A review by cornmaven
Steampunk! an Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories by

5.0

Some of the best authors of YA and adult literature have offered their steampunk imaginings in this collection, and it would be a good introduction to the genre. I could hardly put this book down, reading late into the night and getting up early in the morning to soak up all the imagery. There’s romance, history, and cautionary tales. M.T. Anderson delivers an alternate version of Rome’s conquests, complete with flying machines and a computer nerd guild which tends a handmade machine designed to predict the success of future war campaigns based on all of humankind’s past efforts! It certainly made me appreciate the “history repeats itself” saying, especially in light of the invasion of Iraq. Dylan Horrocks’ Steam Girl is a very poignant framed tale of a girl who writes steampunk as a way to escape her reality. I absolutely loved Cory Doctorow’s Clockwork Fagin for its salute to Dickens’ Oliver Twist. And it certainly had some very remarkable twists. Some of these tales are set in modern times, others in the past. And I loved them all. Many not so subtly comment about current events, and lead the reader to ponder many layers of meaning, such as Christopher Rowe’s question of whether ease in life and personal satisfaction trump saving our planet.