This book may be short, but it is the best book I have ever read. "Clockwork: All Wound Up" is about a storyteller named Fritz, who writes a story, but dosn't finish it. Just as he is about to think up an ending, the story comes real. All the main charactors from his story visit him while he is reading the story to an audience. I will leave it up to you to read the ending!

This book is written for young adults, but the simpler style and child's perspective only add to the atmosphere for older readers. It gets its punch from clockwork-precise scene juxtapositions: something bizarre and inexplicable happens; the narrative switches to a different character a little earlier in the time flow and partially reveals the roots of the initial situation; you switch back to the last few seconds of the first scene, and the new layer of understanding sends centipides of ice skittering down your spine. It has a somewhat disappointingly fairy-tale ending, but it's an incredible scare until the last chapter.

"Clockwork" by Phillip Pullman is definitely one of the shortest books I've read in a long time. A determined reader could finish the book in an hour. However, such small size does not make this a bad book. Indeed, the plot is thick, intricate, but not confusing. The story is chillingly entertaining for readers of all ages. The art is creative and an excellent accompaniment to the book. In the end, I'd recommend this to almost everyone who asks.

like most people who also wrote reviews for this book, i bought this after reading "his dark material" trilogy, trying to fill the gap in my heart after lyra and will went away.
it's by no mean did that, this story's very short, and the charecter are very superficial, as they often do in a story this short, and you can't realy learn to like or care much for them. however, i did find a very interesting and dark tale and a wonderful cinical methaphore for time and death and how life goes round like a story. also it has a wonderfuly happy ending - what more can i ask.

however, i can't say that this story's suitble for the age goup amazon desided to put this book in (9-12) i'm 28 and this book gave me chills. i think every parent who gives his kid this book should read it first and chack (you'll have fun i promise).

one more thing - i don't know if it was just my copy, but the binding wasn't done very well, too much glue made the pages a bit uneasy to turn and they had unapealing wrinkels and small folds in the inner edge, for me that's a bit of a turn off when it comes to books.

i did had 3 really nice day of very light reading with it, it's the kind of book that's great to finish in an evening near the fire around holloween.