Cogling

this will post on jan 27th, 2016

Humans have become complacent. They’ve forgotten hags promised to get revenge. Humans have forgotten, but hags have not.
They’ve been quietly stealing children and replacing them with robots. Stealing them to use their dreams to create magic.

The humans believe the hags are good for the community because they provide potions and magic never realizing their ulterior motives.

You must beware. You must keep watch.

Because, in the middle of the night when you hear the tingling of the bell as Edna Mather did, you may wake up to find your younger siblings replaced with a cogling. You won’t know, there will be no way to tell, you’ll just soon believe they are sick. But they’ll die when you take them to the hospital and you’ll never know they’ve been taken.

Unless your sister is Edna Mather.

My Hott Cogling Review:

I loved Cogling!
What I liked: It’s been quite some time since I’ve read steampunk and this novel was perfect for me. It’s not tremendously on the steampunk side, it’s a solid young adult fantasy.
Ike and Edna are perfect characters. They’re fun, flawed, and very interesting. Their supporting characters, Harrison, Rachel, and others are perfect and show character growth while not taking away from the plot but instead adding new dimensions.
Cogling is not romantic, though there is a bit of a thing between Ike & Edna, but instead it’s a grand adventure complete with hags, ogres, and a quest to see the king.
What I didn’t like: I think Cogling would appeal to so many more if it weren’t for a few scenes. There is a bit of kissing but the talk of virginity and rape brings this book out of the realm of appropriateness for middle-graders. I’d been hoping to share it with my daughter & neices, but it’ll have to wait.

More…

Author: Jordan Elizabeth Mierek Source: Netgalley Publisher & Date: January 25th 2016 by Curiosity Quills Press Genre: Fantasy, Steampunck, YA Romance ISBN: 9781620077399 Pages: 285 Grade: A Ages: 16+
Steam: YA – Adult | Depending on the teen, I’d suggest 16+ due to mature subjects Author Bio:

Jordan Elizabeth MierekJordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, writes down her nightmares in order to live her dreams. With an eclectic job history behind her, she is now diving into the world of author. It happens to be her most favorite one yet. When she’s not creating art or searching for lost history in the woods, she’s updating her blog. Jordan is the president of the Utica Writers Club. She roams Central New York, but she loves to travel.
Websites & Links: author's website author's twitter author's facebook

This is such an amazing book! It is a YA steampunk novel which has such a new and interesting take on the genre. As well as the adventure aspect there is also some romance between the two main characters Ike and Edna. It is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure novel with some fantasy thrown in. The book is very fast paced and I think any YA would really enjoy this - I know I did! Would highly recommend this!

The idea behind this book really appealed to me. I am not a big fantasy reader and have read little steampunk fantasy though. From the start I found myself engaged with this book. There is a Dickensian feel to this book which has aspects of Victorian society in its basic structure. Edna finds that her young brother has been taken by the hags (witches in some senses) and replaced by a Cogling - an automation. She sets off to get him back and this book follows Edna and the companion she acquires, Ike, on their journey to find Harrison and bring him home.

This fantasy world has strict class structures with people such as Edna and her brother at the lower end of society although there are those who are probably lower still. There are some - to me at least - original creatures and creations. The descriptive writing was excellent to me and highly evocative. Aimed at the YA (young adult) market this tale is very well paced and well written. The book really is action packed - no one will get bored reading this! There are plenty of twists, turns and mystery and I lost count of the number of chapters that end in "cliff hangers".

I was completely engrossed in this book. It was very hard to put down and was not an easy book to stop reading at all. I guess in the end it is a fairly simple story however the writing really lifts it to another level to me. I even found the chapters well present with a beautiful fob watch at the head of each - it is a fob watch that kept the Cogling that replaced Harrison "alive" - nice touch. Please don't be put off by the YA tag - it is a while since I was one and I loved it! If fantasy and particularly steampunk appeal give it a try. I will certainly take a good look at previous books by this author.

This book had caught my every interest since the beginning of the prologue! It is a middle grade/young adult/steampunk/fantasy novel with magic, automatons, hags (i hate them so so much), ogres, dragons, foxkins! and so much more fascinating creatures and things.

I flipped through the pages with no slightest problems, it does't drag the story at all, super fast-paced and every single turning page is exceedingly exhilirating. I did cringe a little bit at some of the torturous experiments.

The characters are loveable and realistic (a number of them are straight up pain in the butt), the creatures and technology are fascinating, it also often mention some kind of religion that Edna strongly believes in. I really appreciate how both Edna's and Ike's characters sounds believable and they acted so well throughout the story. I might have gotten annoyed by Edna's religious nature sometimes, since they are pretty repetitive, but I guess that's just who Edna is as a person.

Although I really enjoy reading this book, I do feel like somehow I have read this kind of story before, just with different characters and places. One or two elements of the story are quite common among the YA writings. But then again, not a big deal, because this IS a great book, and there are many more cliche YA out there that can't beat this.

ps: The cover art is stunning and I hope this turns into a fancy movie!

Edna doesn’t know why her little brother has an expensive pocket watch, but when she grabs it from him, he becomes a pile of cogs. She looks for help, but no one believes her story until Ike tries to take the watch from her and notices what it is. Ike tells Edna that this watch is used to keep Coglings going. Coglings are mechanical changelings that are left behind when children are stolen to work in factories. Edna and Ike are determined to rescue her brother and as they discover the deeper plot the hags have to take over the world, they must decide if they have what it takes to overcome these powerful beings. After all, they are just a servant and a thief.

Cogling is the newest book by Mierek and it will delight steampunk fans of all ages. Although it is classified as a children’s book, the main character is 15 years old, so most young adult readers will also enjoy the story. Edna’s adventure has peril and romance, yet the overall story is kept relatively clean for the younger reader. Reader beware that this is not your average steampunk novel. There are a lot of mechanical beings, but the other devices that are usually present in a steampunk story are not included. It doesn’t take away from the story; I found it refreshing that Mierek didn’t feel obligated to include these additional items. It is hard to tell if this will be a stand-alone novel or the first in a series. We will just have to wait and see. Cogling is a quick read that will have readers turning the pages while rooting for the characters to overcome all the different obstacles that seem to be thrown their way.

First off I must say... this book is different, brilliant, and full of Steampunk wonderment!! Second, it is being published by the perfect publisher.

I love new ideas, especially in books. Cogling takes the myth of changelings and throws a wrench in it, kind of literally. With thrilling gear related adventure that will excite young and old alike to a hodgepodge of great characters, this tale of brothers and friendship with a mix of thrilling heroics will keep the pages turning late into the night. Wonderful!!

This was my very first steampunk story and I was not disappointed!

Edna Mathers works as a servant in the house of Lady Rachel Waxman alongside her little brother Harrison. One day, Harrison starts acting rather strangely. Edna notices a watch on a chain around his neck and when she rips it off thinking he had stolen it, he collapses into a pile of cogs. Cr-azy! She tries to get help but no one is willing to help her find her brother until she meets Ike, a thief who tries to steal the watch from her. She learns that the silver-eyed hags that sell potions and enchanted items to whomever can afford them are stealing children to work in their factories and replacing them with Coglings. Ike is willing to help her find the hags' factory to save her brother for a price. They become close throughout their journey and learn things and learn things about each other that neither were ever willing to tell anyone else. It becomes their mission to save Harrison and stop the hags before it is too late.

The idea of 'coglings' is very similar to 'changelings'. Someone is being replaced by someone or something else. I actually prefer the coglings! I've read a few changeling books and had a hard time getting into them. This new twist on them was pretty refreshing.

I loved the steampunk-ness of this book. It was all fun and new for me without being overbearing with descriptions of clothing (which is about all I know of steampunk stuff having seen lots of top hats paired with goggles and clock innards attached). I really enjoyed the idea of the tomtars, which to me basically seemed like bird people (so cool!) and the foxkins that have three tails and only talk to people that they feel truly safe around. I loved the idea of soot-demons and how dragons were used by policeman almost like K-9's! These creatures made this book so much more appealing to me.

This book has likable characters, lots of adventure, intrigue, and just enough romance that it isn't overwhelming and is perfect for this age group. The one thing that I think might turn people away from this book is that towards the end a female character is being held against her will and is forcibly kissed by her captor and the threat of rape is pretty obvious. For that reason, I wouldn't suggest this to immature middle-grade audiences. Other than that, this reads like a middle-grade novel.

A delightful story. I've read of changelings in other stories, but this one takes an entirely new approach to an age old tale. Adding a steampunk flair of the machinery used throughout as well as the changelings themselves was brilliant. Add witches, ogres, and magic and it suddenly becomes a much more harrowing tale of adventure. I hope the author continues writing more stories about this world

Scheduled to post 3/1/16.

COGLING is going to be a little difficult for me to review based on some behind-the-curtains information I have about the book but I'll base this review on the product itself, mutually exclusive to anything else. That only seems fair.

Elizabeth contacted me through Critique Circle to thank me for the editing input I provided years ago for this book and to let me know it was being published. Hooray! Such a squishy feeling that gave me, not only to know that my advice helped to improve a book but that it got published as well. Victory all around! When she said it was being published with Curiosity Quills that gave me a bit of pause.

See, I have a bit of love/hate relationship with that small digital publisher. I was a reviewer for them a few moons ago after I fell in love with Michael Panush's Stein and Candle books (still love them, go read them, so much fun). I accepted more of their books for review and they all turned out to be . . . duds. Poorly edited, poorly constructed duds. And I had quite a few of them. Actually, the Stein and Candle books were the only books I not only liked but could get through. The rest of them I just ended up ditching (4 on my DNF list alone). Since it's a publisher of writers publishing for writers, the execution of the books would be different than publishing for readers and at the time they prided themselves on not having enough time to edit. And it showed. So I stepped away and haven't picked up a book from them until now.

So you can understand my weariness but I wanted to support the book and Elizabeth so I kept an eye out on NetGalley for when they listed the book (really close to pub date and it wasn't listed for very long, not sure why that is or the reason for such a short review window) and requested it for review. Luckily they approved me.

COGLING is a glorious story written in a manner befitting a steampunk story. It has some of that Victorian voice styling going in but in a "lower" manner because the main characters aren't wealthy aristocrats (thank god, mixed it up a bit, which I liked) but barely above street urchins living in near-squalor. The story didn't really dwell on that, though, because it kicked into Edna's hunt for Harry pretty quickly, which I liked. It didn't linger in any one moment for too long and it felt fast-paced than other like-books I've read that tend to get bogged down in minutiae because "that's the style."

It's a world of Elizabeth's creation, blending a pseudo-Victorian England with a world inhabited by mechanical and mythical creatures alike, creating a caste society based on how human people actually were. Hags played a huge role and while people sought them out for their healing and helping capabilities they were largely stepped on by the human population lording over them. No surprise there that that kind of behavior spurned resentment. Being from close to the bottom of the barrel Edna empathized with the plight of at least some of the creatures and had to have her prejudices torn down when it came to others. It was good character development watching her morph over the course of the story to see things for how they really were.

I really like the concept of a cogling. In the same vein as a changeling but with clockwork parts, a cogling was left in place of Edna's brother. She found out it wasn't really him when she took off a pocket watch hanging around his neck that caused him to dissolve into a pile of springs and other clock pieces. Apparently it was that clock holding him together. So incredibly imaginative! I don't read much steampunk at all but I love this idea of blending these types of fairy tales with clockwork workings.

Ike I felt was a little underdeveloped considering his extensive involvement of the story but not to the point that he felt static. His course of character development revolved around Edna and how he felt about her but he otherwise stayed the course in his vengeance against the hags. He proved a useful tool for Edna in certain situations and a catalyst for her to work herself out of jams. Really, that's a bit unfair. Edna lit a fire under her own butt to save Harry and didn't need Ike's motivation to do it but to say he wasn't useful would just be an outright lie. She literally couldn't have done it without him since it was his connections that got her to Harry to begin with.

But truly, Edna stands on her own. Despite the feminine and proprietary trappings of her society she let nothing get in her way. She was willing to die for her brother and maybe she was okay with getting a little play on the side. Nothing wrong with a woman taking charge of her own life. It's refreshing.

I'd definitely recommend COGLING for any fans of steampunk looking for something a little different, something mixed in with fairy lore. For me it feels really different but take that for what it is because I don't read a lot of steampunk. It's all going to feel different to me. But the writing's stellar, the story came together excellently, and, being the world whore that I am, it gave me a glorious place to live in for a short time. A unique world that was glittering at the same time it was covered in grime. Elizabeth definitely pegged squalor pretty solidly, no doubt about that.

With that being said, would I read other books put out by CQ? Possibly, if they really caught my eye, and based solely on the quality that is COGLING. However, I do know that the quality of COGLING isn't solely attributed to CQ so whether they came upon a higher level of manuscript with this one than normal or whether their editing has truly gotten better, I can't rightly say without reading more of their recent releases. It's hard to judge off of this title alone knowing what I know. I'd like to think COGLING is indicative of an all-around improvement with the publisher and I wouldn't want to write them off completely. But I wouldn't give them a heaping pile of additional chances either. Any publisher, of course, can be hit or miss but hit or miss due to taste is different than hit or miss due to quality. We'll see.

COGLING is worth the read, definitely. Everything else (except Stein and Candle, obvi) I would say is a gamble based on my prior experience.

4

When Edna discovers an expensive pocket watch on her brother, she discovers he has been stolen away and leaves home to try to track him down. She finds a thief named Ike who offers to help her but he seems to have his own agenda. This starts a magical adventure that will appeals to fans of Stefan Bachmann's "The Peculiar".

I really enjoyed Elizabeth’s Treasure Chronicles series and was very eager to read another book written by her. This ended up being an interesting YA steampunk story with lots of magic.

Edna notices her younger brother Harrison is acting strangely and when she pulls a strange pocketwatch from around his neck he crumbles into a pile of cogs. A young thief named Ike recognizes the pocket watch as being from the Hags and tells Edna that he will take her into the swamp where the Hags bring kidnapped children to work for them...for a price. What follows is a series a daring rescues, imprisonments, and escapes as Edna and Ike try to outwit the Hags and protect humanity from a Hag take over.

This book was an interesting blend of magic and mechanicals. The hags pull magic from children's dreams and use that energy to make magic items and devices. As you can imagine this isn’t great for the children.

I really enjoyed the magic and all the different magical races you meet throughout the books. I also really enjoyed the idea of Coglings replacing human children; it has a very faerie changeling kind of feel to it and lends the story a fairy tale like vibe.

I found the plot to be a bit too straightforward and predictable. Additionally I had some trouble engaging with Edna and Ike as characters. The tone of the story is very middle grade in the beginning but the romance and some of the topics toward the end of the book are very young adult. It almost felt like the first half was a middle grade novel and the second half a young adult novel; it gave the novel a bit of an awkward feel.

My last complaint is that the pacing was a bit off. Edna and Ike fall in love way too abruptly and the story seemed very rushed at the end. I wish everything that happened in the last third of the book had started earlier and given a little more time to play out. About 2/3rds of the way in I was doubtful that the story would be wrapped up at all; but it was...it was just very rushed.

Overall this was an intriguing story and I enjoyed some of the magical steampunk elements to it. However, I had some trouble engaging with the characters and felt like the ending was really rushed. I would tentatively recommend to those who enjoy stories with steampunky goodness, magic, and some YA romance.

If you are looking for entertaining YA steampunk I would also recommend Gail Carriger’s Custard Protocol series, The Clockwork Key series by Kristen Bailey, and the Baskerville Affair by Emma Jane Halloway. If you are an adult I would also recommend Elizabeth’s Treasure Chronicle series which I enjoyed a lot more than this book.

The is a very interesting read. It's not your normal paranormal vampires and werewolves. Nooooo. These are hags and ogres, and tomtars, Spyders ( automaton spy cams), dragons, Nixs, and soot demons. All around the steam punk time when automatons replaced people slaves and tomtars replaced human slaves and children replaced by coglings made by Hags, whom are the witches who also granted wish and were your worst nightmares. There were common people and there were Royals who are better, lived better, who had slaves and cars. The poor commoners were the servants who worked for the Royals to live and everyone who needed anything relied on the Hags. When you were sick and dying you need a hag, if you wanted a wish to come true for your wedding, you needed a hag. But when chaos erupts in this little town, the King himself was surrounded by automatons and the hags lived deep in the swamp forest.

This book was fantastic! Very unique. I enjoyed the characters and the plot was paced very well. I will be looking out for this author in the future.