A review by crafterwords
Clockwork, Curses and Coal by Melissa Bobe, Adam Breckenridge, Diana Hurlburt, Lex T. Lindsay, Christina Ruth Johnson, Wendy Nikel, Rhonda Parrish, Beth Cato, Brian Trent, Alethea Kontis, M.L.D. Curelas, Reese Hogan, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sarah Van Goethem, Joseph Halden
Full Disclosure #1:
I am SO FAR BEHIND on this. So late. Later than a White Rabbit to a very important date.
Yeah… I have no excuse, honestly, aside from life being a complete pain in my butt, sometimes literally. Adulting is hard and stuff. Dislike, etc.
Full Disclosure #2:
I received a free advanced copy of this (*cough* release day was March 2, 2021 *cough*) in exchange for my opinions. To be fair, I have been in contact with Rhonda, so she knows this is remarkably late because REASONS.
Let’s face it: My Mini-Me has been updating more regularly than I have, hasn’t he?
Full Disclosure #3:
I love steampunk. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. This may cause my review to be biased.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. HERE IS THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THIS POST.
Clockwork, Curses, and Coal is an anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish that features 14 steampunk-style retellings of fairy tales. While I could go on about how much I liked each one – and I did – I’ll concentrate on my favorites.
The Coach Girl by M.L.D. Curelas
What happens when a mechanically-minded girl bonds with the minds of the mechanisms around her? And if said girl is wrongfully, shamefully ousted from her position as a betrothed bride on the cusp of a prosperous, if arranged, marriage?
That’s what we find out in The Coach Girl, a retelling of The Goose Girl.
What stuck out to me most in this is how deeply Tara’s character resonated with me. Her situation may be foreign, sure, but someone whose life was supposed to go one way but takes a rather dramatic turn for the unexpected? I’m a bit familiar with that concept, as most of us would be.
Curelas’ interpretation and reworking of The Goose Girl is a lovely bit of steampunk western drama. Maybe because it ever-so-slightly has an air of Firefly in it (*sings* You can’t take the sky from me!), but this story stands out as my absolute favorite in the anthology. All fourteen are great, but this one resounded deeply.
A Bird Girl in the Dark of Night by Sarah Van Goethem
I also have a fondness for running away to join the circus or carnival, so long as there are no clowns in the mix. I cannot deal with clowns. Coulrophobia is a thing. I can attest to this.
There are thankfully no clowns in Van Goethem’s story, though there is a man as evil and dark as any clown. Our heroine in this, Jane, wants to rescue her sisters from the dastardly clutches of Perry Featherstone, a wonderfully villainous name if ever there were one. An apt name, too, given the story. Jane fashions herself wings in order to get into Featherstone’s sideshow to get her sisters – conjoined twins – back from him.
Icarus she is not, and the story develops in ways unexpected and brilliant.
In Summary…
Rhonda Parrish has knocked it out of the park again with a round of stories as variegated as the cogs in the clockwork creations of the steampunk subculture. I recommend this for fans of steampunk, obviously, and those who enjoy works of the lesser known authors. I think that’s one thing that always shines with her anthologies: Rhonda consistently sheds light on authors whose skills I’m happy to now be familiar with.
I am SO FAR BEHIND on this. So late. Later than a White Rabbit to a very important date.
Yeah… I have no excuse, honestly, aside from life being a complete pain in my butt, sometimes literally. Adulting is hard and stuff. Dislike, etc.
Full Disclosure #2:
I received a free advanced copy of this (*cough* release day was March 2, 2021 *cough*) in exchange for my opinions. To be fair, I have been in contact with Rhonda, so she knows this is remarkably late because REASONS.
Let’s face it: My Mini-Me has been updating more regularly than I have, hasn’t he?
Full Disclosure #3:
I love steampunk. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. This may cause my review to be biased.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. HERE IS THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THIS POST.
Clockwork, Curses, and Coal is an anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish that features 14 steampunk-style retellings of fairy tales. While I could go on about how much I liked each one – and I did – I’ll concentrate on my favorites.
The Coach Girl by M.L.D. Curelas
What happens when a mechanically-minded girl bonds with the minds of the mechanisms around her? And if said girl is wrongfully, shamefully ousted from her position as a betrothed bride on the cusp of a prosperous, if arranged, marriage?
That’s what we find out in The Coach Girl, a retelling of The Goose Girl.
What stuck out to me most in this is how deeply Tara’s character resonated with me. Her situation may be foreign, sure, but someone whose life was supposed to go one way but takes a rather dramatic turn for the unexpected? I’m a bit familiar with that concept, as most of us would be.
Curelas’ interpretation and reworking of The Goose Girl is a lovely bit of steampunk western drama. Maybe because it ever-so-slightly has an air of Firefly in it (*sings* You can’t take the sky from me!), but this story stands out as my absolute favorite in the anthology. All fourteen are great, but this one resounded deeply.
A Bird Girl in the Dark of Night by Sarah Van Goethem
I also have a fondness for running away to join the circus or carnival, so long as there are no clowns in the mix. I cannot deal with clowns. Coulrophobia is a thing. I can attest to this.
There are thankfully no clowns in Van Goethem’s story, though there is a man as evil and dark as any clown. Our heroine in this, Jane, wants to rescue her sisters from the dastardly clutches of Perry Featherstone, a wonderfully villainous name if ever there were one. An apt name, too, given the story. Jane fashions herself wings in order to get into Featherstone’s sideshow to get her sisters – conjoined twins – back from him.
Icarus she is not, and the story develops in ways unexpected and brilliant.
In Summary…
Rhonda Parrish has knocked it out of the park again with a round of stories as variegated as the cogs in the clockwork creations of the steampunk subculture. I recommend this for fans of steampunk, obviously, and those who enjoy works of the lesser known authors. I think that’s one thing that always shines with her anthologies: Rhonda consistently sheds light on authors whose skills I’m happy to now be familiar with.