Review: The tale that spins on relentlessly
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2011
With the Orffyreus Wheel, David combines the same effortless pace of a good tale as he does with Ancient Eyes, but also manages to interweave two distinct stories - both of which share the same breathless excitement and wonder of their central characters.The first thread of the story sees Elly inherit her Grandmother's estate - which turns out to be an enormous operation, bristling with scientists, security and secret locations, harnessing the secrets of Johann Bessler's Perpetual Motion device towards cheaper energy and more efficient machines. She is helped along by a collection of enthusiastic and well created characters who Elly now finds working for her.Elly is quickly drawn into the ongoing quest to create limitless energy, and a battle with those who would see such a device never exist - including the ruthless and, as the book progresses, increasingly insane, Maxwell Black, and his cronies.With a dose of violent encounters, a spot of kidnapping, plenty of subterfuge and the struggle of Elly's morals over the practicalities of the power of the device, the story buzzes along enjoyably.Interspersed - when Elly finds a quiet spot to read her Grandmother's journals - is the history of Bessler through his notes and findings, from his jobbing work as a physician through to the fruition of his life's work to finally set up a building where he could build and show off his Perpetuum Mobile to the world. What follows thereafter is as inevitable as it is depressing.The skill with this second tale is in its colourful 18th Century descriptions, attitudes and character roles, as well as the stark difference between Bessler's fervent belief in the science-shattering power in his invention and the disdain with which other men of power view his work.A really good story, that compares well to his other works, and a real bargain at this price on the Kindle.