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Light historical fiction
“Being an avid recreational and tournament chess player, I'm always interested in reading chess themed novels and non-fiction books. I ran across this title entering a book store as a hard-cover copy of it was in the front among new fiction releases. It immediately caught my attention and I grabbed it and saw that it was a fictionalized account of the Turk, the famous 18th century chess playing automaton that I was already familiar with as I had just read Tom Standage's outstanding non-fiction account of it. (The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine )
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-08-31.
Anyway, I picked it up and decided to give it a shot. As I read through it, I found it to be rather plodding - in particular with comparison to the pace that I had experienced in Tom Standage's outstanding account of the Turk. Those unfamiliar with this story, might find it more enjoyable than I did. In all, it's decent light fictional fare, but I recommend Standage's book over this for pure entertainment value. ” -
0 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Period drama meets crime thriller
“The Chess Machine, set in the late 1700s is a thrilling tale with very vivid period detail. The story is about Wolfgang von Kemplen who builds a famed chess machine to impress the crown. Little do people know that the real genius behind the automaton nick-named "Turk", is his little friend Tibor. The tour the country challenging and defeating king and pauper alike. The plot takes a turn with the "Turk" is accused of murdering royalty at a ball.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-09-28.
The author moves his characters like chess pieces giving them purpose and more importantly, conscience. The leading pieces are morally torn between the power of fame and money and the guilt of deception. The story is gripping and very well paced. The detail is very meticulous and lends itself very well for a motion picture adaptation.” -
Inventing Madness
“Like the device this story is about, this book is like an intricate mechanism that has cogwheels turning the pages, springs to keep the reader in the lurch, pullies that tug the reader along without pause. It has many gears for continuous movement from start to finish. The Chess Machine offers the reader a lighthearted fun frolic through Europe in the late 1700s as we learn the story that is based on the true life invention of the Mechanical Turk. The Turk was an automaton chess playing machine invented by Wolfgang Kempelen who created this mechanical marvel and took Europe by storm taking it on the road to entertain the wealthy and the royal. This is a creative novel with a plot and story different than the norm and offers the reader many hours of pure reading enjoyment. We have great characters, a creative story, good writing and many well thought out side plots that twist and turn. There are few slow spots but basically the story moves along at a good pace, never predictable and has a few surprises that come at you rather sudden to leave you stunned. There is great character development for a few of the key players and the author blends sincere human emotions with constant conflicting morals and values to allow them to come alive on paper. I thoroughly enjoyed the ingenuity of this novel and felt it a breath of fresh air to read something out of the ordinary. This is a very visual story, very colorful with vivid historical costumed scenes and lavish backdrops. Because of that I think it would make a splendid film as well. This is truly a wonderful debut novel and I eagerly await another book from the author. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-09-06. -
0 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Not a best seller, not a promising book, but enjoyable reading.
“This is a very entertaiment book. The plot is not a top 5 story, but is easy to read and does not have any hole.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-08-22.
If you are looking for a very adictive novel, this is not for you, but if you don't have any plan about what to read, then this book will do its work: easy read, funny, curious and at the end of the book the author will give you the real story about the Turk.” -
0 of 3 members found this review helpful.
Awsome historical fiction!
“A chess playing automaton. A dwarf. A murder most fowl. Imprisoned in mind and body. Add to that that The Chess Machine is a smart, well-written delight. How can you go wrong?”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-05-25.
