Cox

A colorful novel about an excessive emperor of China and an English clockmaker, about the transience of time and the secret that only storytelling can triumph over time. The most powerful man in the world, Qianlong, Emperor of China, invites the English automaton builder and clockmaker Alister Cox to his court. The master from London is to build clocks in the Forbidden City that reflect the different speeds of the times of happiness, childhood, love, as well as sickness and death. Ultimately, Qianlong, who according to one of his countless titles is also the sole master of time, demands a clock to measure eternity. Cox knows that he cannot fulfill this outrageous commission, but if he refuses the will of the god-emperor, death threatens him. So he sets to work.