Title: Peace in Our Time
Author: Garth Nix
In: To Hold the Bridge (Garth Nix)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Science fiction
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: The threat was enough.

Sometimes there’s only one way to find peace on earth… and I definitely wouldn’t suggest it!

I started this story loving the old man. I felt sympathy for this seemingly innocent creature standing alone in his garden, pruning the roses. Genuine concern when he was being interrogated by the unknown woman. But, as the story unfolded, I quickly switched my alliances.

It makes sense that this story was originally published in a steampunk collection – after all, the tick, tick, tick of the clockwork constantly takes centre place in the storyline. Even unwittingly, it bought to mind the beautiful clothing and array of styles dedicated to the steampunk outlook on life. Yet, it is not only about looking back on the beauties of an old way of life, but the joys of a new way (the future). Or in this case, the dangers that that could entail for future generations. After all, we’ve all been warned about killer robots before…

Image source: Goodreads