Title: The Impossible Cube (Clockwork Empire #2)

Author: Steven Harper

Publisher: ROC 2012

Genre: Steampunk

Pages: 380

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Steampunk; New Authors; Library Loan; Bingo - 5 from series

How I Got It: Library loan

Once, Gavin Ennock sailed the skies on airships and enchanted listeners with his fiddle music. Now, the clockwork plague consumes his intellect, enabling him to conceive and construct scientific wonders—while driving him quite mad. Distressed by her beloved’s unfortunate condition, Alice Michaels sought a cure rumored to be inside the Doomsday Vault—and brought the wrath of the British Empire down on them.

Declared enemies of the Crown, Alice and Gavin have little choice but to flee to China in search of a cure. Accompanying them is Dr. Clef, a mad genius driven to find the greatest and most destructive force the world has ever seen: The Impossible Cube. If Dr. Clef gets his hands on it, the entire universe will face extinction.

And Gavin holds the key to its recreation…

Fun fun!  I am really loving these quick action adventure reads.  I am extra excited that this series is all steampunky goodness.  Harper has the right mix of character and action to make me keep reading.  The characters are intriguing.  I especially loved the addition of Feng and Dodd to this volume.  Harper's characters expand and grow, but they still retain their core of being.  I loved continuing to follow Alice and Gavin (with Dr. Clef, Click, and Kemp) on their journey to China to bring about the end of the Clockwork Plague and a cure for Gavin.  Plus, we get great stopovers in Luxembourg, Berlin, and Kiev. The encounter with the Gontas and Zalzinaks was fabulous.  I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume.

Clockwork Empire

1. The Doomsday Vault
2. The Impossible Cube
3. The Dragon Men
4. The Havoc Machine