I have had a mixed experience with steampunk and this anthology seems to follow the trend. My first experience was a novel whose title I have entirely forgotten (filled with all the clichés of the genre: airships, Victorian adventurers, Western European environment) followed by an incursion into the local steampunk/dark cabaret scene. Neither convinced me to fully immerse myself into the scene, but this anthology has piqued my interest and I'm actually interested in finding out how literary stea...

I don't mind reading an anthology that collects pieces from other sources, but when the pieces are from other collections by the same editors, it's lazy. And on top of that there were only about 2 good stories in here...both of which, of course, I'd read elsewhere.

When I saw this book featured in the "new arrivals" section at my local library, I had to snatch it up. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped the word steampunk into a conversation only to receive a blank stare (which then launched me into a giddy explanation of what steampunk is all about). In that sense, I'm really the target audience.So it surprises me that I'm only giving this book three stars (and by the way, it's a little intimidating to post when the first couple of reviews are fro...

Solid anthology, as per usual from Ann VanderMeer. My only complaint is only a teensy one, and perhaps not even really one. Most of the works here seem like "teasers," in that they'd build up steam (Ah HA HAHAHAhahahaha) and then...boom. Story over. Technically, that's doing what an anthology is supposed to do, I guess, in introducing me to authors. So even though that left me a bit frustrated, I guess it warrants a tip of the hat.Also, if you want to know what's going on with steampunk, reading...

Steampuk III: Steampunk Revolution is an anthology brimming with glimpses of lives and worlds as diverse as reality. While all the stories have substance to them, I will review the ones that spoke to me in some way or other.“Mother is a Machine” by Catherynne M. ValenteAs is Valente’s style, this short story is vivid, provocative and disturbing. It takes a moment for the reader to situate herself in the narrative, find her ground, figure out who is what and what’s happening but once that is done...

I keep skipping over my own story in this collection; it almost feels like if I read it, it might disappear. And, well, I know my story. Discovering all the other pieces is great fun!

Some interesting stories, a few that were too horror-y for my own tastes.

I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. I've not read any steampunk in the past, so I had no basis on which to make a statement about whether this was good or bad steampunk. It turns out that didn't matter. These stories are examples of a brewing change in steampunk, and as such I could read them without thinking about that label. It is a very good collection of stories. As with any collection, there are a few stories that aren't to my tastes, but that didn't deter me fr...

I'm not even sure if the journey was all worth it for me. It wasn't until the fourth story that I was really into anything:"Leg Grossman’s “Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham, GBE” gets disfigured in WWI and ends up having 12 masks manufactured for him. He even gets a Cubist one made by Picasso, which he thinks looks worse. He becomes a celebrity of sorts, but ends up only needing the sad mask. Love the Oscar Wilde quote, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he wi...

Finished this with more a sense of accomplishment than pleasure. The high spot for me was “White Fungus,” brainy and geeky at once. “An Exhortation to Young Writers” was pretty funny, “Addison Howell and the Clockroach” was amusing for the names (“Humptulips,” “Julia Frimpendump”), “On Wooden Wings” and Lev Grossman’s “Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham…” worked pretty well…but the rest were forgettable.

Only read a few for an urban gothic module at uni so my rating isn’t exactly fair but the ones I read weren’t amazing.

Thought recognized one or two from elsewhere, can't find. Start with plots. Deteriorate fast. 1 Harry and Marlowe and the Talisman of the Cult of Egil by Carrie Vaughn - When she finds alien Aetherian artifact, Harry flees barbaric guardians "this horde - descendants of a lost tribe of Vikings trapped under the Icelandic volcano .. A hundred leather-clad footsteps pounded on the stone behind her" p 17. (view spoiler)[ As a Princess, she bids farewell for now to faithful pilot Marlowe. (hide spo...

As with every anthology, this was uneven. Some were good, some not quite as good, and a few didn't really seem to fit with Steampunk as a whole. There were also a few essays near the end that were interesting. I think my favorites were Effluent Engine and To Follow The Waves. I'm not a huge steampunk guy, but I enjoyed a lot of these. Still not quite sure what A Handful of Rice had to do with Steampunk, but it was good.

consistently better than the second one

Many cultures are represented in this book, proving "steampunk" doesn't have to mean "Victorian England!" There's a touch of Lovecraft and Indiana Jones, metafiction providing multiple perspectives on a folk story, typical YA coming-of-age folderol, and much more. And if you don't like a particular story, try the next one!

A collection of steampunk short stories. Yeah, I'm pretty sure this anthology is what convinced me I don't like the genre. I'm sure all these stories were perfectly good, but the only ones I really enjoyed were the ones that seriously down-played the "steampunk" angle.

Some good ones, but kind losing steam, pun intended.

This was a pretty good anthology. It's not terribly consistent, as in some stories have only a small steampunk element and are actually more some other genre, like horror. But overall every story has a touch of something interesting going on. There are good ones, some not-so good ones... and then there are the freaky-deaky ones, like Mother Is A Machine. In any case, I'll be checking out the rest of the books in this series.

I am intrigued by this genre, and I want to read more. I have never been a big sci-fi guy, but the twist here is that most of these stories are set in the past (commonly the Victorian era) imagining little bends in the path of history and technology. I always loved Jules Verne and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which are both commonly cited as precursors to steampunk.Now, to get myself a nice pair of flight goggles and a waistcoat!

Carrie Vaughn's "Harry and Marlowe and the Talisman of the Cult of Egil": in the midst of a war, a lady and an airship pilot are the British Empire's best hope of getting an Aetherian artifact that might defeat Prussia. Introduces an interesting set of characters and hints at a cool alternate world, but this is too short to do much else.Cherie Priest's "Addison Howell and the Clockroach"...The problem with electronic lending is when the lending period is up, the library can just snatch the book