| Title | : | Steampunk World |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781939840127 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 390 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2014 |
But there was something missing. It was easy to find excellent stories of American and British citizens... but we rarely got to see steampunk from the point of view of the rest of the world.
Until now.
Steampunk World is a showcase for nineteen authors to flip the levers and start the pistons and invite you to experience the entirety of steampunk.
Steampunk World Reviews
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Full disclosure; Despite my love of Steampunk, I happened to miss the KickStarter on this, and only became aware of it when it came up on my Amazon recommendations list.
For the price, and having a focused interest of late on "World-Fantasy-Fiction", I figured "What the hell"?
And I was well rewarded.
This is a fast-paced, thought-provoking anthology of Steampunk stories from various cultures and authors around the world, which is a great premise for ANY anthology. (All too often, Steampunk falls into the Victorian England [or American] purview, so it was great to see Steampunk as a genre step out of that narrow shadow and into the light of the world stage.)
I've been further fortunate of late that the anthologies I've been able to read have been superlative, and this certainly falls into that category! While not every story was precisely to my taste, there were no stories that I was compelled to skip, or regret reading, and that is the highest praise I can offer any anthology. -
I really loved this book. I first heard about it through Kickstarter, and chipped in, and it was most definitely a good investment. The stories are engaging, imaginative, and diverse, but each is well-selected to mesh well with the overall themes. The introduction does a good job of explaining the approach to the genre, and the art is a great addition. Women are extremely well-represented in this anthology; many of the stories have non-Western, non cookie-cutter, female protagonists. Overall an excellent choice for anyone interested in Steampunk, fantasy, or science fiction, and for anyone interested in supporting the need for cultural diversity in these genres.
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This anthology lives up to its title – 18 stories taking place all over the world featuring a gratifying diversity of voices in a steampunk world. All different, and all sharing the same thread of looking at things from a new point of view in a decidedly different timelines.
Shedding Skin: Or How the World Came to Be by Jay Lake: In the beginning… A Steampunk version of the Garden of Eden story, with a much more enlightened take on theology, and told in a hilarious voice of an elderly storyteller constantly interrupting himself to try and get his young audience to stop interrupting him!
Hidden Strength by Jaymee Goh: I saw it as a South Asian take on Ironman – if Tony Stark didn’t have the TON of privileges that allow his weakness/strengths to be a superhero. Here we have a couple just trying to get by.
Promised by Nisi Shawl: A missionary in Africa has to deal with the fact his faith is being “corrupted” by the fact he has gone native, so to speak, when he makes a deal with a local god.
The Firebird by Emily B. Cataneo: A Steampunk take on the Russian Revolution. Surprisingly, the technology does not play out as part of the weapons of war the revolutionaries use, but as part of the fashion used by the now fallen aristocrats. Think of how much technology went into making those utterly useless and utterly over decorated Faberge eggs.
The Little Begum by Indrapramit Das: A story of how the underdog can rise – given accesss to the right tech. LOVED the reinterpretation of the Taj Mahal!
Forty Pieces by Lucien Soulban: An exile who blames his departed father for not keeping his down when political winds shifted gets sucked into a treasure hunt based largely on his father’s work and comes to realize his father may have been onto something when it comes to something worth living and dying for. Features gorgeous descriptions of a Lost City that stands head and shoulders above the usual buried gold and gears.
Hatavat Chalom by Lillian Cohen-Moore: In the Jewish ghetto of Venice, a young woman has a terrifying nightmare over and over and over. Everyone around her has a different explanation – but all decide it has to come true? An odd ending but I loved the characters and setting. The pleasant, civilized, genteelness (pun intended) of it all is sharply underlined by how bad things are beneath the surface.
The Leviathan of Trincomalee by Lucy A. Snyder: A Tamil/German Jewish girl aids her father in building a submarine and then uses it to track down a sea monster. Captain Nemo meets Cthulhu.
The Hand of Sa-Seti by Balogun Ojetade: A young man is sent on a mission to rescue the princess, fight monsters, and destroy the undead sorcerer. A great twist at the end of ‘who is the bad guy here, really?’
The Omai Gods by Alex Bledsoe: The old Easter Island statues = aliens is played out here as the cute kids save the day. Bittersweet ending.
The Governess and We by Benjanun Sriduangkaew: A hard twist on The King and I giving a much more honest POV of what the situation was probably like. A great wish fulfillment of keeping invaders out.
Tangi a te ruru / The cry of the morepork by Pip Ballantine: An Italian / Maori government agent for the paranormal bureau in New Zealand struggles to balance the numerous polar opposite worlds she lives in. She manages to pull off quite the acrobatic trick.
The Construct Also Dreams of Flight by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz: Robots continue to serve a dead woman’s last wishes as well as seeking out their own autonomy. It felt like some pieces were missing, but I got the gist of it.
Budo: Or, The Flying Orchid By Tade Thompson: The flashback becomes the main story, which left me wondering about the rest.
The Şehrazatın Diyoraması Tour by S. J. Chambers: The story makes fun both of the tourists seeking “Orientalism” as well as the vendors who cater to them. That was well and good by itself – then the story jumps into nightmare territory as we find out how the “theme park” is being run.
The Emperor Everlasting by Nayad A. Monroe: A suggestion of what a surviving 20th century Inca empire would look like. The main character was a great lead as you root for her to overcome her difficulties, both major and petty. Huzzah for the sensible engineer rising to the top of political spectrum!
Mary Sundown and the Clockmaker’s Children by Malon Edwards: Creole, Post-Apocalyptic, Steampunk, twins, good v. bad robots, Chicago. A lot of disparate elements come together to form one brilliant whole.
Good Hunting by Ken Liu: A great closer to this wonderful anthology. A “fox-wife” tale that goes in an unexpectedly modern direction in this story of old and new ages in China. The older generation gets destroyed by the changing times, but these two kids learn not only to survive but to thrive.
This was a wonderful read and highly recommend it to anyone looking for something new in their sci-fi cup. -
Does an excellent job of opening up the world of steampunk. Standout stories include those by Ken Liu, Nisi Shawl, S. J. Chambers.
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I don't give out fives lightly, this one earned it. Full disclosure: My name is in this book because I gave them money to make it exist. One of the authors, Lucy Snyder, came to me during the kickstarter. I don't know why she chose me, but she said "We're doing this steampunk anthology--" at which point I reared up on my hind legs and said "Now wait a minute, lady!" Because I have some
rather strong opinions on the topic of steampunk. I like my steampunk to have some PUNK in it, much like some drinkers like to have gin in their gin & tonic, or eaters might like to find steak in their steak and potatoes. I do not think this makes me a bad person.
I was reassured on this point, however, that I would find this collection quite to my liking. The basic theme was that steam existed outside of the upper class of Great Britain, and thus could not help but to speak to some basic power differentials; colony and colonizer, powerful and subjugal, and the abrupt introduction of technology to a society wholly unprepared for it. Or perhaps more prepared than they 'ought' to be, as a great leveler. And so I said shut up and take my money.
I have not been the least bit disappointed. There is a meat to these stories, thick, juicy, made for chewing, and all in short story sized bites that satisfy or occasionally leave you wanting maybe just one bite more. Also, they use my word 'steampulp' in the introduction, to showcase the difference between these and those dashing high adventure Victorian fantasies that are still a lot of fun to read and have amazing fashion sense.
Talking about the plot of a short story anthology isn't exactly helpful, but I can point to a slate of talented authors who ensure that each story is well honed--a short story can't mess around. It needs to get in, throw a few punches, get to the point, and wrap itself up. (A painful lesson I am slowly learning in my own work.) And some of these stories may have... more subtle punches, I suppose, than others, but that just means the sucker punch at the end is more effective.
If you're a fan of the genre--especially if you lean more toward the monocles and gears--I recommend you pick this up and devour it. If you don't know yet if you're a fan of the genre, and especially if you have an interest in history or Alternate Universes, I also recommend this as a stepping stone from other worlds you might be familiar with. And as an olive branch, I think I'm going to wear a top hat for the rest of the day. -
For those of you who don’t know, Steampunk World is a multi-cultural steampunk anthology funded through Kickstarter from Alliteration Ink. I was one of the backers which is how I received the book. It intrigued me as most steampunk is based in England and I wanted to see how the rest of the world viewed this most peculiar and interesting genre of which I am a part. I’m glad I took the time to back this project.
Not having edited an anthology myself, I would think the two hardest things to do would be: 1. Informing people their story did not make the cut, and 2. Making sure the quality of the stories remained consistent throughout the book. The editor, Ms. Sarah Hans, has done a tremendously good job of the latter. With a very informative forward by Diana M. Pho, a/k/a Ay-leen the Peacemaker, to set the mood for our journey into other lands, the overall themes of the stories focus on how industrialization affects lives, beliefs and just may kill you.
Though I found a few of the stories to not be fully fleshed out and a couple of others felt like they were either lifted from a novel or were the first chapter of one, the vast majority of these short stories and novellas were quite good and stood extremely well on their own. Some of my favorites were The Omai Gods by Alex Bledsoe where a ship of Chinese marauders lands on a South Pacific Island populated by giant stone heads and peaceful villagers. When they decide to enslave the inhabitants, two children are brave enough to challenge them and their own fears by calling upon their Gods. (Full disclosure: My nieces and nephews are Marshallese, so I’m a little biased.) Another one I enjoyed was The Emperor Everlasting by Nayad A. Monroe. A story set in an alternate South America, it is about a woman named Ilyapa who is not only the First Deviser (engineer), but is one of the many wives of the emperor of the court of Sapa Inca. Ilyapa finds her efforts to fix her mechanical husband are being thwarted by politics and intrigue so she decides to take matters into her own hands.
The anthology also includes Shedding Skin Or How The World Came To Be written by the late steampunk and science fiction author, Jay Lake. Just read it.
If you are looking to expand your steampunk horizons and see how other cultures perceive and utilize the genre and take a hard look at society, I highly recommend reading this anthology. It’s educational, enlightening and just plain fun.
Originally published at Fanboy Comics. -
Ah! This was a fun anthology. The stories were short and easy to read and get into. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it!
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I read a lot of steampunk novels, and while I love my stories set in France or England, it can become a wee bit repetitive.
This book keeps its promise, you will travel through numerous voices from all other world, from Russia to the Inca world, from the Antilles to India.
Some of the short stories were a little less engaging than others, but I read all of them nevertheless.
Really inspiring for a budding steampunk writer! -
Honestly, I wanted to like this anthology more. There was some stuff I really loved, nothing I hated, but a lot of it I just didn't get at all.
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So, to start, let me focus on the stories I genuinely enjoyed before I opine on my deep, deep, deep disappointment with the collection as a whole:
"The Omai Gods" by Alex Bledsoe -- A fun twist on steampunk ideas, translated to the iconic stone Moai on Eastern Island, with some pirates thrown in the mix! But what really got me was the ending...gosh...that was heartbreaking.
"The Şehrazatin Diyoramasi Tour" by S. J. Chambers -- I think I just liked this one because I was just happy to see someone take the real life Mechanical Turk and redress it as a horror story.
"The Emperor Everlasting" by Nayad A. Munroe -- Sure, the ending I think is a little clumsily handled and not 100% clear, but a conspiracy, a broken mechanical god-emperor, and an increasingly frustrated engineer/emperor's wife made for an entertaining read.
"Good Hunting" by Ken Liu -- They kept this for last for good reason -- it's really, really good. A demon hunter and his magical prey are faced with a world on the brink of technical revolution, and all the magic they rely on for their livelihood disappearing. But it went from pretty good to great when the ending hit...this was a genuinely good merging of steampunk and Asian mythology.
Now here's the thing though -- almost all of these stories come from the second half of the collection. The first half is so boringly mediocre I was afraid I wouldn't finish it. A very common problem is that most of them are kind of 'meh' to bad short stories, and throw on steampunk elements hoping you'll be too dazzled to notice. (Looking at you, "Tangi a te ruru/The cry of the morepork," a New Zealand steampunk noir with no grace and hardly a plot).
And so many stories felt like prompts to bigger, and better, stories and think ending on cliffhangers is cute -- characters right on the cusp of making a big decision. How about some closure? How about letting me feel like anything mattered? ("Forty Pieces" by Lucien Soulban is an example that sticks out to me. Ok, here's the end. We're at the temple. So what?)
Even worst, some authors decided that the challenge of unconventional steampunk meant 'pander and patronize.' The biggest culprit is "The Leviathan of Trincomalee" by Lucy A. Snyder. A Lovecraftian/Moby Dick/Steampunk medley should have been way more fun than this was, but the author inserted some eye-rolling dialogue along the way about how impressive and sharp her young female Sri Lankan protagonist is -- when she convinces her mom to go on a super dangerous mission, I was gobsmacked that this passed by an editor and went "Yeah, this is how people talk" (and also that mom was a tremendous pushover to be bowled over by one line of cliche rhetoric).
But luckily, the last half of this collection salvaged the experience (there were a few ok pieces in the first half, but not enough to redeem it). Maybe a better ordering could have made this a more pleasant, or at least balanced, read. I had such high hopes about this, but I cannot recommend the entire collection. It's interesting, and some authors really ran wild with the multicultural Steampunk theme, but for the most part, it attracted some really meh narratives dolled up with neat, unexecuted ideas. -
I was happy to donate to the Kickstarter campaign that funded this book because I wanted to see more multicultural steampunk fiction, and I'm quite happy to say the the result was worth the wait. This is a wide-ranging, fanciful collection of 18 steampunk stories (and an introduction by Diana M. Pho) that range from the enchanted to the dystopian and take place in India, Russia, the Congo, Constantinople, the Philippines, the South Pacific, the Venetian ghettos, Bangkok, New Zealand, and many other cities and nations. Many of the stories address the concerns of the defeated or the colonized, some imagining how various cultures might look and act if they had retained their independence and others suggesting forms of resistance or rebellion. The stories in Steampunk World offer a refreshing change from the stereotypical alternate-Victorian-London setting and characters so common within the steampunk genre, and I sincerely hope the collection inspires more steampunk fans to think and write in a global context.
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DISCLAIMER: I share a publisher with one of the authors discussed below. However, I purchased my copy of the book at full price from the anthology's editor, not the author, and I do not consider our relationship to have bearing on my review choices.
Favorite story: "Good Hunting" by Ken Liu. This was a delicious mix of steampunk and fantasy, with both elements very appropriate to the chosen non-Western setting. The characters and their conflicts were poignant. Closing the anthology with this story also leaves the reader with a bittersweet feeling that I felt spoke for the tone and intended theme of the collection as a whole.
Story that I wish would be expanded into a novel: "The Leviathan of Trimcomalee" by Lucy A. Snyder. Though the story itself is self-contained and has a very satisfying conclusion (including monsters, marvelous inventions, and a Tesla name drop!), I feel like it could be just the beginning of the adventure for the main character and the world she inhabits. -
A whole lot of fun. I donated to the kickstarter, and got exactly what I was expecting, and the stories were even better written than I had expected (it was a low bar, admittedly). A diverse group of stories in subject, theme, race, culture and religious identification, this book is only really united in that they all invoke some sort of steampunk aesthetic. Sure, there still manages to be some gross worshiping of the landed gentry that the genre is known for, but it is largely pretty interesting.
Why only three stars? Well, because even though the writing is solid, it is a rare story that says anything, and a rarer one that has any particularly sparkling prose. The stories here are mostly just fun, the wiring is definitely serviceable. It's a shame that there isn't more awesome in this, but the good is good and I'm happy to have read it and would eagerly push it on anyone interested in the genre. -
When it comes to anthologies the stories they contain can often be all over the place. All too often there are a few gems scattered infrequently among a pile of stories that are okay at best. Not so with Steampunk World! The majority of stories in here are genuinely good. Even those I didn't care for as much weren't really bad, they just didn't take the steampunk theme as far as I thought they could have.
This anthology offers many diverse and interesting settings as well as a variety of different, unique ideas about steampunk and how it could be used by different cultures.
In some stories the steampunk element is mentioned by way of technology or airships but the best stories are creative and imaginative. They not only create a steampunk setting in a part of the world we may not often see, but they weave it into local tales, into mythology or religion to provide a richer world for their story.
This is a must have collection for all steampunk fans. -
I heard about this anthology from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences website as Pip Ballantine shared that she would have a story in it. I was excited as I love steampunk and liked the idea of an anthology taking steampunk all over the world. It features 18 stories, which I found to be a mixed bag like many anthologies. My favorite stories were as follows:
"The Firebird" by Emily B. Cataneo , takes place in Russia
"The Leviathan of Trincolamee" by Lucy A. Snyder, takes place in Sri Lanka
"The Omai Gods" by Alex Bledsoe, takes place in Easter Island
"Tangi a te ruru" by the aforementioned Pip Ballantine, takes place in New Zealand
"Good Hunting" by Ken Liu, takes place in China
For other readers looking for multi-cultural steampunk, I can also recommend Susan Kaye Quinn's Third Daughter series set in an alternate version of India. -
Literally a collection of steampunk stories with the backgrounds around the world. The quality is surprisingly and refreshingly good. My favorites are Good Hunting by Ken Liu and the Firebird by Emily Cataneo. Both are exquisite and mesmerizing.
One more note on Good Hunting. At first I thought the story was cliched and Ken Liu was playing the arbitrage by exploiting the Chinese folklores again, like he did in the Grace of Kings. But suddenly when the steampunk part kicks in I was like "wow".
Also worth noting is that the book is created through Kickstarter. -
It's an excellent collection of short stories, living up to its promise: this is a look at steampunk from the rest of the world. I don't believe there is a single story with an American or British protagonist - and you'd probably be hard-pressed to even find a story with a white protagonist.
There's also a gratifyingly robust selection of female protagonists, which is often quite hard to find.
I thoroughly recommend the book, and am pleased to have backed it. -
Good anthology. Some of them are better than others, which is par for the course in an anthology. I might be a little biased, since I'm one of the Kickstarter backers, but it's very well done.
I liked that the focus is on non-white/Eurocentric characters. It's easy for Steampunk to fall into something like vanilla ice cream. Some is really good, and there are different kinds of vanilla, but occasionally strawberry is good too. -
Quite an excellent collection of intriguing tales. Wonderfully-imagined steam machines and amazing gadgets abound, but the real treasures contained within are the characters to be met and the journeys of discovery they embark upon. A tome not to be missed if you enjoy engaging stories, steampunk or not. Opened my eyes to a wealth of authors I shall be seeking more from in the future.
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The stories are good, some more engaging than others. I think I just discovered I have a hard time getting into short stories though.
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You'll certainly discover some strong, original writing in this collection of steampunk tales set around the world.
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An excellent collection!
