Customer Reviews

Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was apprehensive about ordering Steampunk! I love steampunk fiction, but I think of young adult fiction as rather simplistic, consciously wholesome, and often having predictable plots where young people find themselves. I'm glad to report that, aside from most of the protagonists being teenagers, little is conspicuously YA about this anthology. There are twelve short stories, plus two little black-and-white "comic books." For what it's worth, I recognized only six of the authors from my readings of adult steampunk and fantasy--but I also found that I don't care. Most stories contain robots and/or clockwork devices, and many focus on some moral and/or social aspect of making and/or using them. However, there are a few stories I'd call fantasy rather than steampunk.

The opening story, Cassandra Clare's "Some Fortunate Future Day," is beautiful but very bleak. Kelly Link's "The Summer People" is a gorgeous work reminiscent of Elizabeth Hand's "Last Summer at Mars Hill." It's complex, while lacking the trying-too-hard-to-be-literary air of some of Link's other published stories. Delia Sherman's "The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor" is gently feminist. Ysabeau S. Wilce's "Hand in Glove" is a supernatural film noir romp set in her alternate world of Califa. Holly Black's "Everything Amiable and Obliging" is the one clunker. It imports clichéd Regency romance plot and slang into a standard Victorian steampunk setting, without renewing them by the combination.

I highly recommend this anthology to all steampunk fans. I hope that it is only the first in a series.

I was going to title my review Steampunk Lite, but thought Family Friendly was a little more indicative of the anthology as a whole. There were a few stories that I thought were barely steampunk. More alternate reality fantasy. But there are a lot of good tales here as well. And would you believe, of the big name authors I recognized, only one of them made it into my top five?

Libba Bray's "Last Ride of the Glory Girls" was my favorite of the anthology. I'm a sucker for Weird Westerns, and this one reminded me favorably of that genre. This story was the most fun to read. Even though I'm a middle aged man, I appreciated the underlying message in "The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor" by Delia Sherman (but it should be noted I hold "The Yellow Wallpaper-is it horror or angry feminism?-as one of the most powerful stories ever.) While the second graphic novel-type story didn't do much for me, I very much enjoyed the first one included: "Seven Days Beset By Demons" by Shawn Cheng.

Those mentioned in the above paragraph comprise my top three. I also enjoyed the stories by Garth Nix (the one big name whose story I got a kick out of) and Dylan Horrocks. In the Nix story you can't ask yourself, 'who is the villain', you have to ask 'in whom lies the lesser of evils'?

I didn't hate that most of the protagonists were younger, but it didn't make me want to give the collection five stars either. It's solid. It's good. And, to quote a famous movie character, "that's all I have to say about that."

Steampunk is a fun genre, one I have begun to explore with excitement. While I have not loved all of the steampunk novels I have read to this point, I have uniformly enjoyed the idea behind them, the out-of-place mechanization accepted as normal in an otherwise old-fashioned society. What attracts me most to this, I expect, is the similarity between steampunk and magical realism, the only difference being that the magic lies in the technology.

With such thoughts in mind, I was eager to read this anthology, particularly considering that some authors I already enjoy contributed stories, such as M. T. Anderson, Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray and Cory Doctorow. In fact, these authors cap the anthology. It begins with the stories by the three I listed last and ends with M. T. Anderson's tale.

Despite what should have been a strong beginning, I found the start of the anthology utterly tedious. I did actually Clare's, Bray's and Doctorow's stories, but none of them blew me away. Then, the next four stories I found to be completely awful, the anthology not picking up in quality again until Kelly Link's story, which, while interesting, really did not seem like steampunk so much as science fiction or fantasy, depending upon where the summer people came from.

The latter half of the anthology, though, was totally satisfactory. I enjoyed all of the stories but the graphic novel Finishing School. Speaking of the comics included (Finishing School and Seven Days Beset by Demons), why were they so awful? I love that comics were included and applaud the blending of formats, but really think they could have found something better. Seven Days Beset by Demons was by far the worst story in the anthology, for it lacked plot, carried a heavy-handed religious bent and did not particularly smack of steampunk. Epic fail.

The best stories, in my opinion, were "Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks, "Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black, and "The Oracle Engine" by M. T. Anderson, the final three stories in the anthology. I must admit I am a bit biased against most of the others, because I quickly tired of reading the poor grammar of western characters, who say things like "I done seen them people." No thanks.

If you hate that all steampunk takes place in Victorian England and want to see where else it can be set, then you'll enjoy this wide range of interpretations (although personally, I found the ones in a modern setting a bit odd). Be prepared to slog through a couple of long stories that you might not be especially interested in. Or just skip those and move on.

Some quite good stories, and the rest at least typically had some redeeming features. The young adult angle does alter the stories some, younger protagonists, less violence or sex, but doesn't prevent older folks from appreciating it.

Cassandra Clare "Some Fortunate Future Day"
Time travel, robots, and the chances of love. Steampunk meets Groundhog Day. Beautifully written.

Libba Bray "The Last Ride of the Glory Girls"
A Burroughs-like Mars, a girl gang robbing the trains and blimps. Very wild west in feel.

Cory Doctorow "Clockwork Fagin"
Not what you'd expect for Doctorow. Elegant little story.

Shawn Cheng "Seven Days Beset by Demons"
Short graphic novel. Well done in writing and in drawing. Nice to have this here.

Ysabeau Wilce "Hand in Glove"
The beginnings of scientific forensics.

Delia Sherman "The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor"
Classic ghost story with feminist touches.

Elizabeth Knox "Gesthemane"
Love, green power, volcanic island, expedition...a muddle mostly.

Kelly Link "The Summer People"
I had forgotten this story, and had to go back to the book to remind myself of it.

Garth Nix "Peace in Our Time"
The last technocrat is judged.

Christopher Rowe "Nowhere Fast"
Homemade automobile in a non-technological future.

Kathleen Jennings "Finishing School"
Another graphical piece. Inspiring tale of an aeronautical pioneer.

Dylan Horrocks "Steam Girl"
Is the new student strange, or VERY strange?

Holly Black "Everything Amiable and Obliging"
Funny, steampunk romance. Not especially well written though.

Anderson "The Oracle Engine"
A Roman supercomputer leads to political upheaval.

I'm not sure why this anthology is listed as Young Adult, because other than a lot of the characters being young, there is nothing juvenile about it. The stories are varied in setting; some actually step outside of the standard Victorian England setting that steampunk usually is set in- one is even set in ancient Rome. Fourteen well known authors provide us with tales of airships, mechanical men and oracles, time twisting technology, ghosts, geothermal drilling and a lot more. Some, I admit, didn't really seem like steampunk, but they were very good stories- just not perhaps the stories for this anthology.

Most anthologies are very uneven and I end up being bored by some of the stories and downright hate a couple. This one, though, held my interest throughout; there is not one story in it that I disliked. If you have any interest in steampunk literature- or even a love of fantasy- get this book.

This is a steampunk themed short story collection for young adult readers aged 14 and up. There are 14 stories. The subtitle promises these to be "fantastically rich and strange"; I disagree and feel it would be more accurate to say "creepily dark and nonsensical stories". Some are just boring and silly.

Most are typical stories, most of which we've heard before (wild west train robberies, suffering kids in an orphanage) but the writers change them up to become steampunk by inserting odd words which we do not know the meaning of nor do we ever find out. The steampunk terms can be anything from using old Wild West terms or Victorian England terms, made up words or words that have fallen out of fashion long ago. Although the words should set the mood or help the reader understand the story most of the time they came off as confusing and weird for being weird's sake, not for story enhancement. Oh, and to add to the steampunk genre, they threw in some weird inventions, magic, or time travel. When and where these stories are set varies from the present, a hundred years ago, Ancient Rome, there is definitely variety here.

I was really disappointed with this book and reading it cover to cover was what I'd say was slogging through it so that I could do a thorough review. To me there was one really well told story: The Summer People by Kelly Link. One was a notch below that: Clockwork Fagin by Cory Doctorow. I give M.T. Anderson's The Oracle Engine a nod for an original story but was bored by the war theme and the setting being Ancient Rome. The idea behind Everything Amiable and Obliging by Holly Black was a good one but the details of the story grossed me out. I thought Some Fortunate Future Day by Cassandra Clare was a decent story but it needed just a bit more editing to make us see why the girl fell in love with the man as there was not much shown that would lead us to think he was so appealing.

Some things in this book are dark and violent. As a parent I will share some details to give you an idea what I mean so you can see if this is a book that's right for your kids. Children in an orphanage being beat to a pulp and tortured, held in a jail cell, and starved, by the man who runs the orphanage, with more intentional verbal abuse to break kids to get them to be submissive to their master. In one story (by Clare) I swore it was going to turn to something else that actually would have made fodder for an R-rated horror movie (but it didn't, it may have been a better story if it did). Steam Girl had some really descriptive passages about why the teen boy lusted after the teen girl that went a bit too far.

My biggest issue, deserving of its own paragraph was surprisingly by Holly Black whose work I respected in the tween book series made into a movie: The Spiderwick Chronicles. She lost some respect here, with her story' starting off with a bang describing a robot filled gambling parlor and bar who ran a house of prostitution stocked with robots. There is mention of human men having sexual affairs with robots to cheat on their wives. (The robots are programmed to do anything a human tells them to do. They are true slaves.) The bar scene with entertainment for visitors of a boy child robot in bondage and being whipped and a prettied up girl child robot performing an oral action on a big lollipop to elude to I think you know what, was too over the top mature for the young adult market. Her idea of a woman falling in love with a male robot dance partner was an interesting one but that other stuff was too disgusting. I don't think that fourteen year old's need to have stories with kinky sex scenes, the idea of sex with robots programmed to be slaves to any human desire goes too far in and of itself.

The rest of the stories were mediocre, confusing, silly or dumb. I would like to believe that these could have been worked on a bit more, edited more, developed just a bit more deeply, and they could have been much better. This is a hodgepodge book of mostly mediocre writing.

What moved my review from "It's okay" to "I Don't Like It" = 2 stars was the mature content. I truly slogged through this. I'm tempted to rate it 1 star but I'll hold back and stick with 2 stars.

Fourteen authors including Garth Nix, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Delia Sherman offer up tales of everything from ancient Rome to film noir in an alternate California (Califa). Elements of steampunk include airships, robot, and all things mechanical. While the anthology is labelled young adult and many of the authors write mainly in that genre, adult fans of fantasy and steampunk in particular are going to find this anthology intriguing and enjoyable.

What I really enjoy about reading books like this is you get a chance to meet some new people. I've been a fan of Holly Black and Delia Sherman for a long time, but I learned some new names here. Ysabeau Wilce's "Hand in Glove" particularly intrigued me with a take on the beginning of criminal forensics. Dylan Horrocks's "Steam Girl" gave us a different take on the new girl in town.

Kudos to the editors, Kelly Link and Garth Nix, for creating a book with stories that fit and compliment each other. That's a great skill and one they've clearly mastered.

Rebecca Kyle, December 2011

Most of these stories are well written, with reasonably engaging plots and characters, but the clever machines seemed to be tacked on, just to make the story fit into the genre. I was expecting the machines to be integral to the plots. Brilliant, mechanical, man-made things that move, fired by steam power, fascinating to behold. Nope.

The most disturbing story of the bunch may be Cassandra Clare's "Some Fortunate Future Day," in which a lonely girl hopes to use a simple-looking gadget to turn back time and get a soldier to fall in love with her. Her obsession over him is off-putting, and her scheme to use mechanical means to keep him with her is...creepy.

Holly Black's "Everything Amiable and Obliging" was my favorite. It read like a Regency Romance, with love and marriage as the primary focus, along with a sort of Frankenstein tale, in which a human falls in love with someone who is only man-made. A wealthy family owns a mannequin who is a dance instructor, never guessing that Amelia would fall in love with a mechanical man, making it impossible for her to marry an actual man, Lord Obermann. The story also has elements of social taboos. Picture the mechanical man as a same-sex candidate for marriage, and hear anew the dialogue of protest and horror. "She can't marry a mechanical man" = "she can't marry another woman." But the mannequin passes an unintended test of humanity, and to say more would be a plot spoiler. The ending is sweetly satisfying, in spite of a near-tragedy involving free will and obedience among mechanical men.

Again, the "steam punk" label seemed to be only loosely applied even to this story, but the story was well done, so I didn't feel cheated. Where did I get the idea that "steam punk" involved fabulous inventions that did amazing things? Maybe this is the wrong first-book-in-this-genre for me to go by.

Some of the terms here are tantalizing--"Most Mighty Mechanism and Highest of the High Artificier Adepts," e.g.-- but human ingenuity in these 12 assorted stories can involve a simple puppet, not brass widgets, pumping pistons, or rolling marbles that trigger levers, gadgets, grommets and gears. I may be wrong to think "This is a Regency Romance posing as steampunk," or "pick your genre, posing as steampunk," but in all, if you like short stories, this isn't bad. I just wouldn't spend $10 on it, much less the list price of $22.99.

I wanted to like "Steampunk! An Anthology......" because I really do enjoy much of the genre, however, not this particular compilation edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. Right up front I admit I've never been a fan of bunching "selected" works in one volume; an anthology as it's called. Not my cup of tea because invariably you get lots of clunkers mixed in with some good, if you're lucky. And time, personal time, is precious. What I'll call short "graphic" stories that are included in this book are truly terrible; my honest feeling. It isn't a total loss, though, as the book does contain a few interesting, fun, and novel short stories, such as the first story, by Cassandra Clare, "Some Fortunate Future Day". Also, "Hand in Glove" by Ysabeau S. Wilce and "The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray, why I gave three stars instead of two. There are fourteen offerings within 412 pages, some of which I just couldn't finish. However, this genre can be lots of fun and very enjoyable. You might consider a couple I've liked: The Leviathan triogy by Westerfeld or even "Perdido Street Station" by Mieville.

In going through this book, I found that this genre really is not for me. That said, the book is put together well and I'm sure one who enjoys this genre will get something from it.

Other books:

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature
The Art of Steampunk: Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement