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A review by ladybedivere
Corsets & Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances by Trisha Telep
4.0
So, I did something a little different and wrote mini-reviews of each story as I read, since I think that's a much fairer gauge of what I liked about the anthology.
"Rude Mechanicals" by Lesley Livingston
3 stars. Heavy on the steampunk elements. I'm a little tired of people setting stories in theaters but making it seem like Shakespeare was the only playwright ever, but the main character was a stage manager, so that was nice. Would have liked more of the rehearsal process between Quint and Jewel, for flavor.
"The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe" by Frewin Jones
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around the edges. Did not expect to like this, but it was actually pretty awesome. Definitely had that classic Grimm sensibility, what with the incest-y vibe and the creepy mermaids. Well developed characters for such a short tale. I'm a fan.
"Wild Magic" by Ann Aguirre
3 stars. Magic, but not particularly steampunk other than some clockwork men and vague references to "infernal devices." Character development was decent, but I constantly felt like I was reading a prequel to a series.
"Deadwood" by Michael Scott
3.5 stars. Proper "Wild Wild West" type steampunk. Outlaw shenanigans involving an airship over South Dakota, with a bonus twist at the end for the super-history-geeks (like me). Would love to read a full series about the protagonists. Very well done.
"Code of Blood" by Dru Pagliassotti
4 stars. Yes! This is how you integrate steampunk technology and magic/alchemy properly. Loses a star or insta-love, but everything else was beautiful. More with the revisionist history, which I love. There's a lot of world-building for a short story, but it was done well and sucked me in. I would gladly read an entire novel set in this world. I can't even do anything but gush. My favorite thusfar.
"The Clockwork Corset" by Adrienne Kress
3 stars. Standard steampunk. Was a little put off by the heroine's "so glad I get to be with men of status so I get good food/comfy seats like I'm used to instead of having to be with the unprivileged normal folks." Also, I think the title. But it was well written and plotted, if mildly predicable.
"The Airship Gemini" by Jaclyn Dolmore
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around freaks and mages. Almost too clever for its own good, but definitely original. The romance was a little more subtle here, and the supporting cast was much more fleshed out. (I love Uncle Marcel!) Not really as steampunk as I'd have liked, but another where I would gladly read a full novel about these characters.
"Under Amber Skies" by Maria V. Snyder
3.5 stars. Steampunk WWII Poland. I quite liked this one. The characters were a little less pretentious than in some of the stories, and the family dynamic was excellent. Also, I am very very good at predicting endings, and this one gave me a double-twist that I didn't call.
"King of the Greenlight City" by Tessa Gratton
3.5 stars. Another that was more magic than steampunk, but it was very beautiful and sad and I liked it anyway, so I'll forgive that. I appreciated the fact that everything did not end perfectly for Ever and Alys, but I still found the ending satisfying and appropriate. I wish it had been a little longer.
"The Emperor's Man" by Tiffany Trent
2.5 stars. Again, I got more magic than I did steampunk. I couldn't really get into this one, and I don't rightly know why. I did like the idea of Tesla and Darwin being saints in a science-based 'religion,' and the alternate world concept was great - and then everything was about fantastical beasties instead of difference engines and interdimentional travel. Maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the opening. It was well written, and if there was a follow-up story (as the ending leaves room for) I would definitely give it a shot.
"Chickie Hill's Badass Ride" by Dia Reeves
4 stars. Time travelling inventor! POC main characters! Civil Rights Movement setting! Giant slime monsters! This one had so much awesome going on. Very unique and well written, I don't even want to try to describe it too much, just read it. Right up there with "Code of Blood" as one of my favorites in this collection.
"The Vast Machinery of Dreams" by Caitlin Kittredge
3 stars. Lovecraftian, with steampunk allusions. This one was like the Wierd Tales version of Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings." I liked the old-school pulpyness of this one. Very clever.
"Tick, Tick, Boom" by Kiersten White
3 stars. Solidly steampunk. A slightly predictable cross-dressing inventor chick rebelling against the class structure, but still fun and well-structured. Could have stood to be a little longer, just to give us more grounding in the contrast between Kitty's father's apparently exploitative business practices and the lower-class union rebellions.
True average: 3.31 stars.
I'm rounding it up to four, because I liked more about this collection than I disliked.
An entertaining collection overall, and well worth looking up. Not as brass-and-gears steampunk as I personally would have liked (and a lot more magic/alchemy than I was anticipating), but once I adjusted to that, I still enjoyed in as a whole.
"Rude Mechanicals" by Lesley Livingston
3 stars. Heavy on the steampunk elements. I'm a little tired of people setting stories in theaters but making it seem like Shakespeare was the only playwright ever, but the main character was a stage manager, so that was nice. Would have liked more of the rehearsal process between Quint and Jewel, for flavor.
"The Cannibal Fiend of Rotherhithe" by Frewin Jones
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around the edges. Did not expect to like this, but it was actually pretty awesome. Definitely had that classic Grimm sensibility, what with the incest-y vibe and the creepy mermaids. Well developed characters for such a short tale. I'm a fan.
"Wild Magic" by Ann Aguirre
3 stars. Magic, but not particularly steampunk other than some clockwork men and vague references to "infernal devices." Character development was decent, but I constantly felt like I was reading a prequel to a series.
"Deadwood" by Michael Scott
3.5 stars. Proper "Wild Wild West" type steampunk. Outlaw shenanigans involving an airship over South Dakota, with a bonus twist at the end for the super-history-geeks (like me). Would love to read a full series about the protagonists. Very well done.
"Code of Blood" by Dru Pagliassotti
4 stars. Yes! This is how you integrate steampunk technology and magic/alchemy properly. Loses a star or insta-love, but everything else was beautiful. More with the revisionist history, which I love. There's a lot of world-building for a short story, but it was done well and sucked me in. I would gladly read an entire novel set in this world. I can't even do anything but gush. My favorite thusfar.
"The Clockwork Corset" by Adrienne Kress
3 stars. Standard steampunk. Was a little put off by the heroine's "so glad I get to be with men of status so I get good food/comfy seats like I'm used to instead of having to be with the unprivileged normal folks." Also, I think the title
Spoiler
is, in fact, a spoiler itself. As soon as she dressed up as a male soldier to go save her inventor beloved, I knew exactly what the clockwork corset was going to be, and I still had over half the story to read"The Airship Gemini" by Jaclyn Dolmore
3.5 stars. Steampunk trappings around freaks and mages. Almost too clever for its own good, but definitely original. The romance was a little more subtle here, and the supporting cast was much more fleshed out. (I love Uncle Marcel!) Not really as steampunk as I'd have liked, but another where I would gladly read a full novel about these characters.
"Under Amber Skies" by Maria V. Snyder
3.5 stars. Steampunk WWII Poland. I quite liked this one. The characters were a little less pretentious than in some of the stories, and the family dynamic was excellent. Also, I am very very good at predicting endings, and this one gave me a double-twist that I didn't call.
"King of the Greenlight City" by Tessa Gratton
3.5 stars. Another that was more magic than steampunk, but it was very beautiful and sad and I liked it anyway, so I'll forgive that. I appreciated the fact that everything did not end perfectly for Ever and Alys, but I still found the ending satisfying and appropriate. I wish it had been a little longer.
"The Emperor's Man" by Tiffany Trent
2.5 stars. Again, I got more magic than I did steampunk. I couldn't really get into this one, and I don't rightly know why. I did like the idea of Tesla and Darwin being saints in a science-based 'religion,' and the alternate world concept was great - and then everything was about fantastical beasties instead of difference engines and interdimentional travel. Maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the opening. It was well written, and if there was a follow-up story (as the ending leaves room for) I would definitely give it a shot.
"Chickie Hill's Badass Ride" by Dia Reeves
4 stars. Time travelling inventor! POC main characters! Civil Rights Movement setting! Giant slime monsters! This one had so much awesome going on. Very unique and well written, I don't even want to try to describe it too much, just read it. Right up there with "Code of Blood" as one of my favorites in this collection.
"The Vast Machinery of Dreams" by Caitlin Kittredge
3 stars. Lovecraftian, with steampunk allusions. This one was like the Wierd Tales version of Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings." I liked the old-school pulpyness of this one. Very clever.
"Tick, Tick, Boom" by Kiersten White
3 stars. Solidly steampunk. A slightly predictable cross-dressing inventor chick rebelling against the class structure, but still fun and well-structured. Could have stood to be a little longer, just to give us more grounding in the contrast between Kitty's father's apparently exploitative business practices and the lower-class union rebellions.
True average: 3.31 stars.
I'm rounding it up to four, because I liked more about this collection than I disliked.
An entertaining collection overall, and well worth looking up. Not as brass-and-gears steampunk as I personally would have liked (and a lot more magic/alchemy than I was anticipating), but once I adjusted to that, I still enjoyed in as a whole.