I can't tell you how excited I was to learn about this book during TLA. I loved loved loved Kelly Link's stories in Pretty Monsters. Loved them. Loved them. Loved them.I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this anthology very much as well. There were some really highfalutin authors that participated in this book, Libba Bray, MT Anderson, Garth Nix, Kelly Link (whoo!) amongst others. As with any story collection some were stronger than others, but I thought this was a strong group of stories with the steampunk theme tying them together regardless of how differently each author interpreted it. And believe me, they were all very different.
My absolute favorite was by Libba Bray, a story entitled The Last Ride of the Glory Girls, and the second in the collection. It was a steampunk western and it was absolutely lovely. I loved the dialect and language, I loved the characters, especially Addie our plainspoken heroine. Simply put, it was 36 pages of excellent storytelling.
Short stories are really ideal vacation reading. I read this in Galveston and it was somehow fitting. All those old Victorian houses were a perfect setting for me to sink my teeth into a steampunk book. In fact, I recommend someone write something to that effect and set it there. What a perfect place for a novel. A rundown seaside town that is full of gorgeous old buildings and history. Someone definitely needs to write something set in Galveston beside hurricane books anyway. And lest anyone wonder, I'm a big fan of Galveston.
================================
Book Source = ARC provided by publisher
(thank you Candlewick! You Rock)
Posts
4 comments:
Do you really love Galveston or is that the coconut shrimp talking?
Ha! Well that was certainly a factor. I think I might just root for Galveston since its sort of an underdog that can't seem to ever fully recover after a hurricane. It isn't anything special, but that's sort of what makes it special - if you know what I mean.
I think a ghost story would work pretty excellently as well.
My students still have no idea what Steampunk is. Maybe this would be a good introduction.
It probably would. All those top authors would make it pretty desirable to read, I'd imagine.
Post a Comment