The Incredible Machines of Thinkery
By Linnhe Harrison
© May 15, 2025
File size: 907 KB
232 pages
ASIN: B0DSZSXFNJ
Edwin Cooper and Nell Sykes are back in this, the second book in The Incredible Machines of Thinkery. Edwin isn’t sure if he’s a widower. Nell isn’t sure if she’s the other woman. The one thing they are certain about is that they love one another. And in the aftermath of the Institute’s awful influence on both their lives, that’s all that matters. Then the Institute returns, bullying them into yet another job neither of them wants, and neither can decline. Find Professor Crowley. Help hide his crimes. Mislead the local police. Bring Crowley back alive at all costs.
I like Author Linnhe Harrison’s writing style; it felt a bit literary to me, while maintaining that steampunk/cyberpunk atmosphere. She doesn’t explain everything up front but drops breadcrumbs along the story’s path and trusts in the reader’s intelligence to figure it out. Again, Cooper is not always likeable; he made me really mad at one point, even though I could understand why he did what he did. But watching him get ensnared in…well, drama not of his own making (no spoilers!), it was still easy to root for him and hope he fumbled his way out of the whole mess. And Nell is exactly what I would expect of a strong woman in a society where strong women are not respected. I loved her, and I loved the actions she takes in this story when everything goes horribly wrong.
There is darkness here, and horrors of the Thinkery Network. Harrison does a splendid job of describing these images without going too deeply into the grotesqueries, giving just enough to make me shudder, but not so much I wanted to put the book down. Great job!
Most of the threads from the story are tied up, but a few big ones remain for the next book, Northern Sky, which is due out early this summer, I believe. Follow the author on Amazon or her website to stay in the loop.
If you like dark cyberpunk fiction, and especially if you liked book 1 in this series, Outpost 9, you will want to read Future’s End. Definitely recommended.