The Clockwork Dark Series by John Claude Bemis

What if John Henry had a son?Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog... moreWhat if John Henry had a son?Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world.From the Hardcover edition. less

So asks the sickly stranger who staggers into Peg Leg Nel’s birthday party. Before the man dies, he tells Ray and his friends of a Darkness spreading like wildfire across Kansas, turning good people bad and poisoning anyone who tries to escape. It’s clear that though the evil Gog is dead, his devilish machine has survived and is growing stronger.Now a full-fledged Rambler, Ray leads his friends on a mission into the heart of darkness... moreSo asks the sickly stranger who staggers into Peg Leg Nel’s birthday party. Before the man dies, he tells Ray and his friends of a Darkness spreading like wildfire across Kansas, turning good people bad and poisoning anyone who tries to escape. It’s clear that though the evil Gog is dead, his devilish machine has survived and is growing stronger.Now a full-fledged Rambler, Ray leads his friends on a mission into the heart of darkness. Vital to their success is tracking down the legendary Wolf Tree, rumored to be a pathway to the spirit world. Only with one of the tree’s limbs can the Nine Pound Hammer be repaired and the Gog’s terrible machine finally destroyed. The search for the Wolf Tree grows desperate as the Darkness spreads, threatening Ray, his friends, and all of humanity.The Wolf Tree is the second fantasy adventure book in John Claude Bemis’s series The Clockwork Dark, and adds new layers of myth and magic to Bemis’s original take on American tall tales in The Nine Pound Hammer. less

The year is 1893. From all across the globe, thousands travel to visit Chicago’s World’s Fair. It is a place of wonders: the White City, with its gleaming buildings modeled on the ideals of ancient Greece; an enormous mechanical wheel designed by Mr. Ferris; and the Hall of Progress—a building of the future where clockwork men operate mysterious machines…Ray and his friends are at the fair, too, but they haven’t come to celebrate... moreThe year is 1893. From all across the globe, thousands travel to visit Chicago’s World’s Fair. It is a place of wonders: the White City, with its gleaming buildings modeled on the ideals of ancient Greece; an enormous mechanical wheel designed by Mr. Ferris; and the Hall of Progress—a building of the future where clockwork men operate mysterious machines…Ray and his friends are at the fair, too, but they haven’t come to celebrate. The Gog has somehow survived the destruction of his Pitch Dark Train, and his infernal Machine is nearly complete, hidden in the Gloaming near the fair. To make matters worse, the Gog now holds the Nine Pound Hammer, the only weapon that can destroy the Machine. Ray and his friends will have to bring all their powers to bear and sacrifice much as they face the Gog and his army, and confront a Darkness beyond imagining.In The Nine Pound Hammer, Bemis introduced readers to a whole new approach to epic fantasy, founded on characters and themes from American mythology and folklore. Now, in the third and final book, it’s man versus machine all over again, fighting for the soul of humanity in front of Ferris’s Wheel. less