Steampunk
by Jeff VanderMeer
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 143)
Read in May, 2008
Steampunk is a loosely defined genre of speculative/science fiction that employs a number of tropes (such as golems, zeppelins, or monarchical rule) in telling a story set in an alternative Victorian-era society. The themes that hold the genre together (at least in this volume) are not too complex; it often seemed that if a story incorporated a clockwork mechanism in some way into the narrative, then it could be considered steampunk. Some of the stories, indeed the best ones, touched on deeper...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Doctor Who-watchers, SF people, people with short attention spans,
This pretty much fulfills all my requirements for books (though as you can see it's a collection of short stories): history (Victorian era), machines/mechanical stuff, people trying to use "science" as a reason for doing daft things, scientists vs regular people and humour.
I also realised I've been programmed by British/Imperial history since Michael Chabon's story--which discusses Custer (?)--made me Google a lot more than the others did! Overall, this reads like a collection of th...more
I also realised I've been programmed by British/Imperial history since Michael Chabon's story--which discusses Custer (?)--made me Google a lot more than the others did! Overall, this reads like a collection of th...more
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Read in May, 2008
I purchased this anthology because Neal Stephenson had a contribution. While Neals' Tribes of the Pacific Coast is fun, it is quite short, and is outshown by some of the other contributions.
Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang was a fantastic story of kabalistic mysticism wrapped in the trappings of steam-punk.
The God-Clown Is Near by Jay Lake was a ...more
Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang was a fantastic story of kabalistic mysticism wrapped in the trappings of steam-punk.
The God-Clown Is Near by Jay Lake was a ...more
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I had read about a design movement by the same name when I happened upon this book and had to learn more. Even though I'm not familiar with the biggies of the genre (H.G. Wells is one) I'm liking the stories pretty well. I'm also not too well versed in sci-fi (which is along the same line) but I really like the worlds created here. The short story also seems to be a good formate for this type of writing. Like the brain book, I'm reading a few stories at a time in between novels because I could ...more
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Read in May, 2008
I guess I like the look of steampunk a lot more than I like the literature. I was eye-glazed bored about 2 pages into almost every story in this anthology.
That said, there were three stories I enjoyed: "The Selene Gardening Society" by Molly Brown, "Victoria" by Paul Di Filippo, and "Reflected Light" by Rachel E. Pollack.
That said, there were three stories I enjoyed: "The Selene Gardening Society" by Molly Brown, "Victoria" by Paul Di Filippo, and "Reflected Light" by Rachel E. Pollack.
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I stumbled across this today after my web design teacher suggested "steampunk" as a design genre (which I hadn't ever heard of. . . )This is another serendipitous find as it has led me straight into one of my friends' avid interests in Mr. VanderMeer's work. . . Interesting how the universe unfolds, isn't it?
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this book is fantastic. i love the genre, and all the stories are amusing and entertaining. one story was pretty gross, but the others have been pure joy to read. there is a diverse spectrum of steampunk portrayed in this anthology and i enjoyed almost every single one.
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This anthology contains different styles of steampunk writing. I do not like all of the styles but I really do like some of them. I am just beginning to explore steampunk and this has been an excellent introductory volume.
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I figured I'd be more excited about picking up the VanderMeers' New Weird anthology, but this has stories from Michael Chabon and Neal Stephenson, so we'll see.
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Read in June, 2008
Good collection of stuff I'd already read, glad I didn't buy it but if Steampunk sounds new and interesting to you then this book is for you.
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Read in August, 2008
A great collection, edited by one of my favorite authors.
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