Mainspring

Jay Lake

Tor Science Fiction

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Jay Lake’s first trade novel is an astounding 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 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.

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Book Excerpts

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Chapter 1
The angel gleamed in the light of Hethor’s reading candle bright as any brasswork automaton. The young man clutched his threadbare coverlet in the irrational hope that the quilted cotton scraps could shield him from whatever power had invaded his attic room. Trembling, he closed his eyes.
His master, the clockmaker Franklin Bodean, had taught Hethor to listen to the mechanisms of their work. But he’d found that he could listen to life, too. Hethor heard first and always his own breathing, even now heavy and slow despite his burgeoning sense of fear.

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Praise for Mainspring

“A dark, wild mix of machine and magic—an impressive debut novel from short story maestro Jay Lake.”--Greg Bear on Mainspring
 
"In Mainspring, Lake has created a grandiose, thoroughly engaging blasphemy.
This book blends the best of nostalgic adventure fiction with a genuinely
fresh voice and ideas. An instant steampunk classic." --Cory Doctorow, author of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town 

"From the sweeping mechanisms of his clockwork world, down to the subtle movements of his characters, all drawn with a clockmaker's eye, Lake gives us a story both grand and intimate, smart and savvy... and a whole lot of fun to boot."  --Hal Duncan, author of Vellum on Mainspring
 

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About the Author

Jay Lake

Jay Lake is the winner of the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He is the author of over 100 published short stories, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award.

Jay Lake

Mary Elizabeth Lake
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Available Formats and Book Details

Mainspring
Jay Lake

Mass Market Paperbound

Mass Market Paperbound
Tom Doherty Associates
Tor Science Fiction
April 2008
Mass Market Paperbound
ISBN: 9780765356369
ISBN10: 0765356368
4 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches, 368 pages
$7.99
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Unabridged Digital Audio

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Unabridged Digital Audio
Macmillan Audio
November 2007
Unabridged Digital Audio
ISBN: 9781427204899
ISBN10: 1427204896
Audio Run Time: 13:30
$22.95

Hardcover

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Hardcover
Tom Doherty Associates
Tor Books
June 2007
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780765317087
ISBN10: 0765317087
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 320 pages
$24.95

e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
Tom Doherty Associates
Tor Books
April 2008
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429933728
ISBN10: 1429933720
320 pages
$7.99
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