Altogether worse than pain was that maddeningly clear vision of having not tripped, not broken anything, when logic held up a lamp in the straight tunnel that time drove humans through, and showed that the walls were made of glass. [loc 4163]
I first read this some years ago (2016 review) but I'm not sure I paid attention to the title: although telegraph clerk Thaniel Steepleton is the focal character, he's not the protagonist. Reread because I greatly enjoyed The Bedlam Stacks, and had just pre-ordered The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, which seems to be the third in a trilogy I didn't realise was happening.
Rereading, and attempting to focus on Mori rather than Thaniel -- through Thaniel's own bias, ignorance and emotion -- was an interesting exercise. I was saddened all over again by the fate of a mechanical octopus, and as fascinated as ever by Thaniel's synaethesia (he sees sound in colour). And, knowing a little more about Keita Mori from The Bedlam Stacks, I was able to appreciate his strategic planning rather better. I did find I liked Grace rather less on this second reading: but I can't say that her actions were unreasonable.
One of my criticisms in my previous review was that the setting didn't feel like the nineteenth century. I think now that the backgrounding of religion, royalty and so on is a reflection of Thaniel's class and nature, rather than an omission.
Very much looking forward to the new book!
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