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Today we have yet another novel from Jordan Elizabeth. She previously brought us Escape from Witchwood Hollow and Born of Treasure (both featured on this blog). How does this latest effort stack up? Let's find out.
The story centers around peasant girl Edna Mather who, along with her brother Harrison, eke out a meager living in a fictional steampunk world by working for a noble family and their daughter Rachel. Rich people like them can afford the services of the hags which are basically witches. Some hags are ugly stereotypical witches while others look like normal humans, but all possess magic.
One day, Harrison begins acting strangely and gets them in trouble by apparently stealing a pocket watch from Rachel's family. Edna chastises him and snatches the watch away. To her horror, he screams and explodes into mechanical pieces. Edna seriously freaks out and goes in search of help, only to run into adolescent thief Ike. He recognizes the pocket watch and explains her brother has been replaced by a cogling--a clockwork doppelganger. The real Harrison is being held prisoner (along with a number of other children) by the hags in a factory in the swamp. Furthermore, the hags are forcing the kids to assist in their nefarious plot to overthrow their human overlords.
So Edna and Ike set out for the factory, but they'll need help getting there. With that in mind, Ike recruits members of his family to assist in the rescue mission. Together, they board an airship and make haste to save Harrison. But even if they succeed, they'll be wanted fugitives for daring to attack the hags who are under the protection of the king. Will they save Harrison? What is the mysterious force that lies within Edna, clamoring to get out? And what secrets is Ike hiding that could jeopardize the mission?
Cogling is slow to get going, but eventually builds into an enjoyable story. Jordan Elizabeth has once again proven she has the writing chops to keep us entertained. I think this is even better than her previous efforts, and those weren't half bad. Here she has created an engaging steampunk world but also successfully melds fantasy elements such as dragons into it. I do feel the book could have benefited from more extensive editing, as typos and punctuation errors can be found occasionally. Nevertheless, Cogling is a solid effort that deserves to be read.
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