Ticker Audiobook By Lisa Mantchev cover art

Ticker

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Ticker

By: Lisa Mantchev
Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
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A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass "Ticker," transforming her into "the first of the Augmented!" But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny.

The last day of Warwick's trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

©2014 Lisa Mantchev (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Steampunk Heartfelt
All stars
Most relevant  
I kept expecting to encounter a full out twist. Didn't get one. Imaginative ride, though.

Straightforward

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Loved it! It definitely needs a sequel, I want to know what happens with Penny

Penny

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Very gifted writer. I look forward to seeing how she develops. I am hoping she will stick with this genre as her imagination for this style is really enjoyable.

Entertaining Steampunkish

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Lots of inconsistencies and definitely young adult fiction! I'm sure I would have enjoyed this more at the age of 10 or 12.

Meh! Okay for YA fiction!

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I loved the story when i read it, but Fiona does an amazing job bring the story and characters to life! wonderful!

I was so drawn in!

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The problem with listening to this book is that there is a LOT of characters that all appear to have multiple names or titles, and none of them are explained very well, which is why I made them all obvious in my summary. I think I would have been better able to follow along had I had a better understanding of who was who. The author spent too much time describing clothes and nonsense devices that she failed to develop any of the characters. It seemed forced and poorly thought through and I had a hard time cheering for our main character. Overall, I wasn’t thrilled with this story.

This book is trying soooooo hard to be steampunk that the author is jamming all the mechanical nonsense down your throat, and a lot of it doesn’t even make sense.
Example: Penny has a personal communication device (RiPA – “Ripley’s Personal Aethergraph”) that attaches to her garter, under her bustle skirt, but she can still send messages using it while steering her “Vitesse motorized high-wheeled bicycle”.



This quick guide below should help when listening to this book!

Short Summary & Characters:
*Penny (Penelope) Farthing – Main character, heroine, has a hereditary heart condition that will stop her heart and kill her, like her sisters’, Dimitria and Cygna.
*Nic (Copernicus Emery) Farthing – Twin brother of Penny
*Dr. Calvin Warwick – the man who augmented Penny’s heart; to save her life, Dr. Calvin Warwick replaced her failing heart with an augmented heart. In order to perfect the augmented heart, Dr. Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people, a crime for which he is on trial.
*Sebastian Stirling – Wealthy childhood friend of Penny and Nic, always seems to be around, with parents who are never around.
*Violet Nesselrode – Best friend and youngest baker at Sugarwerks Fully Automated Bakery, which is owned by Violet’s family
*Marcus Kingsley – Proprietor and Legatus legionus of the Ferrum Viriae, (also addressed by his title: Legatus)

Less important characters…
*Dimitria Beryl Farthing – Older sister to Penny and Nic, deceased
*Cygna Garnet Farthing – younger sister to Penny and Nic, deceased
*Frederick Carmichael – Soldier
*Dreadnaught – Some type of housekeeper at Glasshouse, cooks, cleans, sews
*Philomena de Mesmer – Professional Clairaudience and Trance

Good things to know:
*Farthing Cogs & Rivets Factory – Owned by Penny and Nic’s family
*Glasshouse – The home of Penny and Nic
*Ferrum Viriae – Industria’s privatized military, in charge of police, fire, and emergency
*Bazalgate – the main city, located inside “Industria”

Too many characters, all underdeveloped

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This book reads like a steampunk pre-teen romance novel. Swooning heroine, maximum masculine love interest, insane bad guy driven mad because of a broken heart…. I’m sure it’s good if you’re looking for such a thing but I was hoping for more science fiction/fantasy novel? Perhaps with a Victorian flair? I was thinking a bit like John Carter of Mars? But alas it was not to be & not for me.

The reader was good enough and the non romance part of the story was entertaining enough that I finished it. However, I’ll not be reading any more like this.

Not for me

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this book because it is very interesting to listen to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

marcus because he is such a complex person.

Which scene was your favorite?

the spiders coming out of peoples ears

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the very end

awesome!!!

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Loved it. I listen to a lot of books. This one was entertaining and provided the kind of easy listen that I look for.

Loved it

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For me it was meh, but if my daughter loved science, this would be her favorite. Great high quality narration.

Great for a 14 yr old girl who loves science

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