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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
A few whingdingers. Quite a few flops. Leans too hard on the hard, forgets whimsy, and the point of stories: hope. Fun storycraft study.
I enjoyed the stories "Hand in Glove" and "The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor." The story "Everything Amiable and Obliging" made me think, but it was slightly disturbing. Everything else was just so-so. I was glad I read this anthology, but I wouldn't read it again.
I have really been on an anthology kick lately, this the fifth this year. I am a big fan of Kelly Link so I picked up. If you are looking to dip your toe into the world of Steampunk before jumping in, I’d definitely check this one out!
The stories were very dark or the narrator's speaking voice was difficult to deal with.
Awesome awesome awesome. I love everything steampunk, so this was the perfect book with which to revel in my geekiness. I liked all the stories and absolutely loved some of them, so I was kind of sad when it was over- more, please!
Good fun. Kelly Link's creepy Appalachian fairy tale and M.T. Anderson's Roman History + airships are particularly fantastic. I appreciate how this collection stretches "steampunk" outside of Victoriana/retro-sci-fi into other contexts.
It's hard to do a good short story anthology collection. At least with a short story collection by a single author, you have a common thread of voice or theme to track through the book. With anthologies you have to get invested in new characters and learn a new world with each story.
They're best enjoyed over time. This one took awhile to get through, but it was worth the investment. Some of theme are uneven, but I was surprised by the quality overall.
"Some Fortunate Future Day" by Cassandra Clare: Dark time travel and romantic obsession story. 3 stars.
"The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray: Time travel old-west lady outlaws. Really great, 5 stars.
"Clockwork Fagin" by Cory Doctorow: Funny Dickensian orphanage story.
"Seven Days Beset by Demons" by Shawn Cheng: Loved the idea of including comics, but didn't enjoy this. 1 star.
"Hand in Glove" by Ysabeau S. Wilce: Detective story, birth of forensic investigation type thing. Super on the nose, 2 stars.
"The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor" by Delia Sherman: Ghost story, 4 stars.
"Gethsemane" by Elizabeth Knox: Chilling, ambiguous ending. 3 stars.
"The Summer People" by Kelly Link: Can hang with Stephen King - super scary. 5 stars.
"Peace in Our Time" by Garth Nix: Decent, 3 stars.
"Nowhere Fast" by Christopher Rowe: 3 stars.
"Finishing School" by Kathleen Jennings: The second comic, also pretty weak. 2 stars.
"Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks: Ok, 2 stars.
"Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black: Steam Downton Abbey. Did not make sense after his sister tried to kill them that they would just pick up as if nothing happened. 2 stars.
"The Oracle Engine" by M.T.Anderson: Steampunk ancient history. Crazy how well this works, was delighted. 5 stars.
They're best enjoyed over time. This one took awhile to get through, but it was worth the investment. Some of theme are uneven, but I was surprised by the quality overall.
"Some Fortunate Future Day" by Cassandra Clare: Dark time travel and romantic obsession story. 3 stars.
"The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray: Time travel old-west lady outlaws. Really great, 5 stars.
"Clockwork Fagin" by Cory Doctorow: Funny Dickensian orphanage story.
"Seven Days Beset by Demons" by Shawn Cheng: Loved the idea of including comics, but didn't enjoy this. 1 star.
"Hand in Glove" by Ysabeau S. Wilce: Detective story, birth of forensic investigation type thing. Super on the nose, 2 stars.
"The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor" by Delia Sherman: Ghost story, 4 stars.
"Gethsemane" by Elizabeth Knox: Chilling, ambiguous ending. 3 stars.
"The Summer People" by Kelly Link: Can hang with Stephen King - super scary. 5 stars.
"Peace in Our Time" by Garth Nix: Decent, 3 stars.
"Nowhere Fast" by Christopher Rowe: 3 stars.
"Finishing School" by Kathleen Jennings: The second comic, also pretty weak. 2 stars.
"Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks: Ok, 2 stars.
"Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black: Steam Downton Abbey. Did not make sense after his sister tried to kill them that they would just pick up as if nothing happened. 2 stars.
"The Oracle Engine" by M.T.Anderson: Steampunk ancient history. Crazy how well this works, was delighted. 5 stars.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Overall, a quality collection. There's at least five stories I really really liked and none I'd call anything worse than mediocre. My favourites are starred.
Some Fortunate Days by Cassandra Clare: In retrospect it's probably a good thing this was the first story of the collection. It's not terrible but the next couple stories hit it out of the park and there's no way this wouldn't have felt like a disappointment if I'd read it after Libba Bray or Cory Doctorow's story. I also think she took the least interesting route she possibly could have with the ending: The setting was weakly delineated too; the next couple entries have a much stronger sense of place. 3 stars
The Last Ride of the Glory Girls by Libba Bray*: Talented mechanic out of an isolated religious community meets Australian girl gang? Criminal adventures and bonus meditations on the nature of time? Characters and setting described well enough to seem fascinating and individual despite the confines of a thirty page word count? Yes please. I'd pay to read an entire novel of this. 5 stars
Clockwork Fagin by Cory Doctorow*: Charles Dickens-esque take on an orphanage for children injured at work in Canada. Again, I'd happily read an expanded version of this. 4.5 stars
Seven Days Beset by Demons by Shawn Cheng: Kind of a downer coming after two such quality tales. Very slight too, I could take or leave it. 3 stars
Hand in Glove by Ysabeau S. Wilce*: Detective work and the scientific method. It's a bit of a stretch to call this one steampunk but I liked the. Great character voice too. 4 stars
The Ghost of Gwemlach Manor by Delia Sherman: Can't think of much to say but I did like it. Ghost story featuring automatons and a sensible mechanic's daughter hired to work as a housekeeper for an inventor. I liked the friendship between the protaganist and the titular ghost. 4 stars
Gethsemane by Elizabeth Knox: Makes no effort to be steampunk whatsoever. Suffered from the short story format; there's several stories in this collection I liked enough to want to read as a novel but this one needed to be one. Would have worked much better with space to expand on the characters and their relationships. 3.5 stars
The Summer People by Kelly Link: Also makes no effort to fit the steampunk theme of the collection. Story of a girl freeing herself from her role as a faery housekeeper, not terribly engaging. Liked the sense of place though. 3 stars
Peace in Our Time by Garth Nix: Meh. 2.5 stars
Nowhere Fast by Christoper Rowe: Interesting take on technological progress versus environmental concerns. Satisfied with what I got, I wouldn't want a book of this but I liked the story. 3.5 stars
Finishing School by Kathleen Jennings: An orthodontist reminiscences about the time her friend Gwendoline built a flying machine at their boarding school. Okay but now I want to read about the adventures of the legendary Gwendoline Bryne. This would make a great introductory chapter to a series. 4 stars
Steam Girl by Dylan Horrocks: Sweet story about the developing relationship between a loner boy and the new girl who tells him stories about her adventures as an interplanetary adventurer and inventor. 4 stars
Everything Amiable and Obliging by Holly Black*: Questions of humanity and power relations in love wrapped in an upstairs/downstairs romance package. Holly Black consistently writes short stories I enjoy, this was no exception. 4.5 stars
Oracle Engine by M. T. Anderson*: Alternate history based on a true Roman story with a steampunk twist. The world building is excellent, I was caught up right away. Has an ending you're likely to see coming – particularly if you're familiar with Roman history – but like most stories that deal with fate and revenge, that's kind of the point. Great ending to the anthology. 5 stars
Excellent collection. I'm especially impressed with the effort to take steampunk out of the standard Victorian London setting: the stories range across Canada, Rome, Wales, and the southern United States. It spans time as well: there's historical, contemporary, and futuristic settings. I even got a couple new authors to keep an eye from this, I'll be looking out for more from Dylan Horrocks and M. T Anderson in the future. 4 stars
Some Fortunate Days by Cassandra Clare: In retrospect it's probably a good thing this was the first story of the collection. It's not terrible but the next couple stories hit it out of the park and there's no way this wouldn't have felt like a disappointment if I'd read it after Libba Bray or Cory Doctorow's story. I also think she took the least interesting route she possibly could have with the ending:
Spoiler
I thought the reveal would be that Rose was also an automaton, just more advanced than the rest. Her coldness and determination that everything should follow the path she'd planned for seemed like it could point that way. Plus, after reading the Libba Bray, I am deeply unimpressed with this use of a time manipulation device.The Last Ride of the Glory Girls by Libba Bray*: Talented mechanic out of an isolated religious community meets Australian girl gang? Criminal adventures and bonus meditations on the nature of time? Characters and setting described well enough to seem fascinating and individual despite the confines of a thirty page word count? Yes please. I'd pay to read an entire novel of this. 5 stars
Clockwork Fagin by Cory Doctorow*: Charles Dickens-esque take on an orphanage for children injured at work in Canada. Again, I'd happily read an expanded version of this. 4.5 stars
Seven Days Beset by Demons by Shawn Cheng: Kind of a downer coming after two such quality tales. Very slight too, I could take or leave it. 3 stars
Hand in Glove by Ysabeau S. Wilce*: Detective work and the scientific method. It's a bit of a stretch to call this one steampunk but I liked the
Spoiler
Frankenstein inspired resolution to the mysteryThe Ghost of Gwemlach Manor by Delia Sherman: Can't think of much to say but I did like it. Ghost story featuring automatons and a sensible mechanic's daughter hired to work as a housekeeper for an inventor. I liked the friendship between the protaganist and the titular ghost. 4 stars
Gethsemane by Elizabeth Knox: Makes no effort to be steampunk whatsoever. Suffered from the short story format; there's several stories in this collection I liked enough to want to read as a novel but this one needed to be one. Would have worked much better with space to expand on the characters and their relationships. 3.5 stars
The Summer People by Kelly Link: Also makes no effort to fit the steampunk theme of the collection. Story of a girl freeing herself from her role as a faery housekeeper, not terribly engaging. Liked the sense of place though. 3 stars
Peace in Our Time by Garth Nix: Meh. 2.5 stars
Nowhere Fast by Christoper Rowe: Interesting take on technological progress versus environmental concerns. Satisfied with what I got, I wouldn't want a book of this but I liked the story. 3.5 stars
Finishing School by Kathleen Jennings: An orthodontist reminiscences about the time her friend Gwendoline built a flying machine at their boarding school. Okay but now I want to read about the adventures of the legendary Gwendoline Bryne. This would make a great introductory chapter to a series. 4 stars
Steam Girl by Dylan Horrocks: Sweet story about the developing relationship between a loner boy and the new girl who tells him stories about her adventures as an interplanetary adventurer and inventor. 4 stars
Everything Amiable and Obliging by Holly Black*: Questions of humanity and power relations in love wrapped in an upstairs/downstairs romance package. Holly Black consistently writes short stories I enjoy, this was no exception. 4.5 stars
Oracle Engine by M. T. Anderson*: Alternate history based on a true Roman story with a steampunk twist. The world building is excellent, I was caught up right away. Has an ending you're likely to see coming – particularly if you're familiar with Roman history – but like most stories that deal with fate and revenge, that's kind of the point. Great ending to the anthology. 5 stars
Excellent collection. I'm especially impressed with the effort to take steampunk out of the standard Victorian London setting: the stories range across Canada, Rome, Wales, and the southern United States. It spans time as well: there's historical, contemporary, and futuristic settings. I even got a couple new authors to keep an eye from this, I'll be looking out for more from Dylan Horrocks and M. T Anderson in the future. 4 stars