Saturday 23 June 2012

Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories


Steampunk! an Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange StoriesSteampunk! an Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant (Walker Books)
HC RRP 24.95
ISBN 9780763648435
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

The genre of Steampunk is constantly being reinvented. This book is testament to that statement with its absolute and wonderful writing. Mechanisation is the core of every story around which all the characters and elements perform. This extraordinary anthology is compiled of fourteen stories by authors of Speculative Fiction which include Cassandra Claire, Garth Nix, Holly Black, and M. T. Anderson amongst the talented contributors to the book. It is beautifully bound in a rich burgundy hardcover with a title that says it all –‘fantastically rich and strange stories’.

There’s not a disappointing word in this finely-crafted collection. All the writing is as crisp as starched linen ironed into sharp perfect lines. The content varies from talking dolls, zeppelins, clockwork mechanised people, garden robots to mechanical servants. The list is endless. The ingenious imaginations that have come up with these creations reaffirm that anything is possible with imagination and words.

There are two illustrated stories included which break the writing sequence up early and later in the book.

Everyone that’s read an Anthology always comes away with a favourite that screams a difference, whether it is theme, style or content that decides the reader. Clockwork Fagin by Cory Doctorow stands apart as does Steam Girl by Dylan Horrocks. This is a book that will be singled out by lovers of good writing. It comes highly recommended by the reviewer.

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