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    The Deepest Poison: A Clockwork Dagger Story
    The Deepest Poison: A Clockwork Dagger Story
    The Deepest Poison: A Clockwork Dagger Story
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    The Deepest Poison: A Clockwork Dagger Story

    By Beth Cato

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Octavia Leander, a young healer with incredible powers, has found her place among Miss Percival's medicians-in-training. Called to the frontlines of a never-ending war between Caskentia and the immoral Wasters, the two women must uncover the source of a devastating illness that is killing thousands of soldiers. But when Octavia's natural talents far outshine her teacher's, jealousy threatens to destroy their relationship—as time runs out to save the encampment.

    Fans of Beth Cato's debut, The Clockwork Dagger, will love this journey into Octavia's past—as well as an exclusive excerpt from the sequel, The Clockwork Crown!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 28, 2015
    ISBN9780062411242
    The Deepest Poison: A Clockwork Dagger Story
    Author

    Beth Cato

    Nebula Award–nominated author Beth Cato hails from Hanford, California, but currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair west of Phoenix, Arizona. She’s the author of the Clockwork Dagger duology and the Blood of Earth trilogy, plus scores of other short stories and poems across a multitude of publications. She shares her household with a hockey-loving husband, a numbers-obsessed son, and three feline overlords.

    Read more from Beth Cato

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    Reviews for The Deepest Poison

    3.5/5

    70 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Cross between Gail Carrigar & Tamora Pierce. Enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful read! I want more, chapter after chapter. grim and beautiful at the same time. I know this fine writer has a lot more of this inside of her. I'll just have to wait.
    • 3/5
      Beth Cato could not decide what genre she would like to write into so ended up with a mix of a not so bad steampunk novel, a decent fantasy one and a mediocre romance novel. Why she needed the last piece is beyond me and the relationship does not work at all - nor are any of the romantic scenes written in any convincing way. However if we exclude that part of the novel, it is actually a pretty good read. The heart of the novel is the fantasy component - the medicians (healers) draw their magic from the Lady and help people using magic, herbs and prayers (or something close enough to that) to heal people. And our protagonist is one of the most gifted ones to have ever been born - Octavia Leander. Unfortunately for her she is born in a world divided by a war, with technological advances used to advance the war. For some reason Cato finds it needed to rename known concepts with new names - which could have worked if she had also added some new properties... Not everything is in the names after all. And in that world Octavia goes on a trip to her new life and job - by boarding an airship and expecting a pretty uneventful trip. Except we already know that this won't happen - or there will be no novel after all. And Cato proceeds to hit us with every cliche you can think of - a missing princess that suddenly reappears, a dashing hero that is Octavia's biggest enemy but love will prevail, characters named for a distinctive characteristic of them, am enemy that wants her death, a good guy that wants her death, a betrayal and new friendships. It almost feels as if she had a checklist and she had to tick things off. She manages to pull some of those well enough but you need a lot of experience to pull them all off and Cato misses that. What saves the novel is that she actually can write and knows what story she is trying to tell. So (if we forget the first and the last chapter), the novel is readable and entertaining, even with the cliches. It even manages to surprise you here and there. Setting it on another planet allows Cato to use the steampunk concepts but not to be tied by geography - or history. Which works for the most part and allows for surprises. As for the first and the last chapters - the first is almost unreadably sweet and immature; the last is like a bow on a present that already has a few bows. Cato's worldbuilding skills are actually pretty good and the new world feels alive and real (for the most part anyway). There is so much possibilities in that world that I would be interested to see where this story can go. So I will check the next novel - and hopefully some of the problematic areas would be missing from it. But I also hope that Octavia will stop behaving like a damsel in distress just before she shows her strength because it gets a bit annoying at some point.
    • 2/5
      This is very sad. I have had this book on my shelf for a long while. It was just staring at me begging me to pick it up and read it. I finally found a chance to pick up the book. First off I have to say that the whole reason I was really looking forward to reading this book is because it has been a while since I have read a steampunk story. I just have fallen in love with this world and am always interested to see how the different authors envision the world. Which I thought the author did a very good job of the world in this book. My biggest issue was that I could not find anything appealing about any of the characters. The environment is not the only thing that makes up the book, the other half is the characters. Plus, I felt that Octavia's abilities were muted and were not as strongly showcased as I would have liked them to be.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this steampunk adventure by Cato. The story stands alone very well, but I was excited to find out there are more books planned for this series. The 2nd book in the series, The Clockwork Crown, is expected to release in Sept 2015.Octavia Leander was orphaned at a young age, but her luck took a turn for the better when she was taken in by Miss Percival and trained as a medician. Years have passed and now Octavia is a medician of great power and being sent on her first assignment. She is being sent to a small town that is devastated by sickness, but getting there will be the exciting part.On the airship ride to her destination she meets the very handsome steward Alonzo Garrett. She enjoys his occasional company until someone tries to kill her. Suddenly Octavia is dodging assassination attempts left and right, then she finds out Alonzo is not a steward at all but an elite Clockwork Dagger (a caste of warrior that usually protects the queen). This was a very well written and action packed book. The story is fast paced right from the beginning and never lets up. There are a ton of steampunk elements in here (which I love). Lots of traveling by airship and people with mechanical limbs etc.I really love how Octavia prays to a goddess of healing, The Lady, to do her medician work. This added a very interesting contrast to all the mechanical steampunk. Octavia uses magic and faith to heal in a world that is very much in love with all things mechanical and it really adds a fascinating dynamic to the story.I enjoyed Octavia as a character, she is resourceful but not overly combative. She is incredibly compassionate but also practical. She was a complex and very intriguing character to read about.Alozo Garrett was another very well done character. He has an interesting past and I look forward to getting to learn more about him in future books.One of my favorite parts of the story was the gremlin Leaf, he is so cute and so funny. I can't wait to read more and see how he fits into the greater picture.There is some romance in here, but that definitely is not what drives the plot. The plot is action packed and driven by Octavia's need to figure out the mystery behind the assassination attempts on her.The story was incredibly engaging. The writing was very easy to read and flowed nicely. The dialogue between characters was witty, fun, and natural sounding.Overall I loved this book. The characters are well done and I enjoyed the world and the contrast of Octavia's magical healing versus the mechanical world around her. The story was fast-paced and engaging. I highly recommend this book to fans of steampunk reads or fans of books with a heavy magic/fantasy theme to them. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next book in the series!
    • 4/5
      Finally a steampunk novel that doesn't let the setting get in the way of the storytelling! Set mostly on a zepplin, in a dystopian, war-torn kingdom, with all the gears and fashion one could hope for, the book focuses on a young girl with a healing gift who is suddenly catapulted into a web of intrigue. The only goofy thing about it is the term "clockwork dagger" and I can forgive that easily if I get to find out what happens next. Pleasing, also, in that one adventure thoroughly wraps up, leaving space for the next chapter, but not a cliffhanger.
    • 3/5
      {First of Clockwork Dagger duology +3; fantasy, steampunk, magic, adventure}(2014)I read this at the beginning of the year and recently borrowed the second book but I couldn't remember the story well enough so I borrowed this again.The country of Caskentia has been embroiled in civil war for most of Octavia Leander's lifetime and she was orphaned when her village was a casualty. She is now one of the strongest medicians who uses the Lady's power to heal and is travelling incognito by airship to help a town which is suffering with the ongoing war. But it seems that someone wants to harm her as there are several attempts on her life onboard the dirigible which continue even once she's on the ground. Octavia is no shrinking damsel in distress and can take care of herself, although the help of a handsome Clockwork Dagger - one of the queen's elite assassin-spies - doesn't come amiss.I initially read this earlier this year but I re-read it because I've just borrowed the second book but I didn't review it or rate it properly and I can't remember what happened (I find that happens a lot these days). I skipped the entire first half of the first chapter with the puppy (though it does also introduce Octavia's craft and powers) since I did note 'Just starting this as the protagonist saves a puppy's life only to find that he's destined for the dinner table' the first time around. I could really have done with a map as there's a lot of geography involved; the characters cover a lot of territory by airship as well as on the ground and several countries, cities and towns are mentioned and are integral to the story.This book is a lot of fun (except for the collateral damage to animals and small children) and the touch of young-adult (PG-rated) romance doesn‘t hurt. Neither does the inclusion of a lost princess out of fairytales, flying gremlins and action and quick thinking by Octavia.3.5-4 stars (but rounding down for animal cruelty)
    • 5/5
      Beth Cato has written a great novel. It’s a romantic steampunk adventure, with magic and airships, Her setting is a world with an intriguing history and politics, of which we get only glimpses. This is not a weakness – too often authors have their characters lecture each other to establish the back story, rather than letting the tale evolve naturally. Cato is an excellent writer. I hadn’t heard of her before discovering this book, but she has written quite a bit of short fiction. Her skill shows in the well-developed, complex characters and interesting plot. I hope that this is the first novel of a series.
    • 4/5
      Combining a steampunk airship adventure with nature and saint based spirituality, ugly/adorable flying gremlins, competing political conspiracies, a missing princess, various forms of magic, and the beginning stages of romance, Clockwork Dagger charmed and entertained me. Octavia Leander, orphaned in the war, has healing powers sought by all sides, so though she just wants to practice her craft in a quiet rural setting she's drawn into a dangerous power struggle. Fortunately she’s quick thinking and has the support of the Lady, a healing goddess who may have begun life as a human but now is embodied as the spirit of a magnificent magical tree. The characters are wonderful--beside Octavia there is Leaf, the little green gremlin, Viola Stout, an unconventional older woman with with a surprising secret, Alonzo Garret, the handsome airship steward who's always around when there's trouble, and assorted eccentrics who make up the airship's passengers and crew. The story's landscape includes smoky cities, marshy swamps, and country towns and though it’s set in a fantasy kingdom, not England, the book reminded me of Gail Carriger's Etiquette and Espionage series.

    Book preview

    The Deepest Poison - Beth Cato

    cover.jpg160467.png

    Dedication

    To Codex Writers. You guys keep me going.

    Acknowledgments

    I am deeply grateful to my first readers Michael R. Underwood, Gary B. Phillips, M.K. Hutchins, Rebecca Roland, and Jared Oliver Adams. Bonus thanks to Rhonda Parrish for her support throughout the whole process.

    The world of The Clockwork Dagger isn’t Earth, but it’s based on World War I and its aftermath. I made an effort to ground non-­magical details in medical and military reality. My reference materials for The Deepest Poison include The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, The Backwash of War: The Classic Account of a First World War Field-­Hospital by Ellen N. La Motte, Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I by Emily Mayhew, and A Surgeon in Khaki: Through France and Flanders in World War I by Arthur Anderson Martin.

    Contents

    Dedication

    Acknowledgments

    The Deepest Poison

    An Excerpt from The Clockwork Crown

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    About the Author

    By Beth Cato

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    The Deepest Poison

    F

    ROM

    MY

    VANTAGE

    point on the low crest, I knew Cantonment Five’s situation had grown ominous since Miss Leander’s missive had arrived in my hand some hours before.

    The rising sun painted a sliver of horizon in the deep pink of a healing scar and illuminated the sprawl of the camp below. The whinnies of hungry horses carried at this distance even as the usual booms of shelling continued on the far side. Airships hovered above, like dark, ovoid clouds, though fewer were aloft than usual. No Caskentian army encampment should be so still.

    Mercy upon us all if the front line fell. Wasters would be on us like ants on a crumb.

    Captain Yancy, the commander of my escort party, conferred with the pickets on duty, their voices rushed. I caught the word contagious and immediately brought my horse around.

    It’s not believed to be contagious, I said.

    The guard held a fist to his chest in salute. Only his eyes were visible between the thick wrap of scarf and hat. Miss Percival, m’lady, last I heard, a quarter of the men gone ill—­

    A quarter of the men. That meant over two thousand. I schooled myself to remain stoic. Miss Leander said this bore the marks of enteric illness. A matter of the bowels, food poisoning.

    I’ve been told not to eat or drink, he said.

    Good. Captain Yancy?

    We rode down the gradual slope to the cantonment with a heightened sense of urgency. I trusted Miss Leander’s judgment else I would not have left her as matron at this vital base. I was still technically headmistress over her and about a dozen other medician women in training, all of us contracted by the Caskentian government to manage medical wards throughout the northern pass. With me were two of my trained medician girls, ten nurses of my hire, and a squadron of two hundred soldiers. The men were a concession of the Colonel at base camp; my midnight plea had only succeeded because the lout was fully drunk. A happy drunk, one easily coaxed by feminine smiles.

    Captain Yancy rode alongside me. M’lady, what should my men do?

    Keep most of your men with me. We will require assistance in the wards.

    Whatever you need, Miss Percival.

    I nodded. This old, prickled captain had not been so respectful toward me until recent months—­not until, through the Lady’s grace, I had spared him from multiple amputations. Worshipful officers were useful.

    Army encampments always stank of dust and unwashed male bodies and manure, but this one now carried a strong acidic taint. Green-­clad soldiers stood in the cold morning to watch as we rode past. Others staggered toward the wards, soaked in their own feculence. The quiet, the vulnerability of the place, unnerved me. I’d never seen the like in all my decades of intermittent ser­vice for the Caskentian army.

    To the east of the Fair Valley of Caskentia, across the high peaks of the Pinnacles, sprawled desolate plains known as the Waste. During my childhood, the hardscrabble settlers of the Waste rebelled and kidnapped Caskentia’s young princess. Her loss began a cycle of war that had continued, on and off, for some fifty years.

    I dismounted and bit back a grunt as my stiff old legs met the hard ground. I unstrapped my satchel and draped it across my chest. The dull echoes of bomb blasts carried from nearby trench lines. With a motion to my medicians and nurses, I entered the reception tent.

    My nostrils were bludgeoned by a foulness that cannot be described in proper company. The canvas tent was intended to house thirty swaddies, briefly, during triage. Now it was carpeted in a hundred bodies. Some moaned. Others were eerily still. An orderly waved a medician wand over a soldier. The crusted grime on him was immediately rendered to dust by the wand’s enchantment, only for the patient to immediately soil himself again. Even so, efforts to sanitize were ongoing throughout the ward.

    Despite the sheer numbers of ill men, all of them wore proper triage tags on their boots. I couldn’t help a surge in

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