FIRESTARTER, Book Three in the Timekeeper Trilogy, by Tara Sim

The Timekeeper Trilogy by Tara Sim offers a fascinating perspective into how time affects destiny. I’m sorry to see the series end, but FIRESTARTER promises to be a intriguing story that shows the liminal path between good and evil. The book will debut on January 15.

The crew of the Prometheus is intent on taking down the world’s clock towers so that time can run freely. Now captives, Colton, Daphne, and the others have a stark choice: join the Prometheus’s cause, or fight back in any small way they can and face the consequences. But Zavier, leader of the terrorists, has a bigger plan—to bring back the lost god of time.

As new threats emerge, loyalties must shift. No matter where the Prometheus goes—Prague, Austria, India—nowhere is safe, and every second ticks closer toward the eleventh hour. Walking the line between villainy and heroism, each will have to choose what’s most important: saving those you love at the expense of the many, or making impossible sacrifices for the sake of a better world.

Clock mechanic Danny Hart knows he’s being watched. But by whom, or what, remains a mystery. To make matters worse, clock towers have begun falling in India, though time hasn’t Stopped yet. He’d hoped after reuniting with his father and exploring his relationship with Colton, he’d have some time to settle into his new life. Instead, he’s asked to investigate the attacks.

After inspecting some of the fallen Indian towers, he realizes the British occupation may be sparking more than just attacks. And as Danny and Colton unravel more secrets about their past, they find themselves on a dark and dangerous path–one from which they may never return.

Two o’clock was missing.

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

If you could tell your younger writer self one thing, what would it be and why?

I would probably give her some tough love and say that she’ll need to be patient and forgiving with herself in the years to come. Publishing is a tough industry, and when I was younger I definitely had grand aspirations. I think telling myself to learn patience would probably go unheeded, but at least I would try.

Patience is a tough virtue to learn, but you’re right; it’s absolutely necessary. In our last interview, when talking about CHAINBREAKER, you said, “I think this book helped me learn even more about how to bridge books 1 and 3 of a trilogy, about letting the book have its own arc while continuing the overall trilogy arc.” What did you learn while writing FIRESTARTER, the last in the series?

In writing FIRESTARTER, it helped me learn more about resolution and how to end a character’s arc. The characters go through a lot in this series, and their growth helped inform exactly how the book should end. Specifically, what they learned over the course of the story and how would they implement it in the climax.

And it offers good example of how plot and character are inevitably intertwined! What do you feel is the most important element of a good story?

Characters! I’ve forgiven some questionable plots because of how much I’ve loved the characters. If you have a cast that works well together and apart, and characters that the reader will root for/cry with/yell at, you’re golden.

Indeed. You also have a forthcoming series from Disney Hyperion. Is there anything you can tell us about it yet?

SCAVENGE THE STARS is a YA fantasy reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo, full of POC and queer characters. There’s revenge, betrayal, forbidden romance…oh, and lots of gambling.

THE TIMEKEEPER SERIES

Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~  IndieBound

 

Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~  IndieBound

Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~  IndieBound