The Clockwork Crow

Product Information

Als ich mit dem Lesen begann, war ich mir bereits nach wenigen Seiten ziemlich sicher, dass ich mal wieder einen absoluten Glückstreffer gelandet habe.

She arrives at their home in Wales to find everyone in the family missing and no logical explanation given to her. It's a very short book, perhaps a little too short, as I felt that I was never given time to fully ponder the mystery before the answers were provided to us. I really, for a moment, was there in Plas-y Fran and felt the loneliness hanging in the air of the dark mansion.Catherine’s writing sparkles with energy and, quite often, one finds oneself rereading sections and marvelling at the talent of this extraordinary author. The Clockwork Crow’within the stranger’s parcel only adds to the mystery, and Seren’s need for truth….

Left to her own devices, Seren unwraps the mysterious parcel and discovers a pile of clockwork pieces and assembles them to build a clockwork crow which surprises her by coming to life. I liked the feel of the book, but the only downside of it being short was that we didn’t really get a feel for Seren. The Welsh words were spotted (one member had enlisted her Welsh speaking grandparents to translate) and we looked at maps of the UK to find Wales (and Scotland, England and Northern Ireland while we were looking). To me the cover screamed magic and mystery and my first thought when picking it up was ‘what mystery would this book entail?The Clockwork Crow himself made for a perfect companion and sounding board for Seren, and his witty remarks and haughty attitude were the most memorable parts of the book, so I'm really hoping we see him again in the next stories to solve the mystery of how he came to be. There was just the right amount of choice to suit everyone without being overwhelming and I received comments from parents and staff about the quality of books offered compared to previous sales which have always been based around current crazes and well known celebrity authors. Ich habe daher aus Interesse mal der englischsprachigen Ausgabe von „Stella und der Mondscheinvogel“ auf Goodreads einen Besuch abgestattet und dabei erfahren, dass es bereits zwei Folgebände auf Englisch gibt. Seren can picture it all: Captain Jones would be mustached, tall and imposing, and Lady Mair is sure to be lovely and kind. No audience ever got to explore the various areas of Volcano’s vast Iceland building transformed into the array of fascinating and fantastical settings that made up the orphan Seren’s journey to (and new adventures in) the frosty country mansion of Plas y Fran, accompanied by her annoying mechanical companion.

She’s strong and curious, but we don’t know enough about her motivations or even why she didn’t go to this godparent instead of the orphanage etc. Seren is star in Welsh so we checked whether our names had hidden meanings and thought of the names we should have. Deep below the earth, she walks through a meadow and then a wood and then, “beyond the wood, high on a hill of snow, there rose a palace.But while at the train station she meets a man who gets a little nervous when he hears a strange noise. Problems – There were no problems for me in this book, it was something exciting to read and different from what I usually read. Firefly Press) A tall stranger entrusts Seren with The Clockwork Crow wrapped in newspaper, tied with string, on a cold train platform. I love the Victorian era so this gets extra points for taking place during that time and also having fantasy elements, which make it even better.