I have to admit. I’m a Jay Lake fanboy. The dude just has some serious sentence level chops. It’s so good, it lets him get away with a few sins. This is OK, because we love the sinners and sometimes we love the sins.

In the past, I’ve been a little iffy about his storytelling. Reading Mainspring, I kept catching myself mentally saying, “Relax brother, let the story do its thing. Don’t worry about boring us, it ain’t gonna happen. Gives us a little more time to chill out and check out the world.”

Well, Escapement really worked for me far better than Mainspring. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it was a more comfortable book. I think it took its time to take in some scenery and relax a little with the characters. Honestly, some novels are just a little too neat. Just a little too clean. I think that’s the difference between these two books.

Now Green comes out tomorrow, so I haven’t read it yet, but I’m hoping that I get that same kick-ass prose and master storytelling. Generally, I’m not going to be disappointed. I mean, the fact is, I’m blogging about a book before it even comes out. I don’t normally blog about half the books I read, because honestly, they’re not that great. They’re OK, and sometimes a fun read, but not usually worth the time to bring up.

But Jay is going to have a long and fruitful career. Period. I plan to be reading Jay Lake books well into my old age, and my kids will read Jay Lake books, and their kids will go to the Church of Jay Lake and spit curses at clowns and lavish praise on all that is run on steam.

So even though I haven’t read it yet, I can pretty much vouch for Green. So go out and buy a freaking copy of this book.