and names inside families and how they developed and why they are so strict about them. Are the people genetically altered to become what they are supposed to and then why is it only some people are bound by the name rank issue? Our lead male character that ends up running the bookstore is a registered accountant and our lead female character has no such forced requirements which is probably because she is "alien" to the world she is on, the reporter however is not yet he seems to be unbound by the naming as is the butler's brother though Butler is.

The fun part is much more interesting though making the book a very good read with strong characters and fun dialog. Any book that uses a quote that I could hear my Grandmother using always makes me giggle and this one does.

[Kurt Springs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.

Synopsis:

Being a book seller isn’t easy in Pomegranate City. Auvek Oliphant was just supposed to be interning with his uncle, William Oliphant XXXIV at William Oliphant, Bookseller. After a mad outburst by his uncle, Auvek finds himself running the bookstore. A series of strange events leads Auvek and his new friends to try to solve the generations old mystery of a winking clock. Auvek and his friends Bronwyn, Salve, and a robot monkey named Simon find themselves drawn into a gang war. It is a war that can only be stopped by resetting the clock.

Also on the trail are Quin and John from the first novel of the Sagittn Chronicles novel, The Wounded World.

Review:

Like The Wounded World, The Clock Winked is an entertaining though cerebral story. Quin Black and his friend John are back, but they are more supporting characters. The ideas for the universe Ariele Sieling created are interesting. The humorous elements are still extant. There are more characters, and Ariele Sieling tends to jump from point of view to point of view. This is problematic since Auvek seems to only nominally be the protagonist. As with The Wounded World, there is still and element of un-seriousness in the story. So the series has not evolved into a page turner, but is still entertaining.

[Laci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review.

Instantly I was taken into this story that involved an old bookstore owned by generations of Oliphant men. Auvek Oliphant comes into the story as a family member wanting to intern in the bookstore. In a whirlwind story that involves a clock that predicts the end of time, a little fantasy/sci-fi, a helpful robot monkey, and a long standing feud between two families willing to fight to the end; I found myself not wanting to put the book down until I finished it.

I did find myself at times feeling a little confused. It is set on a different planet, which took me awhile to figure out. I felt that the author just assumed that the reader knew the setting. And switching between characters back and forth throughout became a bit much at times. Some characters just didn't have the depth and I found myself trying to remember who they were and why they were important to the story. I would have liked more detail to characters and setting, and even a year/place at the beginning would have helped establish that for me.

Overall, I loved the concept for this story! Something original,mixed with fantasy/sci-fi and an old bookstore is the makings of a good read.
I'm hoping to read more from Ariele Sieling:)

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The concept was so original to me and sounded so intriguing, but I spent so much of the book confused out of my mind. I even re-read the beginning a few times to try and see if I missed something, but to no avail. I never really figured out what was going on with several of the characters and was unable to get a good visual on where they were or a good grasp on the culture. This book was very difficult for me to finish and I almost didn't finish it. I will say that the general concept of the book made sense to me and I loved the idea, for me, it was not descriptive enough for me to form a good picture of what the author wanted.

Like I said, I wanted to enjoy this book, but I guess it just was not a book for me to read. I would like to try another one of Ariele Sieling's books though, to see how it compares.

I give it 1.5 stars.

[Linda Hamonou · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome roller coaster. This is exactly what this book is.

You are here to solve the mystery of the clock that winked and so is a myriad of characters. It starts very easily in a bookstore, that part was really funny, I like the behavior of William Oliphant. Then the rhythm accelerates and you have to keep going, to truly understand what's going on and who is who.
Nothing you believe is real. The characters keep on changing in front of you in a great game of spy, betrayal and alliance.
I really enjoyed this book. It's an easy read if you pay attention and don't ask yourself too much question in the middle. Everything will be explained and make sense in the end.

[Amy (DemonKittie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review*

This wasn't what I was expecting, but it was pretty dang good. It was very bookcentric. I loved that. It had a good story in it and the characters were interesting. It was well worth reading and I read it in one sitting and quickly when I finally sat down to read again. I love the legend in this book as it is not like I have ever read before.

[Korin: A Crone Running Amok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soon after young Auvek Oliphant finds himself the unintentional curator of his uncle's bookstore, a series of strange events lead him and his new friend Bronwyn towards unraveling an old mystery - the legend of the winking clock. Meanwhile, Sauvignon Pincer, a local journalist, investigates a series of seemingly normal incidents around the city, which lead him into the middle of a growing altercation between two opposing gangs.
A very well done work.

[Aviar Savijon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Clock Winder

A most interesting read. Something that is good for everyone to experience. It was far above what I expected. Hopefully you will feel the same way once you have read it.

[p m caunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

The story was a bit whimsical, but enjoyable to read. Liked the characters, especially the monkey. It does say book 2, but it didn't seem to matter as the story was good on it's own.

[Eva Ruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story. It seems like a Young Adult since the characters are "young" but not really defined as adults versus kids.

The characters were interesting and the plot would make a good introduction to science fiction.

[Lori D Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

Full of odd twists and turns. At each corner a new supposition creeps through the crack of doors open and amazes one with a new twist.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very difficult to keep the characters straight because they were all basically interchangeable.