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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
It's been a long time since I've read this anthology, and I remember not liking the majority of the short stories. There is one, Fair Vasyl, that I still remember a decade later. I remember I loved the twist on Vasilisa and Baba Yaga and really wished for more of the world and characters from the author.
I like steampunk in theory, but am not very familiar with many steampunk stories. However, I LOVE re-told fairytales, so I was super interested in reading this collection. Going to briefly review each story as I make it through, I suppose.
I'm listening to the audiobook.
La Valse - 2 stars
To be honest, I hated this story, pretty much everything about it. But the narrator was A+, and I gave it an extra star just for him.
Fair Vasyl - 5 stars
Another A+ narrator, but this time with an A+ story to go along with it. I really enjoyed this story, especially the cat ;)
The Hollow Hounds - 2 stars
Boring, boring, boring. This one had the potential to be really interesting, but the characters were so flat, and their motivations non-existent.
The Kings of Mount Golden - 3 stars
I enjoyed this one; it was good, but not amazing. It could have done with a resolution between Bran and his adopted father. I'm not familiar with the original story though, and I'm guessing the original is a reason why that didn't happen.
You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens - 3.5 stars
What a weighty title! Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite fairy tales in almost any telling, but I really wish we'd seen more of the princess in this one, and also more of the fae. I was so intrigued by the idea of the thirteen children being born to the King & Queen of Summer and Winter and the coven and all of that, but that line went nowhere, completely forgotten after the cursing was through. The princess growing up surrounded by women and automaton only I also thought could have been really interesting, but it was just told to us, never explored. A lot of potential here with not a lot of follow through, but I did enjoy the twist on the curse and the ending.
Mose and the Automatic Fireman - 1 star
Boring, boring, BORING. On top of the absolute boredom of this story, Mose is not a likable character either. There were several times I wanted to just quit and move on to the next story, and I wish I would have.
The Clockwork Suit - 1 star
Oh my god everyone in this story is just so stupid. Two in a row at one star and I'm almost ready to just give up on this anthology, which makes me so SAD, but seriously the stupidity of these characters was painful.
The Steampiper, The Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hamelin Texas - 0 stars
No. No. No. I am finally giving up on one of these stories - Stovepipe is SO GROSS. I really don't need to be reading about him staring at the breasts of young girls, thinking about a birthmark on a breast to go to sleep, or how he wants to use diving equipment to be a leering peeping-tom in the lake and only doesn't cause he's afraid to get shot. SO GROSS. SO, SO GROSS. Made even worse because we're supposed to like him. Screw that.
There's only one more so I will try to finish this anthology out, but ugh. This story left a bad taste in my mouth.
The Mechanical Wings - 4 stars
I'm glad I didn't give up on the last story, since I really enjoyed this one! Eleanor was enjoyable, I liked the retelling of this story, there was just enough world building for a short story. Overall really loved it. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars was the very abrupt ending - though that is sort of the nature of this tale, but still. I could have read more of this!
So overall there was a lot to find boring or actively dislike about this anthology, but Fair Vasyl, You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens, and The Mechanical Wings gave it overall an extra star. I especially loved Fair Vasyl and The Mechanical Wings... wish the whole anthology had been more along those lines!
I'm listening to the audiobook.
La Valse - 2 stars
To be honest, I hated this story, pretty much everything about it. But the narrator was A+, and I gave it an extra star just for him.
Fair Vasyl - 5 stars
Another A+ narrator, but this time with an A+ story to go along with it. I really enjoyed this story, especially the cat ;)
The Hollow Hounds - 2 stars
Boring, boring, boring. This one had the potential to be really interesting, but the characters were so flat, and their motivations non-existent.
The Kings of Mount Golden - 3 stars
I enjoyed this one; it was good, but not amazing. It could have done with a resolution between Bran and his adopted father. I'm not familiar with the original story though, and I'm guessing the original is a reason why that didn't happen.
You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens - 3.5 stars
What a weighty title! Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite fairy tales in almost any telling, but I really wish we'd seen more of the princess in this one, and also more of the fae. I was so intrigued by the idea of the thirteen children being born to the King & Queen of Summer and Winter and the coven and all of that, but that line went nowhere, completely forgotten after the cursing was through. The princess growing up surrounded by women and automaton only I also thought could have been really interesting, but it was just told to us, never explored. A lot of potential here with not a lot of follow through, but I did enjoy the twist on the curse and the ending.
Mose and the Automatic Fireman - 1 star
Boring, boring, BORING. On top of the absolute boredom of this story, Mose is not a likable character either. There were several times I wanted to just quit and move on to the next story, and I wish I would have.
The Clockwork Suit - 1 star
Oh my god everyone in this story is just so stupid. Two in a row at one star and I'm almost ready to just give up on this anthology, which makes me so SAD, but seriously the stupidity of these characters was painful.
The Steampiper, The Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hamelin Texas - 0 stars
No. No. No. I am finally giving up on one of these stories - Stovepipe is SO GROSS. I really don't need to be reading about him staring at the breasts of young girls, thinking about a birthmark on a breast to go to sleep, or how he wants to use diving equipment to be a leering peeping-tom in the lake and only doesn't cause he's afraid to get shot. SO GROSS. SO, SO GROSS. Made even worse because we're supposed to like him. Screw that.
There's only one more so I will try to finish this anthology out, but ugh. This story left a bad taste in my mouth.
The Mechanical Wings - 4 stars
I'm glad I didn't give up on the last story, since I really enjoyed this one! Eleanor was enjoyable, I liked the retelling of this story, there was just enough world building for a short story. Overall really loved it. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars was the very abrupt ending - though that is sort of the nature of this tale, but still. I could have read more of this!
So overall there was a lot to find boring or actively dislike about this anthology, but Fair Vasyl, You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens, and The Mechanical Wings gave it overall an extra star. I especially loved Fair Vasyl and The Mechanical Wings... wish the whole anthology had been more along those lines!
a lot of good imagery and settings, and very nice twists on classic tales
Many familiar tales here but these weren’t my favourite versions of the stories
I think this anthology is definitely worth a read, more good than bad. With anthologies I usually just post my notes from each story (and my rating on a 10-point scale) and they usually have spoilers to remind me of what he story was about. So beware: SPOILERS
K.W. Jeter - La Valse (7.0) Rich people are a-holes and they die horribly in the clockwork dance machine - just like they should.
Jay Lake - You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens (7.0) Liked the writing, setting and characters but the ending wasn't really a surprise. Also not sure why everyone in the castle fell asleep instead of just her.
Kat Richardsons - The Hollow Hounds (7.5) This was fun with all the mechanical contraptions. I still don't understand where the music box originally came from. Liked the period and the scar where he had to wind himself up.
Paul Di Filippo - The King of the Golden Mountain (8.0) Great writing, cool idea. Invention puts souls into other bodies. Takes over Ulysses Grant to become president.
G.K. Hayes - The Clockwork Suit (6.0) Good story but the ending is pretty lame. No big surprise and not much closure.
Gregory Nicoll - The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hamelin, Texas (6.5) This works as a pulpy adventure story but the ending is kind of disturbing just to make a joke. The girl needed to be older.
Pip Ballantine - The Mechanical Wings (8.0) Cool floating cities, "countries" named after birds, cool magic/clockwork mix. Very fairy tale feel but not too lite.
Nancy A. Collins - Mose and the Automatic Fireman (7.0) Very cool setting. He's basically a superhero and a legend. Fun.
Steven Harper - Fair Vasyl (6.0) Not bad but seemed kinda light. Steampunk elements seemed kinda forced. Broom was too powerful solved all problems.
K.W. Jeter - La Valse (7.0) Rich people are a-holes and they die horribly in the clockwork dance machine - just like they should.
Jay Lake - You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens (7.0) Liked the writing, setting and characters but the ending wasn't really a surprise. Also not sure why everyone in the castle fell asleep instead of just her.
Kat Richardsons - The Hollow Hounds (7.5) This was fun with all the mechanical contraptions. I still don't understand where the music box originally came from. Liked the period and the scar where he had to wind himself up.
Paul Di Filippo - The King of the Golden Mountain (8.0) Great writing, cool idea. Invention puts souls into other bodies. Takes over Ulysses Grant to become president.
G.K. Hayes - The Clockwork Suit (6.0) Good story but the ending is pretty lame. No big surprise and not much closure.
Gregory Nicoll - The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hamelin, Texas (6.5) This works as a pulpy adventure story but the ending is kind of disturbing just to make a joke. The girl needed to be older.
Pip Ballantine - The Mechanical Wings (8.0) Cool floating cities, "countries" named after birds, cool magic/clockwork mix. Very fairy tale feel but not too lite.
Nancy A. Collins - Mose and the Automatic Fireman (7.0) Very cool setting. He's basically a superhero and a legend. Fun.
Steven Harper - Fair Vasyl (6.0) Not bad but seemed kinda light. Steampunk elements seemed kinda forced. Broom was too powerful solved all problems.
The Pied Piper one is horrifically racist and misogynist... otherwise, delightful.
70%
In order of enjoyment:
1.) Fair Vasyl (based on "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen): Baba Jaga story about taking agency of your own choices
2.) The Hollow Hounds (based on "The Tinderbox" by Hans Christian Andersen): Aladdin meets mechanical dogs meets Avengers
3.) Mose and the Automatic Fireman (based on tall tales about American folk hero Mose the Fireboy): the Johnny Appleseed of firemen
4.) The Mechanical Wings (based on "The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Andersen): a pretty cool take, though it leaves some questions unanswered:
5.) The Kings of Mount Golden (based on "The King of the Golden Mountain" by the Brothers Grimm): lost love-fueled necromancy and shape-shifting
6.) The Clockwork Suit (based on "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen): fun take on the story, though they should've been more explicit about saying that ALL of the emperor's clothes came off, as they made it seem like only some of it did.
7.) Attend Beauty (based on "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault): Sleeping Beauty where she makes her own love instead of waiting for it to happen
8.) La Valse (based on "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen): revenge on the bourgeois; Marie Antoinette French Revolution vibes
9.) The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Pipe of New Hamelin, Texas (based on the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin): DNF. this one had grotesquely pedo vibes; after the kidnapped children returned, the younger sister joined Stovepipe and her older sisters naked noting he liked to "try all three" - even though she was one of the children who had been kidnapped with the others. Even if she was on the older end of the child spectrum, she was still explicitly grouped with the children, thus making an already skeevy story even more vile. gross.
In order of enjoyment:
1.) Fair Vasyl (based on "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen): Baba Jaga story about taking agency of your own choices
2.) The Hollow Hounds (based on "The Tinderbox" by Hans Christian Andersen): Aladdin meets mechanical dogs meets Avengers
3.) Mose and the Automatic Fireman (based on tall tales about American folk hero Mose the Fireboy): the Johnny Appleseed of firemen
4.) The Mechanical Wings (based on "The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Andersen): a pretty cool take, though it leaves some questions unanswered:
Spoiler
what happened to Stella's body after she was shot? did it just fall out of the boat or did Eleanor have to dispose of it herself? also, did the incomplete cloak have any detrimental effect on the brother?5.) The Kings of Mount Golden (based on "The King of the Golden Mountain" by the Brothers Grimm): lost love-fueled necromancy and shape-shifting
6.) The Clockwork Suit (based on "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen): fun take on the story, though they should've been more explicit about saying that ALL of the emperor's clothes came off, as they made it seem like only some of it did.
7.) Attend Beauty (based on "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault): Sleeping Beauty where she makes her own love instead of waiting for it to happen
8.) La Valse (based on "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen): revenge on the bourgeois; Marie Antoinette French Revolution vibes
Spoiler
I don't really understand the ending with the soldiers coming in from the steppe9.) The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Pipe of New Hamelin, Texas (based on the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin): DNF. this one had grotesquely pedo vibes; after the kidnapped children returned, the younger sister joined Stovepipe and her older sisters naked noting he liked to "try all three" - even though she was one of the children who had been kidnapped with the others. Even if she was on the older end of the child spectrum, she was still explicitly grouped with the children, thus making an already skeevy story even more vile. gross.
Once again, I have completed an anthology by reading one story each week, on Saturday mornings before the rest of my family wakes up. My “me” time over the past 9 weeks has been devoted to the 9 stories that make up this collection, all written to the theme of fairy tales or fables re-imagined with steampunk and/or clockwork aspects. Happily the source material avoids the over-done pastiche-fodder tales in favor of lesser known classics. You won't find yet another re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood or the Three Little Pigs in here.
My experiences with steampunk fiction have been mixed at best. I always go into a steampunk novel or short story with high expectations because the very concepts that underlie steam-powered societies is fascinating to me. But often the plots or characters don’t live up to the setting and the result is a mess. Fortunately, that is not the case here and I commend the editors for selecting genuine high-quality stories for this collection and not simply cool clockwork backgrounds.
As with all anthologies, there are bound to be a dud or two in the batch but looking back now I can honestly report only one story falling into that category and even that one shouldn’t be termed a “dud” but rather more of just a head-scratcher. The authors, by and large, are top-notch and include a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominee, a John W. Campbell Award winner, and several plain old-fashioned best-selling authors. All have mastered the art of short fiction as evidenced by the contents of this volume.
My experiences with steampunk fiction have been mixed at best. I always go into a steampunk novel or short story with high expectations because the very concepts that underlie steam-powered societies is fascinating to me. But often the plots or characters don’t live up to the setting and the result is a mess. Fortunately, that is not the case here and I commend the editors for selecting genuine high-quality stories for this collection and not simply cool clockwork backgrounds.
As with all anthologies, there are bound to be a dud or two in the batch but looking back now I can honestly report only one story falling into that category and even that one shouldn’t be termed a “dud” but rather more of just a head-scratcher. The authors, by and large, are top-notch and include a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominee, a John W. Campbell Award winner, and several plain old-fashioned best-selling authors. All have mastered the art of short fiction as evidenced by the contents of this volume.
There are some strong stories in this collection: the best ones being "Fair Vasyl" and "You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens." The rest vary in quality, a couple I ended up abandoning halfway for the next story in the collection.
I think that if you're going to do a fairy tale retelling, you really need to do something new with the story. A straight retelling with a steampunk coating doesn't do much for me. Some of the stories embraced the idea of finding ways to make steampunk work with the fairy tales. Others seemed to have a few gears thrown in just to meet the requirement.
It's worth checking out for the handful of solid stories but the good parts are much stronger than the collection as a whole.
I think that if you're going to do a fairy tale retelling, you really need to do something new with the story. A straight retelling with a steampunk coating doesn't do much for me. Some of the stories embraced the idea of finding ways to make steampunk work with the fairy tales. Others seemed to have a few gears thrown in just to meet the requirement.
It's worth checking out for the handful of solid stories but the good parts are much stronger than the collection as a whole.