Description
Tempus Rerum Imperator: Time, Emperor of All Things
1758. England is embroiled in a globe-spanning conflict that stretches from her North American colonies to Europe and beyond. Across the Channel, the French prepare for an invasion - an invasion rumored to be led by none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie. It seems the map of Europe is about to be redrawn. Yet behind these dramatic scenes, another war is raging - a war that will determine not just the fate of nations but of humanity itself...
Daniel Quare is a journeyman in an ancient guild, The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. He is also a Regulator, part of an elite network within the guild devoted to searching out and claiming for England's exclusive use any horological innovation that could give them an upperhand, whether in business or in war.
Just such a mission has brought Quare to the London townhouse of eccentric collector, Lord Wichcote. He seeks a pocket watch rumoured to possess seemingly impossible properties that are more to do with magic than with any science familiar to Quare or to his superiors. And the strange
timepiece has attracted the attention of others as well: the mysterious masked thief known only as Grimalkin, and a deadly French spy who stop at nothing to bring the prize back to his masters. Soon Quare finds himself on a dangerous trail of intrigue and murder that leads far from the world he knows into an otherwhere of dragons and demigods, in which nothing is as it seems . . . time least of all.
This thrilling and acclaimed historical fantasy - set in a reimagined 18th-century - should strike a chord with readers of Susanna Clarke, Phillip Pullman and Neal Stephenson.
About the Author
Born in Zurich, Paul Witcover is a writer and critic and, with Elizabeth Hand, created the cult comic book series Anima. He has served as the curator of the New York Review of Science Fiction reading series and his work has also appeared on HBO. He lives in New York City and is currently working on the sequel to The Emperor of All Things.
Reviews
A hugely entertaining read...comparisons to Neil Stephenson and Susanna Clarke are only very slightly premature. As with the finest timepiece, The Emperor of All Things is ultimately a rather beautiful thing. * Independent on Sunday *
An excitingly and brilliantly realised, poetically written tale of magic, subterfuge and intrigue. Not to mention clocks. * SFFWORLD *
Witcover conjuers an enlightenment-punk vision of England, before taking detours to the Alps, subterranean London and the utterly fantastic. **** * SFX *
Vividly evokes an authentically dangerous, dirty and smelly 18th century London Henry Fielding would recognize. . . a real page-turner which had me gripped * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW *
Witcover's prose is playful yet persuasive...unrestrained by the conventions of any one genre...segueing seamlessly from wonder, whimsy and conspiracy to intrigue, espionage and action...thrilling. * TOR.COM *
Book Information
ISBN 9780857501592
Author Paul Witcover
Format Paperback
Page Count 576
Imprint Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 404g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 36mm
