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WORK TITLE: In the City of Time
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://gwendolynclare.com
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
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RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Holds a BA (ecology), BS (geophysics), and PhD (mycology).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Young adult author.
AVOCATIONS:Martial arts.
WRITINGS
Contributor of short stories to magazines, including Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Analog, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
SIDELIGHTS
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Gwendolyn Clare is an ecologist and geophysicist along with being a poet and a writer of science fiction for young adults. Her debut novel is the thrilling steampunk adventure Ink, Iron, and Glass, first entry in the “Ink, Iron, and Glass” series. In the story, people called scriptologists are able to create new worlds just by writing them down on paper. That’s how the world of Veldana was created and where dark skinned 16-year-old Elsa and her mother Jumi were brought into being. But Jumi is mysteriously kidnapped, and Elsa journeys to the real world Earth to 19th century Italy.
There Elsa finds help from a secret society of student pazzaerallone, which are “mad scientists” who can use the powers of alchemy, mechanics, and scriptology. She is joined by three students—olive-skinned Italians Leo and Porzia and brown-skinned Tunisian Faraz—to find who took her mother, why, and how to rescue her. Meanwhile, political forces in the yet to be unified Italy are causing trouble for the teenagers. “Clare spins an entertaining adventure tale that also addresses colonialism, inclusion, and musings on the nature of being,” noted Sheri Reda in School Library Journal.
Clare told Natalie Aguirre online at Literary Rambles that her idea for the story came from the Agatha Heterodyne law (or the inverse of Arthur C. Clarke’s law) in that any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science. So in Clare’s story, “scriptology is effectively portal magic that has been analyzed and harnessed into a scientific discipline. That’s my speculative element… So how would Italian history change if scientists had access to magical abilities?” In Voice of Youth Advocates, Tom Malinowsky reviewed the book saying that the scriptologists’ craft was only minimally described, however, he praised the teamwork of the students: “the camaraderie they build to find Jumi is genuine.”
In the sequel and final book of the series, Mist, Metal, and Ash, the students are reeling from Leo’s betrayal and theft of the editbook, which Elsa’s mother created to protect the scripted world of Veldana from the real world. Leo’s tyrannical father wants the book, because it can also be used to change the real Earth and change the politics of 19th century Italy. When Elsa pretends she wants to join the tyrant’s revolution, she learns that Leo may not be the defector everyone thinks he is, and he tries to regain his friends’ trust. A writer in Kirkus Reviews praised the action guided by a fearless heroine and the story’s “Feelings of guilt, challenges to their personal belief systems, shifting loyalties, and navigation of worlds on the brink of change.” In School Library Journal, Sheri Reda commented: “A major theme is independence, including the right of individuals to choose their own path.”
Clare’s next book, In the City of Time, follows future teens white Riley and Indian American Jaideep from 2033 using time travel to go back in time to stop the cataclysmic event that rendered the world unlivable. But somehow they make a mistake and have inadvertently plucked teenager Willa Marconi, the future inventor of wireless communication, out of 1891 Italy and into a city in a timeless pocket universe, where Riley and Jaideep hope they can get information from her on what caused the devastating event that killed Jaideep’s entire family. Against the trio are political factions who want the world to end and a dangerous android cop. “While science predominates, the young protagonists fall for each other in an arc that includes references to polyamory, sexuality, and gender exploration,” declared Connie Williams in School Library Journal. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted: “Riley and Willa’s distinct alternating perspectives and the group’s varied interpersonal challenges… provide a distinctly human aspect to this splashy” story.
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2017, review of Ink, Iron, and Glass; November 15, 2018, review of Mist, Metal, and Ash.
Publishers Weekly, October 3, 2022, review of In the City of Time, p. 159.
School Library Journal, February 2018, Sheri Reda, review of Ink, Iron, and Glass, p. 100; February 2019, Sheri Reda, review of Mist, Metal, and Ash, p. 73; December 2022, Connie Williams, review of In the City of Time, p. 90.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April 2018, Tom Malinowski, review of Ink, Iron, and Glass, p. 69.
ONLINE
Clare Gwendolyn Homepage, https://gwendolynclare.com/ (June 1, 2023), author profile.
Literary Rambles, http://www.literaryrambles.com/ (January 2018), Natalie Aguirre, “Gwendolyn Clare Interview and Ink, Iron, and Glass Giveaway.”
I’m Gwendolyn Clare, and I write fantasy and science fiction. My debut young-adult steampunk novel — INK, IRON, AND GLASS — is out now from Imprint/Macmillan (Feb 20th, 2018). My short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Analog, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and my poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award. I’m represented by Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
I’m a New Englander transplanted to central Pennsylvania, with long stops in Chicago and North Carolina along the way. I have a BA in Ecology, a BS in Geophysics, and a PhD in Mycology, which completes my acronym collection (for now, at least). I love the fieldwork aspect of being a scientist, and I’ve been lucky enough to work in awesome places like Italy, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guyana.
I enjoy practicing martial arts, adopting feral cats, and overstaying my welcome in local coffee shops while writing. I’m still in the market for a cybernetic left arm, though my rotator cuff seems to have forgiven me for past transgressions and started functioning properly again.
GWENDOLYN CLARE INTERVIEW and INK, IRON, AND GLASS GIVEAWAY
Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Gwendolyn Clare here to share about her YA fantasy INK, IRON, AND GLASS. It sounds like a fantastic story with diverse characters, a page-turning plot, and an amazing world. I can't wait to read it. Before I get to my interview, I've got two things to share.
WriteOnCon Is Back
WriteOnCon is back! It's an online conference, and this year's conference is Friday, Feb. 9th through Sunday, Feb 11th. It looks really good and has a lot of good agents and writers. I think I'm going to go. The new organizers do charge a fee, but the maximum is $15.
LoveAtFirstChapter
LoveAtFirstChapter is a new online service launching on Feb. 14th by some YA authors who are friends. You can sign up to receive free first chapters of YA books and if you are an author, submit your book to them. If they like it, they may offer your first chapter too.
Now back to my interview with Gwendolyn!
Here’s a blurb of her book from Goodreads:
Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation by her mother—a noted scriptologist.
But when her home is attacked and her mother abducted, Elsa must cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative 19th-century Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of pazzerellones—young people with a gift for mechanics, alchemy or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and a tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
In this thrilling debut, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created—and only she can stop it.
Hi Gwendolyn! Thanks so much for joining us.
1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.
In college I was very focused on becoming a scientist. I double-majored in biology and geology, and in winter I practically never saw the sun because of all the labs. But then I took a year off before grad school and had some time to breathe, and that's when I started writing seriously with the aim of publication.
2. That's awesome that you were able to take a break and write like you wanted. Where did you get the idea for your story?
I'm a big fan of the Myst video game series, and I wanted to write a story about an artificial world that explicitly addressed the parallels to colonialism. This idea began as a short story about Elsa's mother, but as I was writing it I realized that the implications for the next generation were fertile ground for a novel. So Elsa became the protagonist, and that entire story became backstory.
3. What a fun way to come up with a story idea. I love your world building. The scriptology, magic ink, and steampunk sound really unique. What was your world building process like?
The Agatha Heterodyne law (or the inverse of Clarke's law) states that any sufficiently analyzed
magic is indistinguishable from science. My world-building process leaned on this principle -- scriptology is effectively portal magic that has been analyzed and harnessed into a scientific discipline. That's my speculative element, from which the rest can be extrapolated.
So how would Italian history change if scientists had access to magical abilities? Probably the biggest world-building challenge was figuring out how to not send all of European history completely off the rails. For that I needed a secret society of scientists whose primary goal is to keep their amazing skills away from the political field -- a goal which may not always align with Elsa's mission to rescue her mother.
4. Wow! You're making me wish that I had a science background like you. In INK, IRON, AND GLASS, scriptology is a branch of science. Did you draw on your scientific background in creating your story? If so, how?
My love of science definitely influenced the decision to write a novel that centers a bunch of mad scientists as main characters, instead of casting the scientists only as villains. But real-life science is often slow, meticulous, tedious work that wouldn't make for very compelling reading, so it was actually a challenge to strike the right balance between realism and reader expectation. I hope the story communicates the excitement of science without getting too bogged down in the frustration of it.
I did draw on computer science as a direct influence when figuring out how scriptology should work. While I couldn't make that connection explicit in the book -- there aren't any computers! -- scriptology functions a lot like an object-oriented programming language, where ink is the code and the universe itself executes the program.
5. Your story has been described as a real page turner with a fantastic plot and plot twists. Are you a punster or plotter and how did that work for you when writing this story? Share some of your plot secrets with the rest of us.
I used to think I was a plotter, until I met serious plotters and realized they actually wrote down their outlines. (Weirdos.) So I'm somewhere in the middle of the spectrum -- I like to know where the story begins, where it ends, and a few of the major set-pieces I need to hit along the way before I begin drafting. More of a plot skeleton than an exact road map. While I still mostly identify as a plotter, I also believe that no outline survives contact with the first draft, nor should it.
The best plot twists arise organically from decisions the characters make. Surprising the reader with plot twists isn't the most important part; the most important part is that the twists feel consistent and believable in retrospect. To set that up you need a deep understanding of your characters, which you may not have yet at the outlining stage. So I do like to leave room for the characters to run off in an unexpected direction, and not cling too tightly to the original outline.
6. I'm more of a plotter like you, so your advice is really helpful. Tell us a bit about Elsa as a character. Was there anything that surprised you about her?
lsa's a socially maladjusted introvert who's too smart for her own good -- which makes her probably the most similar to teenage-Gwen of all the characters I've written. But she does still manage to surprise me, because her homeworld is so different from Europe and she's observing everything with an outsider's perspective. I set the novel in Italy partly because I'm half Italian, and there's something particularly delightful about Elsa's mental commentary on a culture I identify with.
7. You’ve also written a lot of short fiction, poetry, and flash fiction. Did any of that help you with writing your novel?
When I was teaching myself how to write for publication, I exclusively worked on short stories for the first couple years. Short fiction is a great training ground for developing your craft toolkit. While not all of the techniques transfer over to novels, short stories have the advantage that you can practice the whole process -- drafting a beginning, middle, and end; revising; even submitting and dealing with rejections -- all with a relatively low investment. So my time focusing on short fiction absolutely prepared me both to write the novel, and also to survive the (occasionally soul-crushing) submission process.
8. Your agent is Jennifer Azantian. Share how she became your agent and your road to publication.
I landed an agent the old-fashioned way, through the query process. (And you can too, I promise! There's only three ways to stop being an aspiring writer: you quit, you die, or you get published.)
That's not to say it wasn't a struggle. INK, IRON, AND GLASS was the fourth novel I completed and queried. Partly it was a matter of improving my craft with each project, and partly it was a matter of getting the right material in front of the right agent at the right time. I also did an epic quantity of research on how to write query letters and on the agents themselves, so I could aim my queries in the right direction. Even after you sign with an agent, the need to keep yourself informed about the business side of the industry never goes away, so best get used to it now!
9. That's great to know that querying works! I saw on your website that you went to the Baltimore Book Fest and the SWFA Nebula conference this year. How did you arrange those events? How else are you spreading the word about your book?
Some YA book festivals are pretty exclusive and your publicist has to wrangle you a spot, but with science fiction and fantasy conventions, it's often just a matter of volunteering to participate as a panelist. I don't know that I'd recommend festivals and conventions as the best return on investment -- the travel expenses add up quick -- but if you enjoy going to cons, then the promotional and networking opportunities are nice side-effects.
I am also promoting in the usual ways -- a blog tour, a local release party, etc -- but the truth is that writers don't sell books, at least not directly. Readers are the ones who determine which books become successful. So my philosophy is to focus on having genuine interactions (online or in meat-space) with other people who are passionate about the genre, and hopefully some of them will fall in love with my book and advocate for it.
10. What are you working on now?
I've just finished a draft of the sequel to INK, IRON, AND GLASS, so while I'm waiting on editorial comments, I'm giving the creative coffers time to refill.
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Gwendolyn. You can find Gwendolyn at:
Website: www.gwendolynclare.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gwendoclare
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwendolynclare/
Gwendolyn has generously offered an ARC of INK, IRON, AND GLASS for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through February 10th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.
If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is international.
Here's what's coming up:
Friday, February 2nd I'm participating in the For the Love of Books Giveaway Hop
Monday, February 5th I'll have a Q&A with agent Peter Knapp
Wednesday, February 7th I have an interview with debut author Brenda Rufener and a giveaway of her YA contemporary WHERE I LIVE and my IWSG post
Monday, February 12th I have a guest post by debut author Linda Williams Jackson and her agent Elizabeth Bewley and a giveaway of her MG contemporary MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON
Monday, February 19th I will be off for President's Day!
Monday, February 26th I have a guest post by debut author Kaitlin Sage Patterson and her agent Brent Taylor with a giveaway of her YA fantasy THE DIMINISHED and a query critique giveaway by Brent.
Hope to see you on Friday!
Posted by Natalie Aguirre on Monday, January 29, 2018
Gwendolyn Clare, author of INK, IRON, AND GLASS, on thinking critically about what you read and write
We’re delighted to have Gwendolyn Clare join us to chat about her debut novel, INK, IRON, AND GLASS.
Gwendolyn, what book or books would most resonate with readers who love your book–or visa versa?
I’d definitely recommend it to fans of Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series or the Girl Genius comics by Phil and Kaja Foglio. If you’re hungry for more historical fantasy after Ink, Iron, and Glass, I’d suggest Beth Cato’s Breath of Earth, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my debut twin, Deborah Schaumberg, whose YA novel The Tombs also came out this week!
What’s your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?
When I was writing full time, I would park myself in a local cafe first thing in the morning and write for a solid five hours, then take a break in the afternoon, and do brainstorming in the evening for the next morning’s writing session. Now that I’m back to teaching full time, my writing schedule is more like trying to squeeze in a few panicked minutes here and there! Mostly I work on weekends now.
How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?
I started out writing short fiction for several years before I even tried my hand at writing novels. Then I wrote and queried three previous (still unpublished) novels before Ink, Iron, and Glass landed me an agent and later a publisher. It’s easy to see other authors’ successes from the outside and assume they somehow jumped on the publication highway, but we all have trunk stories and piles of rejection letters! That’s just part of the journey.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
The best advice I can give is to take all advice with a grain of salt. There’s no such thing as an unbreakable writing rule. If a piece of advice helps you to be productive and hone your craft, then great! But if it doesn’t work for you, throw it out. The only part of the process that seems consistent for basically all writers is that you need to be reading a lot and writing a lot — and thinking critically about what you read and write, so you’re actually learning from it. That’s the only must, as far as I’m concerned.
CLARE, Gwendolyn. Ink, Iron, and Glass. 336p. Imprint. Feb. 2018. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781250112767. POP
Gr 9 Up-Elsa is a scripted being. She was called into existence as subtext by a scriptologist, a maker of worlds who made Veldana, the place where she lives. Elsa's mother is a scripted being who was trained to be a scriptologist herself. She continues the work of creating Veldana, and she has trained Elsa to do the same. When her mother gets kidnapped, however, Elsa's life is thrown into chaos. She follows the trail of the kidnapping back to Earth, where she finds refuge with a secret society of pazzaerallone-people with gifts in scriptology, mechanics, alchemy, or all three. With their help, she eludes assassins, tracks down her mother, and stages a rescue that is successful in every way except for one. This entry is clearly the first in a series about a team of teenagers who have to save the world from greedy, wrongheaded adults. Set at the end of the 19th century, the novel samples historical figures the way a hip-hop album might sample a classic riff: it opens a window to European history, lets in fresh air, and sends facts flying. An author's note sets the historical record straight. In the meantime, Clare spins an entertaining adventure tale that also addresses colonialism, inclusion, and musings on the nature of being. VERDICT This novel is a source of serious fun; a must-have choice for YA collections.--Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, 1L
KEY: * Excellent in relation to other titles on the same subject or in the same genre | Tr Hardcover trade binding | lib. ed. Publisher's library binding | Board Board book | pap. Paperback | e eBook original | BL Bilingual | POP Popular Picks
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Reda, Sheri. "CLARE, Gwendolyn. Ink, Iron, and Glass." School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 2, Feb. 2018, p. 100. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A526734108/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=64cbc156. Accessed 15 May 2023.
Clare, Gwendolyn INK, IRON, AND GLASS Imprint (Children's Fiction) $18.99 2, 20 ISBN: 978-1-250-11276-7
Elsa's homeland can't be located on a map: Veldana and its people exist as a result of scriptology, a craft whose practitioners can scribe new lands into existence.
Veldana is the creation of a white Frenchman, but Elsa's mother, a Veldanese master scriptologist, advocated for her people's autonomy and is now the fabricated world's caretaker. (Among other colonialist acts, the creator scribed pregnancies against the brown-skinned Veldanese women's will.) The dark-skinned, green-eyed, 16-year-old Elsa, also a brilliant scriptologist, will one day proudly inherit the responsibility. When her mother is abducted, Elsa leaves Veldana for Earth--the real world--to find help. Events lead her to a yet-to-be-unified Italy, where she finds herself a resident of the Casa della Pazzia ("House of the Madness"), a sentient residence for orphan pazzerellone, or "mad scientists." Each student possesses one of three "madnesses": alchemy, mechanics, or scriptology. There, the fiercely independent Elsa reluctantly finds allies: olive-skinned Italians Leo and Porzia and brown-skinned Tunisian Faraz. As the four get closer to finding Elsa's mother and learning the reason for her capture, they discover an enemy who will stop at nothing to use scriptology as a weapon to "edit" the Earth. This debut novel is fully realized steampunk-fantasy, offering an alternate history that deftly and creatively adopts the politics of 19th-century Italy to create a compellingly unique world. Although the book uses the language of mental illness to describe its characters' specific magical talents, in this world "mad" seems to carry none of the baggage it does in ours.
Exciting and original. (Fantasy. 12-adult)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Clare, Gwendolyn: INK, IRON, AND GLASS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A518491414/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4b966e7c. Accessed 15 May 2023.
Clare, Gwendolyn. Ink, Iron, and Glass. Imprint/Macmillan, February 2018. $18.99. 336p. 978-1-250-11276-7.
Armed with the proper pens and the right knowledge, a scriptologist can create worlds upon worlds. Elsa's mother, Jumi, is kidnapped, and Elsa fears for the worldbook of Veldana, which, in the wrong hands, can destroy the only world she has ever known, a world that Jumi created. She ventures into the real world on Earth to seek answers. Elsa soon enlists the help of fellow young scientists who are also adept at scriptology, as well as alchemy and mechanics. They search frantically for clues to Jumi's whereabouts and uncover a plot that threatens to wreak havoc on Italy's political structure.
Elsa has much at her disposal; a world where she has created supplies, such as tubes and chemicals, to fashion into needed contraptions and the ability to create worlds within a day or so. The limitless power of what can be created as a plot device is not well developed; how, precisely, scriptologists craft a world is explained in minimal detail, which could leave readers wanting more. The teamwork of Elsa, Farraz, Leo, and Porzia is strenuous at first, due to Elsa's reluctance to accept help, but the camaraderie they build to find Jumi is genuine. The setting of Clare's debut novel and series opener is a refreshing and original alternate Italy in the late nineteenth century where there is much political conflict.--Tom Malinowski.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
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Malinowski, Tom. "Clare, Gwendolyn. Ink, Iron, and Glass." Voice of Youth Advocates, vol. 41, no. 1, Apr. 2018, p. 69. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A536746192/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=afb56cdb. Accessed 15 May 2023.
Clare, Gwendolyn MIST, METAL, AND ASH Imprint (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 2, 19 ISBN: 978-1-250-11278-1
The alternate-history thrill ride continues in this sequel to Ink, Iron, and Glass (2018).
It's been one month since Leo's betrayal, when he stole the editbook and defected to his father's cause. Fierce, trouser-sporting, revolver-toting, polymathic pazzerellone Elsa has been trying to find a way to reclaim the book, created by her mother and designed to protect Elsa's scribed world of Veldana from European threats. However, it also has the power to edit the real world, making it the most powerful object in existence. Leo's tyrannical father, to whom the ends justify the horrific means, will do anything to unify the four states of Italy, and the editbook will help him do just that. Elsa must convince Leo's father that she wants to join his revolution. The author is a master of character development. The third-person narration, which creates spot-on dramatic irony, alternates between several characters, each with their own struggles. Feelings of guilt, challenges to their personal belief systems, shifting loyalties, and navigation of worlds on the brink of change are complicated but never feel contrived or convoluted. Leo's foster sister, Porzia, is especially compelling, questioning the future she's taken for granted as a member of the privileged class and steward of her family's legacy. People of Veldana, Elsa included, have brown skin, as does alchemy pazzerellone Faraz (also cued as Muslim); assume whiteness for others.
Action and adventure with a fearless heroine at the helm. (Fantasy. 12-adult)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Clare, Gwendolyn: MIST, METAL, AND ASH." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A561923266/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bd0e10f1. Accessed 15 May 2023.
CLARE, Gwendolyn. Mist, Metal, and Ash. 336p. (Ink, Iron, and Glass: Bk. 2). Imprint. Feb. 2019. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781250112781.
Gr 8 Up--In a fantasy version of 19tii-century Italy, Elsa must save the world from vengeful destruction by a mad politician--and from accidental destruction by those who mean well. Elsa and her friends each possess a rare skill; together, they are nearly unstoppable. But their friendship is fractured by circumstances. Nonetheless, they must find a way to infiltrate a dangerous rebel stronghold, find a stolen book, and rescue Leo, the friend who appears to have betrayed them. Leo, for his part, must determine how to win back the trust of his friends while keeping his brother and power-hungry father at bay. This fast-paced sequel to Ink, Iron, and Class dives deep into issues around trust and commitment. A major theme is independence, including the right of individuals to choose their own path even if it involves risk. This novel is likely to be incomprehensible as a stand-alone, but it's a satisfying sequel. VERDICT Purchase where the previous volume is popular.--Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Reda, Sheri. "CLARE, Gwendolyn. Mist, Metal, and Ash." School Library Journal, vol. 65, no. 1, Feb. 2019, p. 73. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A571039887/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c439aad2. Accessed 15 May 2023.
CLARE, Gwendolyn. In the City of Time. 336p. (In the City of Time: Bk. 1). Feiwel & Friends. Nov. 2022. Tr $20.99. ISBN 9781250230744.
Gr 9 Up-While on a test ran of her radio equipment, Willa Marconi, from Italy in 1891, has just been plunged into a strange new world. In front of her stands a young woman, white and European like herself, and a young man, who appears Arab or Indian, who look at her in horror. From their perspective, Riley and Jaideep see a huge mistake. They've just thrust a local from her time period into the space they hoped would help them discover information they need to save their world from the disaster it is in 203 3. Now that they're together, they must discover a way to stop the cataclysm that sparked the end of the known world. Their search for answers involves encounters with time loops, time-traveling androids, and others who will stop at nothing to keep things the way they are. This fast-action, complex story plunges readers into a world where Riley and Jaideep want nothing more than to stop the event that caused the disaster that led to the deaths of Jaideep's entire family, while Willa tries to make sense of it all using the science and logic she has always relied on. Give this book to mature science fiction readers, as lots of scientific jargon and principles are not explained. While science predominates, the young protagonists fall for each other in an arc that includes references to polyamory, sexuality, and gender exploration. VERDICT This book is a part of a larger set of works, dovetailing with Clare's "Ink, Iron, and Glass" duology. As such, it would be an optional purchase on its own, but a recommended purchase for where the author's previous works circulate well.--Connie Williams
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Williams, Connie. "CLARE, Gwendolyn. In the City of Time." School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 12, Dec. 2022, pp. 90+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729548056/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=29af0d1c. Accessed 15 May 2023.
In the City of Time (In the City of Time #1)
Gwendolyn Clare. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends, $20.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-23074-4
A group of teens ricochet through time and space to rewrite the past in this labyrinthine time travel adventure by Clare, set in the same world as the Ink, Iron, and Glass duology. In 2034, white Riley, 17, and her Indian American -- cued boyfriend Jaideep, both scientific prodigies living in an "artificial pocket universe" resembling Boston, have devised a method to travel back in time and prevent the mysterious cataclysm that rendered Earth uninhabitable. But instead of transporting the duo to the 19th century, their initial effort accidentally plucks white trans engineer Willa Marconi, 17 and the future inventor of wireless communication, out of her 1891 timeline, and drops them all into a strange, empty city in an unknown year. The teens' appearance prompts suspicion within the Continuity Agency, omnipotent custodians of all time and space, and the trio must dodge a frightening android cop while attempting to return Willa to her proper era and complete the original mission. Riley and Willa's distinct alternating perspectives and the group's varied interpersonal challenges, such as Riley and Jaideep's hesitation to reveal their polyamorous relationship to Willa, even as Riley's attraction to her grows, provide a distinctly human aspect to this splashy futuristic volume. Ages 14-up. Agent: Jennifer Azantian, Azantian Literary. (Nov.)
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"In the City of Time (In the City of Time #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 41, 3 Oct. 2022, p. 159. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A721992817/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3818ef83. Accessed 15 May 2023.