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Description
Fiddlehead: A Novel of the Clockwork CenturyYoung ex slave Gideon Bardsley is a brilliant inventor, but the job is less glamorous than one might think, especially since the assassination attempts started. Worse yet, they're trying to destroy his greatest achievement: a calculating engine called Fiddlehead, which provides undeniable proof of something awful enough to destroy the world. Both man and machine are at risk from forces conspiring to keep the Civil War going and the money flowing.
Young ex-slave Gideon Bardsley is a brilliant inventor, but the job is less glamorous than one might think, especially since the assassination attempts started. Worse yet, they're trying to destroy his greatest achievement: a calculating engine called Fiddlehead, which provides undeniable proof of something awful enough to destroy the world. Both man and machine are at risk from forces conspiring to keep the Civil War going and the money flowing.
Bardsley has no choice but to ask his patron, former president Abraham Lincoln, for help. Lincoln retired from leading the country after an attempt on his life, but is quite interested in Bardsley's immense data-processing capacities, confident that if people have the facts, they'll see reason and urge the government to end the war. Lincoln must keep Bardsley safe until he can finish his research, so he calls on his old private security staff to protect Gideon and his data. Maria Belle Boyd was a retired Confederate spy, until she got a life-changing job offer from the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton respects her work, despite reservations about her lingering Southern loyalties. But it's precisely those loyalties that let her go into Confederate territory to figure out who might be targeting Bardsley. Maria is a good detective, but with spies from both camps gunning for her, can even the notorious Belle Boyd hold the greedy warhawks at bay? Another rollicking alternate history from Cherie Priest--Fiddlehead is the fifth book in the Clockwork Century steampunk series that started with Boneshaker.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 11/12/2013
ISBN: 9780765334077
Pages: 366
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.32h x 5.49w x 0.96d
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/30/2013
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2013
Library Journal 11/15/2013 pg. 67
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4.8 ★★★★★
Based on 631 reviews
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★★★★★ 5
Fast an easy
Format: Paperback
Quick delivery and a very nice comic book.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Thrilling and illustrated beautifully
Format: Paperback
Do not miss this series if your a Star Wars fan, if your a Vader fan in particular this is a must read comic as it really goes into Vaders early days and his journey to become a true champion of the dark side. Had to put it down on purpose several times so it would not end. Loving my second read of the same volume as well. This book pulls no punches and the writing is much better than I thought it would be. This is one of the few new Marvel comics that can stand tall with the classics and Dark Horses comics. Illustrations are top notch and the story is well thought out.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2019
★★★★★ 4
An origins story of sorts
Format: Paperback
Darth Vader is an angry man. Recently Anakin Skywalker, hero of the Republic, the Chosen One in the eyes of some of the Jedi, he is now a literally broken man, as much machine as human, as result of losing a battle with his former master—and ‘brother’—and left to die along the lava rivers of Mustafar. Worse, he is bereft of his great love, Padme Amidala, and is at least the proximate, if not the direct, cause of her death.
So yeah, he has a few things to work out.
This first volume of the second DV run from Marvel focuses on how Vader becomes Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith that strikes fear in the hearts of friend and foe alike.
The plot here across the six collected issues is fairly minimal. Having lost his lightsaber to Obi-Wan in the Mustafar fight, he needs a new one, and it needs to a Sith saber, which can only be gotten by taking a saber from a foe and “bleeding” it, by infusing its crystal with all the hate and anger that drives the Sith. In the process, this will turn the crystal’s light red (thus explaining why Sith sabers are the color they are). So, the first three issues are about him acquiring and crafting said saber. The other issues are his rocky introduction to and training of the Inquisitorious, the Emperor’s new Jedi hunters.
So, with six issues of not a whole lot of story, does this collection work? To my surprise, yes it does. This is all about emotion, and if there is a standout star, it’s Vader’s rage. His former life gone, crushed and burned in the fires of Mustafar, Vader’s going to forge a new one in the very flames of his anger. Writer Charles Soule has done a fine job in depicting this inner turmoil and translating it into the foundations of the Dark Lord’s new life.
Also nicer is artist Giuseppe Camuncoli’s work. The artwork is dynamic—Vader is agile, fluid and skillful —and interesting. It’s good stuff and does a fine job giving us insight to Vader’s state of mind.
As I’ve said, there’s not a whole lot of story here, but there is a fine character study of damaged man rebuilding himself into a powerful and formidable individual.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023
★★★★★ 5
Good story
Format: Paperback
Awesome to see what happens right after episode 3
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Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2025
★★★★★ 5
I love star wars
Format: Paperback
Yet, I love his comic book so much. I love Star Wars a lot too. I mean, this is a lot. This is a really cool comic. I love seeing dark vader fight like it's really cool
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2026