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A review by archytas
The Sea Is Ours: Tales from Steampunk Southeast Asia by Joyce Chng
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Steampunk is all about the worldbuilding, which poses interesting challenges to the short story authors in this collection, asked to envision a alt-Steampunk, set in South-East Asia rather than London, and in which imperialism is more critiqued than celebrated. The authors have to construct a world, engage us with characters, and tell a story - often within just a few pages. Reading this was always interesting, even if not all the stories succeed, and those that do, leave you wanting more.
Possibly my top pick in the collection was Kate Osias' The Unmaking of Cuardro Amoroso, which eschews broader worldbuilding to tell a tightly focused story around a small cast of characters, beautifully connecting emotion to technology and telling a really resonant and powerful story. Another favourite was Alessa Hinlo's The Last Aswang, which chose a lot of worldbuilding and some strong character setup, with the story itself feeling like a slice of a larger work - of which I would buy the book quickly. Nghi Vo's Life Under Glass chooses a small tale focused on character moments, which again worked as the introduction to what felt like a bigger tale, or a glimpse at an alternative life. Robert Liow's Spider Here similarly takes a small slice of an everyday life to show us a different world, in one of the most affecting takes on small scale world building.
Olivia Ho tells a more complete, plotted story in Working Woman - the longest story in the book. Even with the extra length, it perhaps doesn't have some of the same space to breathe as some of the less-plot heavy stories, but it showcases some intriguing characters and has the most sense of a full adventure.
Paolo Chikiamco's Between Severed Souls and Timothy Dimicali's On the Consequences of Sound punch hard by focusing on characters and smaller moral choices in a broader world. The latter is particularly haunting.
Pear Nuallek's big, explained worldbuilding was perhaps one of the strongest, with a various range of characters with differing perspectives, giving the story depth in exploring an alt-colonial world.
All up this was a really interesting take on a difficult brief, and I have a great list of broader authors to follow up with.
Possibly my top pick in the collection was Kate Osias' The Unmaking of Cuardro Amoroso, which eschews broader worldbuilding to tell a tightly focused story around a small cast of characters, beautifully connecting emotion to technology and telling a really resonant and powerful story. Another favourite was Alessa Hinlo's The Last Aswang, which chose a lot of worldbuilding and some strong character setup, with the story itself feeling like a slice of a larger work - of which I would buy the book quickly. Nghi Vo's Life Under Glass chooses a small tale focused on character moments, which again worked as the introduction to what felt like a bigger tale, or a glimpse at an alternative life. Robert Liow's Spider Here similarly takes a small slice of an everyday life to show us a different world, in one of the most affecting takes on small scale world building.
Olivia Ho tells a more complete, plotted story in Working Woman - the longest story in the book. Even with the extra length, it perhaps doesn't have some of the same space to breathe as some of the less-plot heavy stories, but it showcases some intriguing characters and has the most sense of a full adventure.
Paolo Chikiamco's Between Severed Souls and Timothy Dimicali's On the Consequences of Sound punch hard by focusing on characters and smaller moral choices in a broader world. The latter is particularly haunting.
Pear Nuallek's big, explained worldbuilding was perhaps one of the strongest, with a various range of characters with differing perspectives, giving the story depth in exploring an alt-colonial world.
All up this was a really interesting take on a difficult brief, and I have a great list of broader authors to follow up with.