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ladybedivere's review
4.0
So, I did something a little different and wrote mini-reviews of each story as I read, since I think that's a much fairer gauge of what I liked about the anthology.
"Rude Mechanicals" by Lesley Livingston
3 stars. Heavy on the steampunk elements. I'm a little tired of people setting stories in theaters but making it seem like Shakespeare was the only playwright ever, but the main character was a stage manager, so that was nice. Would have liked more of the rehearsal process between Quint and Jewel, for flavor.
"The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe" by Frewin Jones
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around the edges. Did not expect to like this, but it was actually pretty awesome. Definitely had that classic Grimm sensibility, what with the incest-y vibe and the creepy mermaids. Well developed characters for such a short tale. I'm a fan.
"Wild Magic" by Ann Aguirre
3 stars. Magic, but not particularly steampunk other than some clockwork men and vague references to "infernal devices." Character development was decent, but I constantly felt like I was reading a prequel to a series.
"Deadwood" by Michael Scott
3.5 stars. Proper "Wild Wild West" type steampunk. Outlaw shenanigans involving an airship over South Dakota, with a bonus twist at the end for the super-history-geeks (like me). Would love to read a full series about the protagonists. Very well done.
"Code of Blood" by Dru Pagliassotti
4 stars. Yes! This is how you integrate steampunk technology and magic/alchemy properly. Loses a star or insta-love, but everything else was beautiful. More with the revisionist history, which I love. There's a lot of world-building for a short story, but it was done well and sucked me in. I would gladly read an entire novel set in this world. I can't even do anything but gush. My favorite thusfar.
"The Clockwork Corset" by Adrienne Kress
3 stars. Standard steampunk. Was a little put off by the heroine's "so glad I get to be with men of status so I get good food/comfy seats like I'm used to instead of having to be with the unprivileged normal folks." Also, I think the title. But it was well written and plotted, if mildly predicable.
"The Airship Gemini" by Jaclyn Dolmore
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around freaks and mages. Almost too clever for its own good, but definitely original. The romance was a little more subtle here, and the supporting cast was much more fleshed out. (I love Uncle Marcel!) Not really as steampunk as I'd have liked, but another where I would gladly read a full novel about these characters.
"Under Amber Skies" by Maria V. Snyder
3.5 stars. Steampunk WWII Poland. I quite liked this one. The characters were a little less pretentious than in some of the stories, and the family dynamic was excellent. Also, I am very very good at predicting endings, and this one gave me a double-twist that I didn't call.
"King of the Greenlight City" by Tessa Gratton
3.5 stars. Another that was more magic than steampunk, but it was very beautiful and sad and I liked it anyway, so I'll forgive that. I appreciated the fact that everything did not end perfectly for Ever and Alys, but I still found the ending satisfying and appropriate. I wish it had been a little longer.
"The Emperor's Man" by Tiffany Trent
2.5 stars. Again, I got more magic than I did steampunk. I couldn't really get into this one, and I don't rightly know why. I did like the idea of Tesla and Darwin being saints in a science-based 'religion,' and the alternate world concept was great - and then everything was about fantastical beasties instead of difference engines and interdimentional travel. Maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the opening. It was well written, and if there was a follow-up story (as the ending leaves room for) I would definitely give it a shot.
"Chickie Hill's Badass Ride" by Dia Reeves
4 stars. Time travelling inventor! POC main characters! Civil Rights Movement setting! Giant slime monsters! This one had so much awesome going on. Very unique and well written, I don't even want to try to describe it too much, just read it. Right up there with "Code of Blood" as one of my favorites in this collection.
"The Vast Machinery of Dreams" by Caitlin Kittredge
3 stars. Lovecraftian, with steampunk allusions. This one was like the Wierd Tales version of Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings." I liked the old-school pulpyness of this one. Very clever.
"Tick, Tick, Boom" by Kiersten White
3 stars. Solidly steampunk. A slightly predictable cross-dressing inventor chick rebelling against the class structure, but still fun and well-structured. Could have stood to be a little longer, just to give us more grounding in the contrast between Kitty's father's apparently exploitative business practices and the lower-class union rebellions.
True average: 3.31 stars.
I'm rounding it up to four, because I liked more about this collection than I disliked.
An entertaining collection overall, and well worth looking up. Not as brass-and-gears steampunk as I personally would have liked (and a lot more magic/alchemy than I was anticipating), but once I adjusted to that, I still enjoyed in as a whole.
"Rude Mechanicals" by Lesley Livingston
3 stars. Heavy on the steampunk elements. I'm a little tired of people setting stories in theaters but making it seem like Shakespeare was the only playwright ever, but the main character was a stage manager, so that was nice. Would have liked more of the rehearsal process between Quint and Jewel, for flavor.
"The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe" by Frewin Jones
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around the edges. Did not expect to like this, but it was actually pretty awesome. Definitely had that classic Grimm sensibility, what with the incest-y vibe and the creepy mermaids. Well developed characters for such a short tale. I'm a fan.
"Wild Magic" by Ann Aguirre
3 stars. Magic, but not particularly steampunk other than some clockwork men and vague references to "infernal devices." Character development was decent, but I constantly felt like I was reading a prequel to a series.
"Deadwood" by Michael Scott
3.5 stars. Proper "Wild Wild West" type steampunk. Outlaw shenanigans involving an airship over South Dakota, with a bonus twist at the end for the super-history-geeks (like me). Would love to read a full series about the protagonists. Very well done.
"Code of Blood" by Dru Pagliassotti
4 stars. Yes! This is how you integrate steampunk technology and magic/alchemy properly. Loses a star or insta-love, but everything else was beautiful. More with the revisionist history, which I love. There's a lot of world-building for a short story, but it was done well and sucked me in. I would gladly read an entire novel set in this world. I can't even do anything but gush. My favorite thusfar.
"The Clockwork Corset" by Adrienne Kress
3 stars. Standard steampunk. Was a little put off by the heroine's "so glad I get to be with men of status so I get good food/comfy seats like I'm used to instead of having to be with the unprivileged normal folks." Also, I think the title
Spoiler
is, in fact, a spoiler itself. As soon as she dressed up as a male soldier to go save her inventor beloved, I knew exactly what the clockwork corset was going to be, and I still had over half the story to read"The Airship Gemini" by Jaclyn Dolmore
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around freaks and mages. Almost too clever for its own good, but definitely original. The romance was a little more subtle here, and the supporting cast was much more fleshed out. (I love Uncle Marcel!) Not really as steampunk as I'd have liked, but another where I would gladly read a full novel about these characters.
"Under Amber Skies" by Maria V. Snyder
3.5 stars. Steampunk WWII Poland. I quite liked this one. The characters were a little less pretentious than in some of the stories, and the family dynamic was excellent. Also, I am very very good at predicting endings, and this one gave me a double-twist that I didn't call.
"King of the Greenlight City" by Tessa Gratton
3.5 stars. Another that was more magic than steampunk, but it was very beautiful and sad and I liked it anyway, so I'll forgive that. I appreciated the fact that everything did not end perfectly for Ever and Alys, but I still found the ending satisfying and appropriate. I wish it had been a little longer.
"The Emperor's Man" by Tiffany Trent
2.5 stars. Again, I got more magic than I did steampunk. I couldn't really get into this one, and I don't rightly know why. I did like the idea of Tesla and Darwin being saints in a science-based 'religion,' and the alternate world concept was great - and then everything was about fantastical beasties instead of difference engines and interdimentional travel. Maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the opening. It was well written, and if there was a follow-up story (as the ending leaves room for) I would definitely give it a shot.
"Chickie Hill's Badass Ride" by Dia Reeves
4 stars. Time travelling inventor! POC main characters! Civil Rights Movement setting! Giant slime monsters! This one had so much awesome going on. Very unique and well written, I don't even want to try to describe it too much, just read it. Right up there with "Code of Blood" as one of my favorites in this collection.
"The Vast Machinery of Dreams" by Caitlin Kittredge
3 stars. Lovecraftian, with steampunk allusions. This one was like the Wierd Tales version of Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings." I liked the old-school pulpyness of this one. Very clever.
"Tick, Tick, Boom" by Kiersten White
3 stars. Solidly steampunk. A slightly predictable cross-dressing inventor chick rebelling against the class structure, but still fun and well-structured. Could have stood to be a little longer, just to give us more grounding in the contrast between Kitty's father's apparently exploitative business practices and the lower-class union rebellions.
True average: 3.31 stars.
I'm rounding it up to four, because I liked more about this collection than I disliked.
An entertaining collection overall, and well worth looking up. Not as brass-and-gears steampunk as I personally would have liked (and a lot more magic/alchemy than I was anticipating), but once I adjusted to that, I still enjoyed in as a whole.
arcookson's review
2.0
I really liked Rude Mechanicals by Lesley Livingston and Deadwood by Michael Scott. I didn't finish the collection; it was due to the library and I wasn't loving all the stories.
catherine_t's review
4.0
I've been dipping my toes in the waters of steampunk, trying to get a feel for the genre and whether or not I like it, by reading short stories. This collection throws some romance into the mix. I'm not sure whether the editor was trying to appeal more to the steampunk fans or trying to recruit the romance readers, but overall the mix seems successful.
While I enjoyed the collection as a whole, I naturally preferred some stories over others. The one that really stands out for me is the last one in the collection, "Tick Tick Boom," in which a privileged young lady constructs explosive devices in order to try to right the wrongs she sees her industrialist father committing. I liked the style of that, and also the characters. That one, of all the stories--some of which threw fantasy into the mix as well as steampunk and romance--is the one that seemed most to represent what steampunk is all about.
While I enjoyed the collection as a whole, I naturally preferred some stories over others. The one that really stands out for me is the last one in the collection, "Tick Tick Boom," in which a privileged young lady constructs explosive devices in order to try to right the wrongs she sees her industrialist father committing. I liked the style of that, and also the characters. That one, of all the stories--some of which threw fantasy into the mix as well as steampunk and romance--is the one that seemed most to represent what steampunk is all about.
bibliophiliadk's review
3.0
Hmmm... I'm quite on the fence about this one because of the wavering quality of the stories. And then there was the lack of cohesiveness that I personally feel like an anthology should have. There were even a few stories that I didn't feel were really steampunk stories, which bothered me even more. But there were little pearls of genius here and there that made the read a little more enjoyable, like my favourite stories of these 'Code of Blood'. But towards the end it got griddy and hard to keep going. I must confess that there were even two stories that I skipped after having read only a few pages of them. To me, the beginning was far, far better than the ending. Such a shame.
middlekmissie's review
3.0
A good collection of short stories, all involving some form of romance (but many of them are not "romances"). My favorite one is by Dia Reeves, although, funnily enough, I would say that it's the least "steampunk" of the lot.
aria_tsv's review
4.0
I enjoyed most of the stories in this book. The last three bored me a bit, but that's probably because I'm tired.
My favourites are probably: "Deadwood" (it's quite short, but very interesting), Under amber skies (Maria V.Snyder! Enough said!), "Wild magic" (I'm going to try reading Ann Aguirre if all her other stuff is as good) and "Code of blood" (because is set in Venice).
Of course, "The Cannibal fiend of Rotherhithe" was peculiar and wonderful too. "The Clockwork corset" was sweet and romantic. "The emperor's man" was pure fantasy. (No, really! Fantasy to the bone!). "Rude Mechanicals" was suprising, but I guess I liked it. The airship gemini was the one with the slightly suprising ending. (There is always one of those).
I didn't really like "Kind of the Greenlight City", "Chickie Hill's Badass ride" and "The Vast machine of dreams". And I guess "Tick, tick, boom" was okay.
My favourites are probably: "Deadwood" (it's quite short, but very interesting), Under amber skies (Maria V.Snyder! Enough said!), "Wild magic" (I'm going to try reading Ann Aguirre if all her other stuff is as good) and "Code of blood" (because is set in Venice).
Of course, "The Cannibal fiend of Rotherhithe" was peculiar and wonderful too. "The Clockwork corset" was sweet and romantic. "The emperor's man" was pure fantasy. (No, really! Fantasy to the bone!). "Rude Mechanicals" was suprising, but I guess I liked it. The airship gemini was the one with the slightly suprising ending. (There is always one of those).
I didn't really like "Kind of the Greenlight City", "Chickie Hill's Badass ride" and "The Vast machine of dreams". And I guess "Tick, tick, boom" was okay.
megaden's review against another edition
2.0
Trash. Trash trash trash trash trash. It wasn't good. Most of the stories weren't even steampunk. They threw a couple fairies or magic powers in and called it good. I did finish it because I could always just skip to the next story when one was bad, but definitely wouldn't recommend it
icameheretoread's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with most of the reviews on this page, some of these stories are "meh" and a couple are great. I loved Deadwood, Tick Tick Boom, and The Airship Gemini. Some of these stories have very little or nothing to do with steampunk. Still, I have a large teen population of steampunk readers at my library so I am glad to have another group of short stories to steer them toward.
treereader's review against another edition
4.0
A fairly good anthology.
Highlights included The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe by [a: Frewin Jones|4431689|Allan Frewin Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1309647387p2/4431689.jpg]; that was just creepy and really cool.
Also Under Amber Skies by [a: Maria V Snyder|445303|Maria V. Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1224476079p2/445303.jpg] and Tick, Tick, Boom by [a: Kiersten White|3027554|Kiersten White|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1254205920p2/3027554.jpg]. Chickie Hill's Badass Ride I didn't really find very steampunky, more horror, but was a good story.
I didn't at all like The Vast Machinery Of Dreams by Caitlin Kittredge. It was trying to hard to be clever, (it kept saying stuff like no, this is what really happened) failed miserably, and ended up just being a skim-read confusing muddle.
I also didn't like the endings to the siamese twins one - The Airship Gemini - or King of the Greenlight City. However, the magic in Greenlight City was worth the read.
Highlights included The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe by [a: Frewin Jones|4431689|Allan Frewin Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1309647387p2/4431689.jpg]; that was just creepy and really cool.
Also Under Amber Skies by [a: Maria V Snyder|445303|Maria V. Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1224476079p2/445303.jpg] and Tick, Tick, Boom by [a: Kiersten White|3027554|Kiersten White|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1254205920p2/3027554.jpg]. Chickie Hill's Badass Ride I didn't really find very steampunky, more horror, but was a good story.
I didn't at all like The Vast Machinery Of Dreams by Caitlin Kittredge. It was trying to hard to be clever, (it kept saying stuff like no, this is what really happened) failed miserably, and ended up just being a skim-read confusing muddle.
I also didn't like the endings to the siamese twins one - The Airship Gemini - or King of the Greenlight City. However, the magic in Greenlight City was worth the read.