The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass

By Vera Nazarian

A far future "dying earth" science fantasy tale about identity, erotic desire, flying water and a mystery...

"This is science fiction the way that Jack Vance's Dying Earth books are science fiction."
— Charles de Lint

"... believable character development, glimpses of science behind the solemn nomenclature, and enough irreverence to permit an occasional smile. Whether you expect a royal convergence, romantic destiny, or just a boost to a lackluster gene pool, what you’ll get is less definitive — and more interesting."
— Faren Miller, Locus

Locus Recommended Reading List, 2005.

Rich Horton' Virtual Best of the Year 2005.

THE CLOCK KING AND THE QUEEN OF THE HOURGLASS

Many billion years in the future, the sun is a huge bloated golden Day God that fills the sky, and the earth is a barren desert. The last remaining water has pooled at the bottom of the Pacific Basin in a thick toxic sludge-lake called the Oceanus by the sterile post-humans that inhabit its salt-encrusted shores.

Liaei is different from the others. She is a fertile female created out of ancient homo sapiens DNA from the dwindling genetic stores, and has been manufactured by the horticulturists in a genetics lab. Liaei has been brought to life for one mysterious purpose -- she is to become the Queen of the Hourglass.

Growing up in Basin City, fostered by the quasi-female modern human Amhama -- the same technician who put her cells together -- Liaei knows she does not belong. She is lively and vibrant and has a savage full head of hair and eyebrows unlike the smooth doll-like humans around her. She is also curious and inquisitive, asking more questions than even the harmonium in all its complexity can answer -- harmonium technology powers everything, can regurgitate histories of civilizations, process liquid toxic waste, conjure music out of the air, run the agricultural hothouses, and fly hovercars, and yet its origins too have been lost in the murk of the ages and it cannot satisfy the restless mind of Liaei.

What does it mean to be the Queen of the Hourglass? Why do love and emotions seem to mean other things to her than to others? And what is that meandering ribbon of light up on the distant Basin Walls, a mysterious bit of ancient technology called The River That Flows Through the Air? Can water flow uphill?

Soon, when she reaches ancient sexual maturity and undergoes the proper training, the Queen of the Hourglass will embark on a journey to meet her consort the Clock King, and there will be even more questions.

But now, the harmonium-based machines are failing, and suddenly humanity is running out of time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Norilana Books
• Release date: Jul 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781607620938

Vera Nazarian

VERA NAZARIAN is a two-time Nebula Award Finalist, 2018 Dragon Award Finalist, award-winning artist, a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and a writer with a penchant for moral fables and stories of intense wonder, true love, and intricacy.She immigrated to the USA from the former USSR as a kid, sold her first story at the age of 17, and since then has published numerous works in anthologies and magazines, and has seen her fiction translated into eight languages.She is the author of critically acclaimed novels DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE and LORDS OF RAINBOW, the outrageous parodies MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES and NORTHANGER ABBEY AND ANGELS AND DRAGONS, and most recently, PRIDE AND PLATYPUS: MR. DARCY'S DREADFUL SECRET in her humorous and surprisingly romantic Supernatural Jane Austen Series, as well as the Renaissance epic fantasy COBWEB BRIDE Trilogy.Her bestselling and award-winning series THE ATLANTIS GRAIL is now a cross-genre phenomenon -- a high-octane YA / teen dystopian apocalyptic science fiction adventure, romance, and historical mystery thriller -- has been optioned for film, and is in development as a major motion picture franchise or TV series.After many years in Los Angeles, Vera lives in a small town in Vermont, and uses her Armenian sense of humor and her Russian sense of suffering to bake conflicted pirozhki and make art.Her official author website is http://www.veranazarian.comTo be notified when new books come out, subscribe to the Mailing List:http://eepurl.com/hKaeo

Book preview

Reviews for The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass

[scoshie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Liaei hsa been genetically bred to procreate with the Clock King. She has been brought up in an antiseptic world and struggles with the realization that she is completely different from everyone else. Liaei wants to know why these things are the way they are and the only answer is to confront her destiny with the Clock King.

[jbronderblogs_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book takes place several thousands years in the future. There is little to no water left, everything is breaking down, there are no other creatures except the adapted humans. These humans have to grow all of their foods from DNA. They are no longer what we would call humans. There is little emotion and their bodies have become hairless forms that vaguely resemble what they used to look like. This is the end of the world, but they keep trying to stay alive.Liaei has been created from DNA in a lab. She is the only human alive in this new world that we would recognize. He whole purpose is to mate with The Clock King and produce more DNA. Liaei grows up a guinea pig. All of her vitals are constantly measures and she learns about her duty from a computer that shows her old film clips, books, and others things from our current time to prepare her for her task. This is hard on her because she is constantly reminded how different she really is. She is the only human created from DNA that has survived in a long period of time. So it is crucial that she mates and produced more DNA that can be used to save the dieing race.When she turns 15, she is sent to mate with The Clock King. But The Clock King is not like Liaei. He is frozen in time and is defrosted for a couple days when another Queen of the Hourglass is created. His memory is almost completely wiped clean. But he does remember enough to know that this society is dieing and he is tired of being nothing more than a stud for his DNA.When Liaei and The Clock King meet, things don’t go as planned. The Clock King opens Liaei’s eyes to the world around her and makes her feel more alive than anything else she has done in her 15 years. But how is this going to affect the dieing human race.This was an interesting book. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about it is all the training Liaei receives to prepare her for the meeting with The Clock King. This really shows how the society is locked into the survival mode instead of looking at the big picture. Here they are trying to fix a broken machine with no replacement parts or technology.I admit that I was disappointed in this story. Although it has potential, it just didn’t do anything for me. It reminds me more of a story used for lectures than one to enjoy. If you like stories along this line I feel that you would enjoy this. Sorry, I thought it was more of one meant for the pleasure of reading. I received this story for free from the Library Thing review program in exchange for an honest review.

[bertilak_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Liaei was created in the distant future of Earth, at a time when the oceans had shrunk to a small briny lake and there were few people living on it. We learn this from several momentum-destroying infodumps early on. She was created from ancient DNA, just about the last available from that ancient time, our epoch. She grows and is educated by the small, androgynous people of that time, but she grows secondary sexual characteristics and hair on her head, and eventually menstruates. Although our time is barely remembered, Liaei's education consists of dialogues mostly rehashing 20th century issues such as racism, sexism, and pornography. I need to discuss the ending of the book, so the rest of this review contains spoilers. Liaei was created to mate with the Clock King, who seems to be kept in suspended animation until prospective mates are available. The mating fails, but Liaei does not make a serious effort. The Clock King gets sealed up again, but there might be no more possible mates, so to what end? Liaei seems to make a choice that affirms feminism: she chooses self-development over being defined by roles determined by her sex and her reproductive function. However, this means that the human race will become extinct sooner than necessary. This is odd: this is a pro-feminist tract which undercuts itself at the end. Surely the pending extinction of her species would suggest to Liaei that she should perform her intended reproductive function? This book is didactic and preachy and that diminishes its quality as a story. Neither Liaei nor the author seem to be aware of the contradiction I mentioned in the ending. If there were any such signs of doubt or disapproval of Liaei's choice I would think that this was an ironic critique of feminism. However, the story is so deadly earnest that it appears that it is just incoherent.

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Far into the future, the earth is a barren desert where few have survived. Human kind has evolved into an emotionless, passionless group who are no longer able to procreate in the traditional manner. Using DNA from ancient humans, Liaei is created to be the Queen of the Hourglass. As Queen, once she reaches a fertile age she is taken to meet the Clock King, a man preserved and periodically reawaken to provide new genetic material for humankind.Overall, I found this book to be a bit odd. Not bad, just odd. I thought the book was well written and the characters well-developed. The plot was not very appealing to me, but I think science-fiction fans would find the book to be fascinating.

[honoliipali · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This 99 page novella left me wanting more for an ending - or else I just didn't get it.

...

This is a genre that I don't normally read so my rating probably represents my lack of interest in the sci-fi/fantasy/futuristic genre. Nevertheless, I found the writing style compelling and enjoyable. I thought the story was fluid and piqued my interest.I even felt I sort of could even visualize the androgynous character that populated the book. The main character Laiei was a worthy lead.The somewhat average rating is due to the lack of a viable end to the story. If you "got" the ending, then please excuse my rating. I do recommend this book to people that enjoy this genre as it is well written.

[rhonda1111 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think is a little over my head. It was hard to get into and the ending was okay but I wanted something else. It starts in a lab and making baby Liaei that is a throw back to older genes DNA. They don't have reproduction systems that work or parts are small. Everything she was taught and raised was so emotionless that it was hard to connect with the other characters. It was different civilization. I wanted to know more about the clock king himself.

[avry15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass by Vera Nazarian is about Liaei, the last of the race of homo sapiens (of course, we, humans) who was born out of the best sperm and egg cells in a laboratory in the future. It’s about her journey to be the mate of the Clock King and to find her own self and protect the dying earth and the soon-to-be-extinct human versions.This book is also about her training to be efficient, learning her self-identity, surpassing her difference from others and acquiring true knowledge.I must admit that at the first paragraphs, I assumed this book to be boring. I’m usually a sci-fi person but the words, descriptions are just too high for my mental capability..lol But when Liaei is born and growing, I started to understand the future world I’m being thrown into.Thumbs up for the very good work of Ms. Nazarian, making a vivid description of the future million years from now. You could really imagine yourself in the middle of the very large scorching sun almost red and orange, the toxic ocean, the scarcity of water and minerals as well as energy, and the extinction of animals just like dinosaurs did today.What really amazes me is how she describes how future humans look. They don’t have hairs (eyebrows, in the head, in genitals and even no eyelashes), I can’t imagine how a person would look like that. Men and women looked like the same, same body structure and their reproductive organs are reduce to non-functional parts. And guess what? They even laugh about the ancient pornographs, they’re not obsessed with sex anymore. I think they reproduce through test-tube babies. 2 things aren’t clear to me though, how are this future version of humans formed? An what is really the rule of the Queen of the Hurglass?..hmmp..All in all, this book is a product of a rich and wild imagination, and if you like books about the future, you should grab this one..:)

[ec130john · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reviewers Copy read on my Kindle(Please see my rating disclaimer at the bottom)Vera Nazarian has an interesting perspective on a dying planet, at the end of time. Her writing was good and, overall, I enjoyed the story. Humanity has changed, is clinging on, and trying to recover a little of its lost self - a little of its youth. I found the plot interesting, good development and the end . . . well, it almost should have been the middle of the story. Actions take place, consequences occur . . . but the story just sort of falls off there. We are left wondering about the protagonists, and the planets, future. This COULD be picked up with a sequel, however, it seems it should have continued here.I gave this 3-Stars.My rating scale:1-Star: I could not finish it2-Star: I had to force myself to finish it3-Star: A good read, one time4-Star: I could read it again5-Star: Loved it, could read again, many times

[talksupe3blogspot · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like Sci-Fi/Fantasy books like Wheel of Time and The League Series but The Clock King and The Hourglass Queen just felt cold and clinical to me. The visuals in terms of descriptive details on the setting and the environment is beautiful but at times it felt too detailed. An example of this was when the heroine, being human, was growing up and has to be educated in detail about her growth and development when some of it should have been instinct. There are just things about our body that doesn't need explanation, it just is. On instances like that I felt like the book is intended for E.T.'s to read, educating them on how humans operate and a preview of our nature. But then again, I still encourage you to read it. This is just my opinion and I'm pretty sure that other readers who got the privelege to recieve a copy will have a different POV about the story. Maybe the genre is just not for me.

[middlemedia2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A child is born from an egg and sperm from the old Earth. It is very far into the future. What is left of all the oceans is called Oceanus. This child is raised to be the Queen of the Hourglass. She is to mate with the Clock King. They are to have a child to help rebuild the humans. I personally did not like this book. It was brutal just getting through the novella. The book just ends. She didn't conceive and then the book was over. I really didn't like that part.

[laray_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Received through LibraryThing Memeber Give Away.I very much enjoyed this book. The sort of flat writing style perfectly complements the tone of the story. It evokes a kind of calm despair and disconnect that the “evolved” people must be feeling. Humans have “controlled” things until they are impotent both physically and intellectually. They go through the motions of a life they can’t live or enjoy. So stagnant have they become that they do what they have always done to survive and seemingly never attempt to try to come up with any better way of surviving. They rely on their “genetic throw backs” to supply them with new genetic material to carry on a human race that merely exists. Liaei, The Queen of the Hourglass, defies expectation and the reader is left with the hope she resurrects life. I would love to read what happens next, but the author leaves it to the readers imagination, but she leaves us with hope. 

[magus_manders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This quick little novella runs its course in the extremely distant future, where Earth has been reduced to a shrinking lake of sludge at the bottom of the Pacific basin and two highly advanced cities of demi-humans. Our protagonist, Liaei, is an engineered 'modern' homo sapien who comes to learn that her DNA is part of a millenniums-long program of genetic renewal. In The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass, Ms. Nazarian presents us briefly with an understated view of a vastly different human race. Our world has become strange, but in her hands it is not difficult to accept her future-people and their alien worldview. Her language sometimes has a shade of Bradbury, both to good and bad effect, but she plies her metaphors without overwriting. Questioning and curiosity -- both important themes -- exist both within the plot and without, as the author uses her character's displacement from our own time to re-frame gender identity and sexuality as an outside observer. These monologues unfortunately range from the thought-provoking to the funny to the irritatingly didactic, but come with good intent and real insight. A few features of the story do grate a bit. The characters can't seem to decide if they measure time or not; in the same page they both criticize their ancestor's clocks and track their own heart's beats per minute. Even in 100 pages, one or two spots seem to start sputtering. However, the last few pages open up the whole story's foundation, that it is our human drive to discover and explore that makes us great and gives us our best chance for the future. I am certainly curious to seek out more of Very Nazarian's work and see if it stands up to another such rigorous and heartening message.

[wosret · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book! I was a little unsure at first, since the main character's name is rather awkward to pronounce, and I felt that that wasn't a good sign. There were also a few rough patches in the beginning (awkward turns of phrase, and anachronisms that seemed out of place) but soon enough I was pulled right in and completely absorbed into the far-future world created by the author.I was pleased that the author seemed familiar with and open to multiple gender and sexual identities. I developed a lot of sympathy for the main character, and could easily imagine myself having a conversation with her. I enjoyed the pacing - we got a view of the main character's birth and early childhood, but not too much. I really liked that the language was just a little different, as it should be in a story set millions of years into the future.My only real complaint about this story is that it was too short. There were so many tantalizing tidbits throughout the story that hinted at both the past and future of the world. I would definitely read a sequel or even a prequel.

[doskoipanda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass is a novella (99 pages) set in the landscape of a future Earth, where human beings have become androgynous, slow aging and sterile. The book opens to a miraculous event - the genetic engineering of the ova and sperm of earlier humans to create a fertile female. Humanity's survival depends on the production of a child to expand the available gene pool. The novella is a bit strange in tone, spinning between clinical impressions, the touching humanity of the heroine as she grows up to be a teenager (with a heavy burden), and sly commentary on our present-day society as viewed through the lens of this future version of humanity. The heroine, Liaei, stays true to age - a believable character, complete with embarrassment, intelligence, frustration and fears. The landscape is interesting - the ocean has become deadly, the sun has undergone changes, there are technologies that are vital, but, as with the aquaducts and plumbing after the fall of the Roman empire, no one knows how they work or how to repair them. While I enjoyed most of the novella, there were a few things that just didn't sit well, particularly in the second part with the Clock King, and the ending. Part of me was happy at the ending, but the other part was thinking how unlikley it was that it would be left like that. All in all, I enjoyed reading The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass; it stayed more human than many future earth stories I have read. I recieved a review copy from the author as part of the member giveaway.