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A review by ninjamuse
Steampunk Reloaded by James L. Grant, Jeff VanderMeer, Gail Carriger, Ann VanderMeer, Cherie Priest, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Stephen Baxter, G.D. Falksen, Daniel Abraham, Evelyn Kriete
4.0
Steampunk II - Ann and Jeff Vandermeer
In brief: A collection of short steampunk stories and related works.
Thoughts: It’s not often that I find a short story anthology that works the whole way through. I think it’s only happened twice? No dud stories, no questionable narrative choices, stories that flow together, a good breadth of subject matter, and entertaining to boot! And this one came with illustrations. It made me all excited for steampunk again, and sad that both that the movement has fizzled and that few steampunk novels get to the same levels of depth and vibrancy and creativity, at least of the ones I’ve read.
This collection has a little bit of everything: steam-powered robots, fantastical cities, spies, socialist orphans, angry housewives, mad scientists, mad photographers, time travel, mathematical fish, steampunk blogging, horror, whimsy, humour, mysteries, metafiction, and everything in between. I’m not even sure I can name any favourite stories, they were all that good! (Also, it’s been nearly two months. The brain, she forgets things.)
So yeah: if you’re looking for a solid anthology or a lot of fun steampunk, this is a great book to pick up. I’m not sure I’m up for reading another one in the series (there are three total) but I am definitely going to have Vandermeer anthologies on my radar in the future. They’ve served me really well on this one.
To bear in mind: Contains stories that tackle racism, sexism, colonialism, and various other social problems of the 1800s, but in a punching-up sort of way.
9/10
In brief: A collection of short steampunk stories and related works.
Thoughts: It’s not often that I find a short story anthology that works the whole way through. I think it’s only happened twice? No dud stories, no questionable narrative choices, stories that flow together, a good breadth of subject matter, and entertaining to boot! And this one came with illustrations. It made me all excited for steampunk again, and sad that both that the movement has fizzled and that few steampunk novels get to the same levels of depth and vibrancy and creativity, at least of the ones I’ve read.
This collection has a little bit of everything: steam-powered robots, fantastical cities, spies, socialist orphans, angry housewives, mad scientists, mad photographers, time travel, mathematical fish, steampunk blogging, horror, whimsy, humour, mysteries, metafiction, and everything in between. I’m not even sure I can name any favourite stories, they were all that good! (Also, it’s been nearly two months. The brain, she forgets things.)
So yeah: if you’re looking for a solid anthology or a lot of fun steampunk, this is a great book to pick up. I’m not sure I’m up for reading another one in the series (there are three total) but I am definitely going to have Vandermeer anthologies on my radar in the future. They’ve served me really well on this one.
To bear in mind: Contains stories that tackle racism, sexism, colonialism, and various other social problems of the 1800s, but in a punching-up sort of way.
9/10