What a unique novel. Loved the unique storytelling, the main character and the setting of the story. Love the cover and cannot wait to see this one in person!

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Bert Seymour; Clare Corbett
Content: 3.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

Abel Cloudesly is a renowned maker of clocks and automata. The year is 1754. After his wife dies in childbirth, Abel raises his son, Zachary, alone. Zachary grows up in the workshop, surrounded by his father’s inventions. He is a bright and curious boy. After an accident in the workshop, he barely survives and loses an eye. Abel now admits he is not the right one to raise a child and leaves Zachary to his old aunt, Frances. Aunt Frances is not a classic maternal image either. She is single, without children, wealthy, and highly educated. She is interested in various scientific fields, as well as philosophical ideas of the time.

Later, Abel has to leave London and go to Constantinople to operate his chess-playing automaton. After a while, he disappears without a trace, and the family does not hear from him for several years.

I like the steampunk genre, but I rarely find something I like. This was something I thought I would enjoy more than I did. I really liked the first half of the story. For me, the continuation in Constantinople was a lot less interesting.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the advance copy and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

Dear The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley,
You started so strong for me. I really loved your beginning and flew through you so quickly. Unfortunately your second half wasn't as powerful for me. It felt like once Zach was in Constantinople, your story fell off for me a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed you, but you lost the magical feeling that permeated the first half of your story. I really wanted Zachary's magical eye and powers to play a larger part in your story, but they felt like a secondary storyline as opposed to a force to drive your story forward. All of that being said, I really enjoyed your escapism and world as a whole. I loved your writing style and your story arc. Your themes were moving; I am a sucker for a well written redemption story.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudsley was a whimsical historical fiction with a dash of the fantastical. The setting of this story is vividly descriped and helps to lay ground for a group of very well developed characters. This is a fully realized story that I think I will dwell on for some time.

As for the reading experience itself it reminded me of books such as Inkheart or the Old Kingdom series in tone and structure.

I think this would appeal to fans of historical fiction, adventure stories, and those looking for a touch of the whimsical in their books

“He is like a clock that tells of time to come and of time past and missed, yet is driven by blood and a beating heart, not by mainsprings and ratchets and bobs of steel and brass.”

The Second Sight Of Zachary Cloudesley is the first novel by British author, Sean Lusk. The audio version is narrated by Clare Corbett and Bert Seynour. Zachary Cloudesley’s birth in March 1754 ends his mother Alice’s life, plunging his father, Abel, and Alice’s Aunt Frances into grief. But Abel has his clockmaking business to keep him busy and engages a wet nurse to care for his beloved boy.

It’s quickly apparent that this quiet, observant boy is precociously intelligent and, his great aunt notes, has his mother’s ability to foresee. Twice yearly visits with Franny add an eclectic touch to his education, and he is fascinated with the clockmaker’s workroom, especially those automata skilfully by young Tom Spurrell. It’s Tom who, when six-year-old Zachary accidentally loses an eye in the workroom, crafts him one of gold and enamel and lapis lazuli.

Soon after Zachary goes to live with Franny, his father having decided that he will be safer there, Abel is unwillingly conscripted into a role that makes use of his clockwork skills, his talents with chess, and his knowledge of Turkish from a previous visit to Constantinople. A British government minister schemes to get information about what the Turks are planning by having Abel listen in on private conversations whilst concealed insides a chess-playing automaton. What could go wrong?

Eight years after Abel arrived in Constantinople, when everyone believes he has been executed, Zachary stumbles on a letter that claims his father is still alive, but captive, and makes a snap decision to rescue him. Fifteen-year-old Zachary is smart and resourceful and brave and determined, but achieving this on his own might just be a bit ambitious, even for him.

Lusk gives the reader a marvellous tale: a plot with twists and surprises that will keep the pages turning; appealing characters, some of whose actions, for all their pure intent, will leave the reader gasping; and every chapter demonstrates his meticulous research into a myriad of topics.

There are some similarities to David Mitchell’s “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet” and, while most of the story is told by Abel, Frances and Zachary, the narrative strand of Zachary’s wet nurse, Grace Morley, offers a refreshingly down-to-earth perspective on characters and events.

Lusk’s descriptive prose is often gorgeous. On the crafting of automata, Tom says “he has such ideas, and for me to work at them and make them real, why it is like making life from nothing but bits of brass and silver. It is, if you will, a sort of alchemy, but not flimflammery and lies, but clockwork and movement and a different order of magic.” A brilliant debut.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesly is an interesting story following an expanded historical timeline. Zachary is a strange little kid. He can see what is going to happen to people in the future and what has happened in people’s pasts. But these visions are not always positive and he will need to figure out how to manage them.

I expected this novel to follow Zachary throughout, but the vast majority of the story really follows his father, his aunt, and the mother of his childhood friend. Zachary’s father is a clockmaker who dabbles in strange creating all kinds of other clockwork creations. When he is called upon to create a chess playing automaton to help gain intelligence on a foreign king, he gets himself into trouble. Meanwhile, Zachary’s aunt has already taken the boy into her strange kind of care - providing him with tutors, creative challenges, and a house full of birds. But she also chases out Zachary’s only real friend’s mother, who of course brings her daughter along when she leaves.

There are a lot of moving parts that make up this narrative and, as a result, it have a bit of a slow start as the reader gets to know every character. But the narrators’ voices are soothing and keep the audiobook moving. And eventually the story turns into a strange series of events that had me rooting for Zachary and his extended found family. If you enjoy character driven narratives, historical fiction, and a little bit of magical realism, this book will probably be a good fit.

I was attracted to this story for both the steampunk and futuristic sight implications of the boy, but those were only small aspects of this character driven story. I stayed for the characters that I desperately wanted to be reunited despite cruel, calculating villains who had no empathy or conscious plus surprising betrayals. I found the story charming and at times both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

At the heart of this story is a father whose wife dies in childbirth leaving him to raise their infant son alone in the mid-1700s. Abel is plagued by fear that he is not the best one to raise the child and is surrounded by eccentric characters that at times both assist and hinder his efforts. He buries himself in his work to avoid the issues, creating fascinating clockwork machines such as a chess playing automaton that will eventually cause him even greater grief.

The audiobook is narrated by Bert Seymour and Clare Corbett. This was my first listen for both narrators. I found their voices to be pleasant and distinctive for both their narrations compelling me into the story in a smooth and easy manner.

Thank you to NetGalley, Union Square & Co. and Dreamscape Media for a copy provided for an honest review.

I enjoyed the narrator! He was very easy to listen to. I thought the book did a good job on expanding and explaining the conflicting emotions that came with the loss of Zachary's mother within his birth.

This book was a lot more dark and sad at times than I was expecting, but the story was a beautiful one that ended with themes of hope, redemption, and love (family, romantic, found family). I enjoyed the story, it showed many parallel stories of people's perspectives on situations and the journeys they were on together and separately. The intertwining stories flowed well and were easy to follow, and I appreciated the different voices. The novel had a slight steampunk flare to parts of it, which was great. I want to see every clockwork piece mentioned except for one. I also appreciated that the paranormal elements (like his seeing visions) aren't necessarily tried to be explained but just are accepted. While guesses are made, nothing is ever the definitive cause, and it was nice to not have that be the focus of what was happening around him.

I'd definitely recommend this to people, with the caveat that it does get very dark before it gets light again. TW for imprisonment and labor/mental abuse while imprisoned, as well as some well-intentioned but still abusive family dynamics.

This was my 1st book by Sean Lusk but it will definitely not be my last! I really enjoyed this book much more than I expected based on the blurb, as fantasy isn't totally my jam! I really love the acceptance of Tom being Tom and that just being a normal day and the putting in her place regarding that of Abel's Aunt. That's how it should be! I can't wait to read more books by this author!

#TheSecondSightofZacharyCloudesley
#NetGalley

THE SECOND SIGHT OF ZACHARY CLOUDESLEY by Sean Lusk is a whimsical mystery narrated by Bert Seymour and Clare Corbett.

I am so glad to have had the opportunity to listen to this magical tale. The two narrators took the different POV'S and made them absolutely come alive with the tones and accents. It made this historical fantasy feel like I had dropped into it completely!

The story is centered around Zachary, as the title suggests, but his father Abel is so much a part of it. Abel, a clock and automaton maker, loses his beloved life when Zachary is born and then is part of an awful accident that takes Zachary's eye at age 6. Clearly a different and supernaturally gifted boy, Abel sends Zachary to live with his Aunt Franny when he can no longer tutor him, and no nanny will work. When Abel disappears on a trip to the Levant in an effort to use his automaton to spy on the Turks, all is thought lost until years later a letter implies differently. Zachary heads off to find the truth and discovers much more than he ever imagined!

I really enjoyed this lush and atmospheric tale! It was set in the mid 1700's, and it felt with all the magical elements, a perfect blend of history and fantasy! I am a bit agog with the automatons that were built way back when and when a story has this, I am in. Ultimately, however, this became a story about a man and his son, a son with his father, and what you are willing to do for the ones you love the most. I thought it was lovely.

Thank you to @netgalley & @dreamscape_media for bringing this story to life and letting me share my thoughts! This audiobook will be out on December 5th. I definitely recommend it for a the historical fantasy fan with an interest in family connections and coming of age stories!

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audio ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book takes place in London 1755. Abel, a watchmaker, has just lost his wife while in childbirth. His son, at 6 years old had an accident that takes his eye. Turns it this eye is magic.