Angelmaker

Picture Neil Gaiman and Kurt Vonnegut at their peaks writing a book together. This might be the result. A mad romp through speculative fiction, weaving in and out of actual history to produce a story both mad in its premise and even more-so in its scope. Even a dog gets an inner-monologue. I'll not insult the book by trying to summarize it.

This is my first exposure to Nick Harkaway (based on a review of the book online) and it was well worth it. This is also the first performance by Daniel Weyman I've listened to. He only added to the joy of listening. I will certainly be looking for other works from these gentlemen.

Treat yourself.

After I fell head over heels for Harkaway's spectacular "The Gone-Away World," "Angelmaker" became my most anticipated book of 2012. My patience was well rewarded! With scintillating wit and seemingly effortless style, Harkaway delivered another absurd and glorious adventure, introducing vibrant, complex characters and a frenetic, magnificently layered world for them to inhabit.

Better still, Daniel Weyman gives one of the most animated, engaging audiobook performances I've experienced. This is a must-buy!

And now I want to reread "The Gone-Away World."

Here's the thing. I very rarely give a book five stars. As a Mainer, I was brought up to practice moderation. To say I liked a book is fine, but to say I LOVED it is a display of flamboyant emotion my fellow Mainers would look at askance. But there's no help for it; I did love this book.

Now the hard part. What's it about? Well, it's an old-fashioned tale of British Empire swashbuckling adventure (think The Man Who Would Be King, or King Solomon's Mines), a science fiction technology nightmare, a family drama, a coming-of-age story, a jeremiad against contemporary finance-world fiddles and the modern Orwellian state that tortures its citizens to protect our freedoms, a tragedy, a comedy, a romance. Hmm, that's not very helpful in giving you a picture of the book, is it? What if I say it's about a supervillain known as the Opium Khan who, with his "Ruskinites," an army of black-clad man-machines, and aided by the cynical complicity of the modern security state, works tirelessly over decades to achieve the power of a god over all of humanity, all the while countered by ingenious men and women and their steampunkish submarines, trains, various other devices and a network of extremely quirky characters and one ancient, blind, bad-tempered and one-toothed pug? No, I thought not.

Let's try another tack and look at the plot. Joshua Joseph Spork is a young, London clock maker and restorer of various types of clever machines, like Victorian automata. He is the son of the late ingenious and flashy gangster, Matthew "Tommy Gun" Spork, and the grandson of Matthew's disapproving clockmaker father, Daniel. Despite his love for his father and affection for the gangster world of the Night Market, where the criminal underworld meets periodically in a grand secret bazaar, Joe is so determined not to be like him that he has, as he says, dedicated his life to being mild. He's a quiet, law-abiding man, so shy and retiring he can't even bring himself to follow through on the world's most obvious hint when a generously bosomed barmaid places his hand over her heart.

Joe isn't a complete saint, though. He knows the sin of covetousness when he doggedly visits ancient Edie Bannister and feels sure she's working up to offering him some really excellent piece of machinery to work on. And she is, but she might have left it just a little late. What she has is a piece of a device that, like the atomic bomb, has the power to end all wars or destroy the world, depending on who controls it. And, suddenly, a lot of very bad men, including government men, want to be the ones to get their hands on it and are willing to do anything to Edie, Joe and everyone they ever knew to achieve their goal.

There follows a tale of dazzling imagination and invention that takes us back in time to Edie's youth as a highly skilled government agent doing battle with super villain Shem Shem Tsien and falling in love with Joe's genius inventor grandmother––the creator of the sought-after device. This long trip into the past is no digression, though, because everything that happens there is supremely important to Joe's story in the present.

In fact, though this is a long book crammed to the bursting point with anecdotes, people, places and things, not a single bit of it is frippery. It's all a part of the grand and intricate machinery that drives this epic story, one in which Joe ceases to be mild and embraces everything he ever learned from Matthew and his world. Why? So he can save the universe, of course.

All of the characters in this book are deftly drawn, the plot is always easy to follow despite its complexity, and Harkaway writes with a scintillating and abundant style that is just to the good side of florid. I'd say the book would make a crackerjack movie, except you'd miss the playful ingenuity of Harkaway's prose.

Harkaway is the son of famed espionage writer John le Carré. I imagine he knows a thing or two about growing up with a larger-than-life father, and that has added poignancy to Joe's story. Harkaway has chosen to follow his father's career and I'm glad he did. Though I warn you that this book may ruin you for any other reading for awhile. When I finished it, I was still so under its spell that nothing else appealed to me. I think I'll just give up and find a copy of Harkaway's first novel, The Gone-Away World.

A note about the audiobook: Daniel Weyman is the best possible narrator of this book. He understands that this is a story that needs to be ACTED, with absolute abandon, and he throws himself into it with all the energy and dash it deserves.

It's very disappointing when you see such wonderful reviews and one or two hours into the book you are thinking, am I listening to the same book? I listened and listened trying to get hooked on something -- the story, the characters, etc. But finally gave up after about 4 hours of boredom. I think a good book should grab your attention within the first hour and this one just did not do that for me. On a positive note, the narrator did a fabulous job and my disinterest was not due to his performance.

Some writers I love for their biting irreverant satire, like Vonnegut, Swift and Twain. Some writers I love for their opulent, vivid use of language, like Tom Robbins and Robert Anton Wilson. And some I love for the sheer inventiveness of their storytelling, like Neil Gaiman and Michael Chabon.

Nick Harkaway managed all of the above in his first novel, "The Gone Away World" (TGAW).

Therefore, I was both looking forward to - and dreading - Harkaway's second work, "Angelmaker". It seemed like I would almost certainly be disappointed.

I wasn't: if anything, "Angelmaker" represents a tighter, more focused narrative - while maintaining the strengths that made TGAW such a joy. Furthermore, "Angelmaker" isn't hampered by a contrived plot twist that was a sour note for me in TGAW.

As with TGAW, "Angelmaker" flits between genres with ease: is it spy thriller? Sort of. A mystery? Kind of. A sci-fi adventure? A bit. A gangster tale? Somewhat. It really defies category, and that's one of Harkaway's gifts… he plays with the tropes of genre without being constrained by them, and the results are delightful. Finally, Harkaway's characters are rich and amusing, and their dialogue frequently sparkles.

Both of the Audible versions of the books are deftly narrated: some of the best performances among my (several dozen) audiobooks. The narrators are able to breathe life into the character's voices, helping you enjoy them as the distinct personalities that they are.

A clockwork repair guy trying to live a quiet, below-the-radar life in an alternate-present London gets embroiled in a quest to save the world from a doomsday device that works by causing people to experience existential despair.

This is a swashbuckling, steampunkish story, with a lot (but not too much) complexity and Daniel Weyman performs it very well. It's a little like a Neal Stephenson novel, but not nearly so thoughtful. That's why I've given the story three stars. It seemed like too intelligent of a construction to end by romanticizing gangsters and a climax that's an explosion of gleeful violence. Harkaway tries to fudge the issue by making the villain ridiculously evil and his minions a sort of automaton, but you can't have your cake and eat it, too. Either you're smarter than the average action movie, or you're not, and ultimately, Angelmaker isn't. Still, I enjoyed it.

This is a really fun read. I loved Harkaway's Gone Away World which is why I picked this one up, and it did not disappoint. He is the kind of author that provides just the right amount of imagination and oddity that the world seems believable - not fantasy - yet has that adventurous quality I long for in a novel. It is the kind of book that sends me back to audible right away in hopes of finding another great journey.

This might be the most unique book I have listened to and I have listened to a lot.. At first I came close to quitting because it sounded contrived. At the end I feel the author wrote a book so unique and so imaginative that the word genius comes to mind.
The narrator is very good however the production was somewhat lacking with pauses where there should not be.
Recommendation: If you choose to listen to this book, spend the time to follow the plot and characters. I did not at first and lost the thread to some of the story lines and characters.
This is the only book on tape that I plan on re listening to. Bravo Nick Harkaway it would interesting to meet you.

Yes

Joe, loved the way he had to discover things

It was very consistent which is what you want in a audio book

Both story and narration were superb.

Unusual characters portrayed by narrator with humor and gusto.

My mind's ear would not have voice the characters so colorfully.

It was a "page turner," but fun to listen to over a course of weeks.

I will look for more audiobooks by this narrator.