Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories

by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant

Summary:
In the first major YA steampunk anthology, fourteen top storytellers push the genre's mix of sci-fi, fantasy, history, and adventure in fascinating new directions.

Imagine an alternate universe where romance and technology reign. Where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Here, fourteen masters of speculative fiction, including two graphic storytellers, embrace the steampunk genre's established themes and refashion them in surprising ways and settings as diverse as Appalachia, Ancient Rome, future Australia, and alternate California. The result is an anthology that defies its genre even as it defines it.

Rating: 3 /5Stars

Review:
I borrowed this book out of my local library. So i sort of had to finish reading it cover to cover, rather than just reading a story when I felt like it. Which I think might have dampened my rating a little. Or maybe not. Am not so sure...
There seems to be huge trend for anthologies, short stories and novellas. I like short stories and novellas if they are written well. And I got to concede that many of the stories in the book are written well. But after finishing the book, the only story that really stuck in my mind was the one of C.Clare.
Her short story was brilliant and showed her great writing skills but also in a few pages she managed to build a world flawlessly and left me with the question of destinies. A perfect short story. (it would get 4 or 5 stars from me)
Again I think ideally one buys a hard copy of the book and reads a story at the time randomly when one has 30min and feels for steam punk. But would I go and buy the book now after i read it? The answer is; no. Because while I like short stories, I do prefer novels and seems my love for Steampunk has its limits.
I know this is a way of getting to know new authors or a new series, but honestly I didnt feel like looking up any of the other authors. Maybe it was just Steampunk over load...
Mostly I have been left unsure... not sure if it was too much Steampunk, too many short stories in a too short span... or maybe I dont like short stories that much... or perhaps a lot of people miss the point of a short story... as I said. I am not sure. Hence 3 stars, because I did enjoy reading the stories. But I wasnt elated or wanting more either.

I would recommend this book to be read as described before by lovers of the genre.



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