Timekeeper By Tara Sim : A Review

This time we have Timekeeper by Tara Sim, an alternate Victorian-era steampunk fantasy set in a world where massive clock towers control the flow of time. If a clock tower breaks, time in the surrounding area can fracture or stop completely.

Tara Sim is a critically acclaimed author of young adult and adult fantasy novels. Based in the Bay Area, California, she is known for writing stories that often feature magic, murder, mayhem, and explosive stakes. She is the author of several popular series, The Timekeeper Trilogy, Scavenge the Stars Duology, The Dark Gods Saga, and We Shall Be Monsters Duology.

Sim is of half-Indian descent and identifies as a queer author, themes which she frequently weaves into her writing to create inclusive, diverse worlds and safe spaces for readers who may not have seen themselves represented in fantasy literature growing up. When she isn’t writing, she can typically be found drinking tea, wrangling her cats, or lurking in bookstores.

The story follows 17-year-old Danny Hart, a prodigy clock mechanic struggling with PTSD and the trauma of his father being trapped in a town where time has stopped. Danny is assigned to Enfield to repair its plagued clock tower, where he discovers the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being named Colton who oversees the town’s time. Danny and Colton develop a deep bond and fall in love, despite the social and magical taboos against a mechanic becoming involved with a clock spirit. As Danny navigates his new assignment, a series of mysterious bombings target clock towers across England, threatening to stop time in more cities. Danny must race to identify the culprit to protect both his father and his relationship with Colton.

“You’re the mechanic. I’m just the clock.”

This quote captures the fundamental tension and power dynamic between the two protagonists, Danny Hart and Colton.

Danny is a human with the agency to repair and alter his environment, defined by his ability to “fix” the world. In contrast, Colton is a spirit who is literally bound to the tower and the flow of time. The quote highlights that while Danny has the power to act, Colton is trapped by his inherent nature as the manifestation of time itself. The quote underscores the magical and social barriers between them. The novel explores the taboo of a mortal mechanic becoming involved with an immortal clock spirit. This statement serves as a reminder of their separate worlds, one is a creator/repairer, and the other is the creation/system itself, emphasizing why their relationship is so complicated and “forbidden.” Danny struggles with his past and his specific role as a mechanic; his identity is tied to his work. Colton’s identity is inextricably linked to the tower he oversees. This line strips away their romantic tension for a moment to refocus on their starkly different roles, highlighting the sacrifice and struggle each faces as they try to bridge the gap between their two disparate lives.

This was a fun listen and I highly recommend if you enjoy a steampunk fantasy love story with high tension and stakes. Danny and Colton felt so real with their interactions while I’m not always a fan of the young adult/older teen falling in love with a timeless/ancient being trope but this was still a good read and I’m starting on the next in the series Chainbreaker so we’ll get that one next.