thealienamongus's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jena_33's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kfox's review
2.0
Books with a variety of stories from different authors are always hard for me to rate. I enjoyed some stories in this collection. Others, I struggled through, disliked, and was thoroughly annoyed by. Sadly, the good didn't outweigh the bad enough for me to like this book, but I didn't hate it either. I'm sad that some of the good stories ended up stuck with the others, but I simply can't rate this book as a whole any higher than two stars.
dawnvogel's review
3.0
(Originally posted at Mad Scientist Journal, 7/17/2013)
Clockwork Fairy Tales is an anthology of nine steampunk adaptations of classic fairy tales. Growing up with Disney movies, I expected that I’d enjoy retellings of some of my favorites, but I was surprised when the first four stories were based on fairy tales I was not familiar with. It wasn’t until I got to Jay Lake’s “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens” (based on Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty”) that I was familiar with the original story. Despite my ignorance of the original stories, the anthology was still a fun read.
Many of the stories featured interesting twists on the original fairy tales. For example, Steven Harper’s “Fair Vasyl” (based on the Russian fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”) genderflips the main character to good effect. Other stories replace magic with steampunk technology, or combine the two together.
It’s difficult for me to pick a favorite story in this anthology. I liked Kat Richardson’s “The Hollow Hounds” (based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Tinderbox”) and liked it even more when I got to hear her read the first part of the story. This one is definitely worth reading twice, just to catch her clever word use once you know one of the twists in the story. I also liked Gregory Nicoll’s “The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and Pied Piper of New Hamelin, Texas” (based on the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamlin), which moved the setting to among German settlers of Texas and had a fun Weird West feel to it. And Pip Ballantine’s “The Mechanical Wings” (based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans”) was beautifully written with loads of evocative detail.
If there was anything I didn’t like about the book, it was mostly that I wasn’t prepared for the length of the stories. The stories are considerably longer than typical short story length, which meant that I wasn’t cruising through more than one story in the hour I had to read before bed. But that’s really a minor problem in the grand scheme of things. The stories are well written and edited, and even the unfamiliar fairy tales held little bits of familiarity in their structure.
Clockwork Fairy Tales is an anthology of nine steampunk adaptations of classic fairy tales. Growing up with Disney movies, I expected that I’d enjoy retellings of some of my favorites, but I was surprised when the first four stories were based on fairy tales I was not familiar with. It wasn’t until I got to Jay Lake’s “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens” (based on Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty”) that I was familiar with the original story. Despite my ignorance of the original stories, the anthology was still a fun read.
Many of the stories featured interesting twists on the original fairy tales. For example, Steven Harper’s “Fair Vasyl” (based on the Russian fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”) genderflips the main character to good effect. Other stories replace magic with steampunk technology, or combine the two together.
It’s difficult for me to pick a favorite story in this anthology. I liked Kat Richardson’s “The Hollow Hounds” (based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Tinderbox”) and liked it even more when I got to hear her read the first part of the story. This one is definitely worth reading twice, just to catch her clever word use once you know one of the twists in the story. I also liked Gregory Nicoll’s “The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and Pied Piper of New Hamelin, Texas” (based on the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamlin), which moved the setting to among German settlers of Texas and had a fun Weird West feel to it. And Pip Ballantine’s “The Mechanical Wings” (based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans”) was beautifully written with loads of evocative detail.
If there was anything I didn’t like about the book, it was mostly that I wasn’t prepared for the length of the stories. The stories are considerably longer than typical short story length, which meant that I wasn’t cruising through more than one story in the hour I had to read before bed. But that’s really a minor problem in the grand scheme of things. The stories are well written and edited, and even the unfamiliar fairy tales held little bits of familiarity in their structure.
theknightswhosaybook's review
2.0
Story 1: La Valse
A "Red Shoes" retelling with a dark twist. A little too short for me to get a good grasp on the story or why I should care about these characters, but it was interesting at least, and I didn't expect the ending.
Story 2: Fair Vasyl
A "Vasilisa the Beautiful" retelling with a male protagonist and gay romance. Easily my favorite of the entire book! There were plot twists and close calls and jokes and sweet romantic gestures and unique elements that I haven't seen in any other retellings like this. If only every story in this book were as original and well-rounded.
Story 3: The Hollow Hounds
A "Tinderbox" retelling with lots of guns. If the true measure of a retelling is whether or not you enjoy it more than the original (and that is my take on the subject), then this story failed. There were exciting parts, but mostly I felt myself drifting off from the story to daydream about how Fair Vasyl could be continued. Yet this story still shines in comparison to the next one.
Story 4: The Kings of Mount Golden
A "King of the Golden Mountain" retelling with too much formal language, a clunky exposition, and not enough anything else. Lots of drama yet somehow no excitement. To be honest I can't tell you much about this story, because it was so boring that I skimmed a lot of it and finally skipped it altogether about halfway through.
Story 5: You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens
A "Sleeping Beauty" retelling with too much backstory for a short story. The beginning, with all the different characters, was unnecessarily long and confusing, but once I got it straightened out it was an interesting take on how the sleeping curse works. And props to the author for actually addressing that gay and bi people exist, because otherwise I would have spent the entire story rolling my eyes thinking "sure, ok, you isolate the princess from all men in the kingdom, surprise jerks she's probably a lesbian anyway".
…She wasn't, but having the narrator point out that she could be kept me from having to think it constantly.
Story 6: Mose and the Automatic Fireman
A "Mose by Fireboy" retelling with, meh, nothing wrong with it. I don't have any previous experience with Mose the Fireboy stories to compare it to so I guess that made it lack depth for me. Better than many of the other stories in the book.
Story 7: The Clockwork Suit
An "Emperor's New Clothes" retelling just original enough to be interesting. I could see this one actually being an interesting full length book if it was fleshed out more.
Story 8: The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hemelin Texas
A "Pied Piper" retelling that doesn't even deserve the time I just spent typing out its name, much less the time I spent reading it. To sum up my problems with this book: The main character is an adult man, and he has sex with a girl young enough to count as one of the children the Pied Piper tries to kidnap. Children. If that doesn't creep you the hell out, then??? This author (Gregory Nicoll) is going on my "never ever read ever again" list, and I hope he never crawls out of whatever stinking hole he wrote this story in.
Story 9: The Mechanical Wings
A "Wild Swans" retelling that is truly enjoyable. Maybe it just shone all the brighter for coming right after the crapshow that was the previous story, but this short story managed to pack in a lot of elements I really liked, from fiercely loyal clockwork dragonflies to a rival city with a dreamy king. Another one I would read fleshed out into a full length book!
All in all, Fair Vasyl and The Mechanical Wings each donated a full star to this rating. The remaining seven stories might have scraped up another star for a 3-star rating overall, but the Pied Piper story lost that star for them by virtue of being flat out terrible.
Sorry you were in the company of such terrible stories, guys. You deserved better.
A "Red Shoes" retelling with a dark twist. A little too short for me to get a good grasp on the story or why I should care about these characters, but it was interesting at least, and I didn't expect the ending.
Story 2: Fair Vasyl
A "Vasilisa the Beautiful" retelling with a male protagonist and gay romance. Easily my favorite of the entire book! There were plot twists and close calls and jokes and sweet romantic gestures and unique elements that I haven't seen in any other retellings like this. If only every story in this book were as original and well-rounded.
Story 3: The Hollow Hounds
A "Tinderbox" retelling with lots of guns. If the true measure of a retelling is whether or not you enjoy it more than the original (and that is my take on the subject), then this story failed. There were exciting parts, but mostly I felt myself drifting off from the story to daydream about how Fair Vasyl could be continued. Yet this story still shines in comparison to the next one.
Story 4: The Kings of Mount Golden
A "King of the Golden Mountain" retelling with too much formal language, a clunky exposition, and not enough anything else. Lots of drama yet somehow no excitement. To be honest I can't tell you much about this story, because it was so boring that I skimmed a lot of it and finally skipped it altogether about halfway through.
Story 5: You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens
A "Sleeping Beauty" retelling with too much backstory for a short story. The beginning, with all the different characters, was unnecessarily long and confusing, but once I got it straightened out it was an interesting take on how the sleeping curse works. And props to the author for actually addressing that gay and bi people exist, because otherwise I would have spent the entire story rolling my eyes thinking "sure, ok, you isolate the princess from all men in the kingdom, surprise jerks she's probably a lesbian anyway".
…She wasn't, but having the narrator point out that she could be kept me from having to think it constantly.
Story 6: Mose and the Automatic Fireman
A "Mose by Fireboy" retelling with, meh, nothing wrong with it. I don't have any previous experience with Mose the Fireboy stories to compare it to so I guess that made it lack depth for me. Better than many of the other stories in the book.
Story 7: The Clockwork Suit
An "Emperor's New Clothes" retelling just original enough to be interesting. I could see this one actually being an interesting full length book if it was fleshed out more.
Story 8: The Steampiper, the Stovepiper, and the Pied Piper of New Hemelin Texas
A "Pied Piper" retelling that doesn't even deserve the time I just spent typing out its name, much less the time I spent reading it. To sum up my problems with this book: The main character is an adult man, and he has sex with a girl young enough to count as one of the children the Pied Piper tries to kidnap. Children. If that doesn't creep you the hell out, then??? This author (Gregory Nicoll) is going on my "never ever read ever again" list, and I hope he never crawls out of whatever stinking hole he wrote this story in.
Story 9: The Mechanical Wings
A "Wild Swans" retelling that is truly enjoyable. Maybe it just shone all the brighter for coming right after the crapshow that was the previous story, but this short story managed to pack in a lot of elements I really liked, from fiercely loyal clockwork dragonflies to a rival city with a dreamy king. Another one I would read fleshed out into a full length book!
All in all, Fair Vasyl and The Mechanical Wings each donated a full star to this rating. The remaining seven stories might have scraped up another star for a 3-star rating overall, but the Pied Piper story lost that star for them by virtue of being flat out terrible.
Sorry you were in the company of such terrible stories, guys. You deserved better.
epsieri's review
2.0
Very hit and miss. The stories range from enjoyable ("Fair Vasyl", "The Mechanical Wings") to quite possibly the worst story I've read ("The Steampiper, etc."). A good read overall, but worth reading reviews to know which ones to skip.
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