Retrieve The Machinery Illustrated By Gerrard Cowan File

Prophecys time is coming to be fulfilled, After,years, the events are aligning that threaten the existence of the Overland and there seems no way to avoid their ruin.
The Machinery is breaking down and a world that has been guided by the Machinery and has accepted its arbitrary choices in leadership is floundering in chaos.


Who is assisting the Machinery or attempting to position themselves as the next leader A Strategist has been killed, the Machinery will choose the next leader, but all of the Strategists will be replaced, worthy of their position or not.
From the child Strategist to the Strategist who epitomizes gluttony and greed, no one is safe, Are more than their titles at stake

A boy has disappeared, where has he gone Only his sister searches for him in the Underworld, the land of the Machinery and its Operator, a land no one dares to venture to.
Conspiracies, myths, political backstabbing, leaders going insane, are these pieces of the Prophecy

Gerrard Cowan has penned some high fantasy with a dark and chaotic feel.
A huge cast of characters come together to play their parts and there is mystery surrounding all of them.
Are they concerned for their dystopian world or for their own positions Gerrard Cown weaves an entangled web, never giving too much away, often switching from scene to scene, character to character, subplot to subplot.
Even his use of dialogue keeps one on edge, paying attention, Like a huge puzzle, the pieces do not all into place easily, but they must be there, who has the missing pieces Will the prophecy be fulfilled
Pay close attention, learn the characters, remember the events and do NOT get lost in the Underworld.


I received this ARC edition via Gerrard Cowan and Harper Voyager in exchange for my honest review.


Publication Date: September,
Publisher: Harper Voyager
ISBN
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
Print Length:pages
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I received an eARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review,

Have you ever read a book that left you wondering what the heck and wanting more all at the same time The Machinery by Gerrard Cowan is that book! With its name and even its description I was expecting an epic scifi adventure, but it didnt take but just the first chapter to correct that assumption.
The Machinery falls more into an epic fantasy with elements of scifi thrown in, Honestly it was excellent!!! I finished the book roughly a few weeks ago and it has taken me several days torecover emotionally andpull my thoughts together for a coherent review.


Cowan has created a massive list of characters, all of who share the spotlight equally and lend their POV to the story.
Yet all of the characters seem to center their actions around that of one character: Katrina Paprissi, Katrina isand the only living member of her family, Shes now a watcher in training watchers are like policemen/enforcers in this society, Yet something is off about her, There are two voices battling it out in her head, She calls one of them her kid self, the other is more mature and sadistic, At a young age she watched her brothers abduction and she will do anything to get him back.
Its why shes a watcher, or at least this is what she tells herself,

The worldbuilding is just as large as the characters for this debut author and I felt that hes done a phenomenal job! In this world, there is the Overland and the land of the Operator.
millennia ago, the Operator gifted the Overland with the Machinery, The machinery picks the leaders and basically makes all the decisions for the populace, The people have very little to no say in the society and follow the Operator blindly, BUT a prophecy was made that in the,th year the Machinery would break and guess what Its the,th year! This prophecy really adds to the suspense of the entire novel as you keep waiting for it to be fulfilled.


The plot centers around the death of the Strategist think king, president, etc, With his death the Machinery will pick all new leaders and everyone wonders what will happen as this is the,th year.
Yet there is also speculation with good reason that the Strategists death was no accident, The characters, all to some degree, investigate his death and they do NOT like what they uncover,

Overall I really enjoyed this book! Its fastpaced, intriguing and even with the large amount of characters and varying POV I didnt get lost.
As debut novels go, I would never have realized that The Machinery was one if I hadnt been told.
If you enjoy epic fantasy with a little scifi thrown in, I highly suggest you grab a copy and prepare for a wild ride! With a name like The Machinery, I think I was expecting this novel to be straight science fiction, but I quickly realised were more in the realms of a fantasy.
Gerrard Cowan has created a genuinely intriguing work of fiction that grabs you from page one, We jump straight into the midst of the story with a short prologue dealing with a boy called Alexander and his apparent abduction.
Years later, his sister, Katrina, is still none the wiser to the reasons behind his disappearance, All she knows is that the event set off a chain reaction that has left her alone, Just how does her family figure into an ancient prophecy and what will it mean for her

The thing I particularly enjoyed about this novel is how the Machinery and its labyrinthine workings are shrouded in mystery.
The civilization that has developed around this enigmatic machine have created their own mythology for explaining their lot.
The myriad rules and regulations are ingrained in every aspect of society and can be seen in everyones day to day lives.
Different factions control different aspects of the Overland, and they are in turn ruled by a group known as the Strategists.
The old axiom power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, is very much in evidence with these individuals.
The Machinery has selected the Strategists for millennia, always working to its own obscure agenda, but what happens when the people in power decide they want more

I had a minor epiphany about this novel about three quarters of the way through.
The Overland represents everything that is comfortable, safe and secure and the Machinery is part of that constant.
It might not be perfect but it is a known quantity,,years of the same thing have lulled the populace into a false sense of security, The question being asked is “What happens when it all ends”, Eventually any society will collapse a world will cease to be, How do you prepare for an inevitable change Cowans novel is ultimately a fable about facing the fear of the unknown.
Some will run the other way, or bury their heads in the sand, while others will face their fears and embrace whatever comes next.


Cowans debut successfully explores a plethora of different ideas while still maintaining a weirdly surreal edge.
Characters are not often exactly who or what they first appear to be and it keeps a reader constantly on their toes.
The story is part apocalypse, part mystery and entirely captivating, If youre looking for a new voice in fantasy whose writing is going to get you thinking, then look no further.
The Machinery by Gerrard Cowan

Basic Plot

In the Overland the people are ruled by the cryptic “Machinery”, which through selection of their council of leaders has controlled their fate for almost ten millennia.
Now in theth year a prophecy has foretold that the Machinery will break and Ruin will come in the wake of the selection of only One ruler.


As a child Katrina Paprissi witnessed the abduction of her brother by the Operator, the revered man who bestowed the Machinery on the people of the Overland.
Mysterious misfortune followed the Paprissi household and now a young woman, Katrina is the last of her line.


Charged with seeking out Doubters of the veracity of the Machinery as well as the care for Katrina, Tactician Brightling has watched over Katrinas development into becoming a Watcher.
But as the prophecy appears to come to fruition, with the aid of some timely murders, Katrinas own doubts about the glory of the Operator grow, right under the nose of one of the most talented finder of Doubters, Aranfal.


Opinion

I read this book on my ereader and due to the general gap between the purchase of a book and me actually getting around to reading it, I went in blind, having forgotten the reason I bought it.


Fortunately, I found this book a very enjoyable read, The wordbuilding was engaging, with enough left unsaid to remain intriguing whilst giving tantalising details of the immediate surroundings.
The settings were clearly part of the narrative, not just back drop and influenced the characters as well as gave insight into them and their world.

The writer cleverly subverted the stereotypes of goodies and baddies, I expected as the reader, This, of course, is subjective, but in my case it worked in the books favour, The characters held my attention throughout and although there were a lot of them, most were easily distinguishable.


My only disappointment was that I discovered, at the end, this book is part of a series and there certainly were plenty of follow on questions to which I want answers.
Im very tempted to get the sequel, The Machinery is a strange book that left me with more questions than answers, It focuses on the politicians of the world that the Machinery inhabits, giving a rather insular feeling, The use of the Machinery was meant to have created a great empire, thriving with science and arts but not much of this is covered.
You dont get to see what going on in the normal citizens lives and whether or not they really care whats going on behind closed doors.


At the start of the book I was quite intrigued that the Machinery was sentient and was aware of its decline.
It speaks to Alexander Paprissi, before he is swiftly carried away by the Operator, However that appears to be the end of that and I was disappointed that the Machinery ended up being a background plot device.


Whilst I would have liked to have known about the impact beyond the world of the Tacticians and Watchers, I became quite fond of this bunch of odd characters.
They are obsessed with keeping their head in the sand, avoiding the fact that the end of the Machinery is even possible.
Doubters of the system are caught and punished by the Watchers,

I liked that the Machinery could select anyone from any background to be in charge, Did it choose good people or those right for the time I wonder if power warps them all in the end.
One Tactician hides in her books, another schemes to keep the status quo, The Watchers end up being strangely likable for enforcers and torturers

I basically wasnt paying attention that this was the first in a trilogy when I picked it up.
Im not sure it works as a standalone at all, so be prepared to read more if youre interested.
Id like to know what happens next but Id like some reassurance that things will be answered and the world will make a bit more sense.


copy provided by publisher, I received this book from the author, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review,

There is an intriguing concept at the core of this novel: the part of the world in which the action takes place, the Overland, is governed by the Machine, a mysterious and unseen construct that has ruled for ten thousand years, slowly but surely extending the Overland's dominion over any known territory.
The Machine interacts with the people through the Operator, a timeless character equally shrouded in mystery who acts as a bridge communicating the Machine's choices in rulers: these are people selected at random from all stations in life, and all ages.
No matter how strange or inexplicable some Selections may appear, everyone is convinced that the Machine has

chosen well.
That is, except for the Doubters,
These are the people reminding everyone of the Prophecy, the one claiming that after ten thousand years the Machine will select the One, the bringer of chaos and destruction, and as the story starts to unfold that time is drawing near

Such a fascinating premise is carried on the virtual shoulders of intriguing characters and concepts: first among them are the Watchers, the Overland's equivalent of a police force, allseeing and all powerful, led by Tactician Brightling, one of the Machine's selections and to my eyes the very embodiment of the warning about who watches the watchers.
These controllers are both respected and feared, their main task being not so much the keeping of the peace, since the populace seems little inclined to mayhem given their longingrained submission to the Machine's rule, but rather the rooting out of Doubters.
The latter seem to be growing in numbers as the prophesied year of doom is upon the Overland, and the general situation places everyone at a crossroads, but none more than the Watchers, uncovering what might be an underlying insecurity in this police force, or maybe in its commanding officer.


Two of the main themes that most intrigued me are the kidnapping that happens in the first chapter and the final conquest of the remaining independent territory in the Overland.
Young Alexander Paprissi, the son of a renowned merchant and explorer, hears a voice he attributes to the Machine, telling him that it's breaking down: no one is inclined to believe him and one night the boy is kidnapped by the Operator himself, under the eyes of Alexander's younger sister Katrina, whose point of view fifteen years after the fact will represent one of the main narrative threads in the story.
Even more fascinating is the political problem created by the end of expansion: I had the impression that the takeover of the whole Overland territory was one of the means employed by the Machine and its Tacticians to keep the people focused on a shared goal.
Now that all has been conquered unless one intends to cross the sea in search of other lands over which the Machine has no control something seems to be missing: this concept is discussed fleetingly but there is a definite undercurrent of unease every time it surfaces and it serves well to outline the figure of General Brandione, another great character in the story.
It's nevertheless a factor for instability and it adds its weight to a situation that's far from predictable.


Add to all this the presence of some enigmatic players whose role and goals are beyond undefined, and the constant addition of clues about the possible fulfillment of the dire Prophecy, and you have a compelling book that through flawless pacing and constant, but well measured, shifts in point of view keeps you reading on sometimes until the small hours.
There is a steady increase in tension, a buildup of details, that paints an everwidening picture that practically challenges you to uncover its hidden secrets.
For me there was also an added treat, the suggestion of a more advanced past, now forever lost to memory and committed to legend: it's the kind of detail that adds depth to a story, even when my questions remain unanswered, or maybe exactly because of that having all the answers can sometimes be more unsatisfactory than remaining with some open doubts.


This is the kind of book that always poses a difficult choice for me: saying more would mean revealing precious clues that should be discovered by readers on their own, saying less seems to pay a disservice to a good story.
And then there is the cliffhanger ending, holding a few unexpected surprises, that makes the reading of the next volumes in the trilogy practically mandatory.


Not that it will be a chore


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