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Reviews
Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling
lsparrow's review against another edition
3.0
an interesting collection of short stories - retellings of familiar victorian stories and characters.
cosmith2015's review against another edition
I really enjoyed on the first two stories. I couldn't complete one story and the other 5 or 6 I read I felt blah about. I DNF'd about half way through the book.
I was hoping for much more.. fairy's and magic.
I was hoping for much more.. fairy's and magic.
tinynavajo's review
4.0
A world of stempunk, fantasy, science fiction, and delight is centered in "Queen Victora's Book of Spells." If you like Gail Carrier, A. W. Exley, or any other Victorian authors, I suggest you pick up this anthology and start reading.
toastam's review
3.0
Great anthology, some of the stories were more riveting than others, as is the case with any collection of separate works. I actually didn't get to finish this because my ILL due date came up and I've got so much else I want to read but I'm definitely more into the genre now.
mehitabels's review against another edition
4.0
An absolutely wonderful collection - some losers, but overall a very wonderful bunch. Let me to another group of writers previously unknown, and more more more books on my wishlist . . .
tmleblanc's review
3.0
Over the last several weeks I've been reviewing all the short stories presented in Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Please visit my blog to read a review of each of the stories.
Review #1 | Review #2 | Review #3 | Review #4 | Summary Review
Review #1 | Review #2 | Review #3 | Review #4 | Summary Review
meritorius_mage's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
rebeccacider's review
3.0
Maybe I just had overly high expectations for a "gaslamp fantasy" anthology edited by Datlow, but I thought this book was good, not great, though I've enjoyed many of the contributing authors in the past. I did really like the titular story by Delia Sherman and the Sorcery and Cecilia-esque offering by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer.
bookishwendy's review against another edition
3.0
This was a mixed bag for me, as most story collections are. I love the idea of the "gaslamp fantasy" genre, which in my mind is historical fiction set in the Victorian era, with just a touch of fairy dust. This is the editor's mindset, too, as she elaborates in her introduction about how the rise of the industrial revolution coincided with a renewed interest in the fae and the occult--a sort of emotional revolt against science and technology, against the growth of knowledge and the shrinking of the Unknown.
With that said, I most appreciated the stories that went for seriousness and depth. Hands down, my favorite story was "Phosphorous," which successfully combined the occult with the gruesome (and completely factual) descriptions of "phossy jaw", a condition afflicting factory girls who worked in match factories in which the bones of their jaws would rot and crumble away. Ick.
I also liked "Charged", about a narrator who is struck by lightening and seems to have the ability to control electricity; "Smithfield," an elegy to the loss of gaslamps to candescent lighting; the voice-rich "La Reine d'Enfer"; and the re-imagined Victoria of the title story, learning spells as a young girl.
I didn't care so much for the stories that went more the "fan-fiction of well-known characters in 19th century fiction" route because I felt the authors leaned too much on said pre-established characters, so while these stories were quite quirky, they got little emotional response from me.
With that said, I most appreciated the stories that went for seriousness and depth. Hands down, my favorite story was "Phosphorous," which successfully combined the occult with the gruesome (and completely factual) descriptions of "phossy jaw", a condition afflicting factory girls who worked in match factories in which the bones of their jaws would rot and crumble away. Ick.
I also liked "Charged", about a narrator who is struck by lightening and seems to have the ability to control electricity; "Smithfield," an elegy to the loss of gaslamps to candescent lighting; the voice-rich "La Reine d'Enfer"; and the re-imagined Victoria of the title story, learning spells as a young girl.
I didn't care so much for the stories that went more the "fan-fiction of well-known characters in 19th century fiction" route because I felt the authors leaned too much on said pre-established characters, so while these stories were quite quirky, they got little emotional response from me.