Reviews

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities by Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Jeff VanderMeer, Garth Nix, China Miéville, Mike Mignola, Michael Moorcock, Lev Grossman, Gio Clairval, Holly Black, Alan Moore, Ekaterina Sedia, Ann VanderMeer, Carrie Vaughn, Mur Lafferty, Ted Chiang, Will Hindmarch, Cherie Priest, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Eric Orchard, Jess Gulbranson, Tad Williams, Naomi Novik, Charles Yu, Alex Grossman, S.J. Chambers, Minister Faust, Jeffrey Ford

ohclaire's review against another edition

3.0

On one hand this has more big name contemporary genre writers than half priced books, on the other hand some of these stories feel like bad school readings.

aunt13soc1al's review against another edition

3.0

Thackery T. Lambshead. I didn't read reviews of this, but what I'd seen of it at various bookstores and events, I knew I wanted to read it. The concept of a cabinet of curiosities and the stories behind the items thrilled me, not only because I love a good story, but also because I am intrigued by unique and random items. Ripley's Believe It or Not stories were some of my favorite childhood reading and I expected something similar. However, I didn't realize that there isn't actually a Thackery T. Lambshead or an actual cabinet of curiosities. It's a collection of stories about a fictional character with a decidedly steampunk focus. I probably would have figured that out had I actually read the back of the book or anything about this other than being drawn in by the cover and the idea. While I was disappointed when I discovered that these were all fictional with not a bit of basis in reality, it did not detract in the least from my enjoyment of these stories.

The book is broken into different sections, each filled with wonderfully written stories that bring these creations and the man behind the collection to life. In addition to the vivid writing, there are some amazing illustrations from gifted artists. After hearing Scott Westerfeld speak on the loss of illustration and their re-immergence in books, I see how much greater this volume is with the addition of illustrations. Some are so detailed, it looks like it's more of a photograph, a testament to the artists abilities and making the story seem that more real.

While I enjoyed all the stories, one in particular still stands out after reading it. China Mieville's "Pulvadmonitor: The Dust's Warning" by and far was my favorite story. I would love to see Mieville turn this into a full length novel or even a shorter novella. I would pick it up and recommend it because as a short story it was amazing.

The Vandermeers did a wonderful job pulling all these together into such an extensive tome that would be a welcome addition to any library. I am looking forward to reading their earlier collection, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases.

delsim's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to like this much more than I did. I certainly enjoyed the premise, but I found the stories to be quite uneven. My favourite story (really only a paragraph) was about backwards commas running ammoc.

batbones's review against another edition

4.0

Weird shit A sprawling museum of impossible things, of magical and mechanical oddities straddling the real. The postmodern enthusiast with a fantastical imagination will find much to wonder at. The objects are as fascinating as the stories created around them, drawn from an arensal of speculative subgenres: clockwork inventions, Tesla's dabblings, modern sculpture, artefacts of mysterious possibly occult origin, and others too weird for any adequate explanation. I liked the latter-most best, showing-rather-than-telling, gesturing to weirdness, the signs, left to glint in the dark room of the imagination, lets the reader linger spellbound there longest, testing the waters of fiction in this meta-work that prods at our reality. The stories are immensely varied, a good sample of styles and approaches. Most of them are descriptions or accounts relating to an obscure find from the (probably fictional, but I take no chances) Dr Lambshead's cabinet, others are intellectually stimulating. They are a few which are so theoretical and philosophical that it places this collection firmly on the 'for adults' shelf and even I wondered if I understood anything at all (see the article on the 'gallows-horse'). My favourites were the more tantalising stretches of imagination, including: St. Brendan's Shank, Relic, Pulvadmonitor: The Dust's Warning (by China Mieville, no less; was really anticipating this one), the Castleblakeney Key.

pbobrit's review against another edition

4.0

A rather fun anthology of short stories, based on objects in the collection of Dr Thackery T. Lambshead. A variety of great writers have contributed including Alan Moore, Michael Moorcock and Charles Yu. The stories vary widely in tone and style which makes it perfect, either for dipping in and out or reading cover to cover. One for fans of steampunk, Lovecraft and Poe.

enid08's review against another edition

4.0

An exceptionally weird book that includes some of my favorite exceptionally weird authors. I love the conceit of the authors being part of universe in which Thackery T. Lambshead collected his curiosities.

readerxxx's review against another edition

2.0

This book looked amazing in the book store and if I had read an actual hard copy version it would probably have been amazing. In ebook format, its really not good. This really isnt a story as much as it is a fictionalized inventory of oddities that a collector put together over the years with strange histories. If you are looking for stories, you may want to look elsewhere. I didnt bother finishing this one.

paulgtr234's review

4.0

As with most anthologies this was a bit of a mixed bag. There were few true 'bad' entries but there were many articles that had little interest to me. That's OK, its what anthologies are supposed to be about I think - the box of chocolates theory. There were multiple entries that did work incredibly well, notably entries by Garth Nix, Holly Black, and China Mieville. Each of their pieces were striking and heartfelt and made this anthology a worthy effort.

drowsyreaper's review

4.0

Not what I was expecting but it was awesome nevertheless. Academic and esoteric essays about fictional objects are something I need more of.

sawyerbell's review

3.0

Funny and imaginative.