We all know classic fairy tales and fables such as Sleeping Beauty and The Pied Piper of Hamelin, but what if those tales took place in a steampunk world? Dying to see what those worlds would be like? Desperate for the steampunk universe to have its own myths and legends?
“If such fancies were gears and dreams cogs, I would wind this world’s mainspring tight enough to hum.”
Look no further for those versions, because they exist in Clockwork Fairy Tales: A collection of Steampunk Fables, written by nine different authors and edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett.
Why is this on our bookshelf?
I always love reading reimagined fairy tales, and mixing magic and steampunk seems like a wonderful geeky thing to do.
Rating (3 stars)
I always feel awkward rating collections of short stories written by different authors. Although some of them may be amazing, other stories might bring down the whole collection.
Some of the fairy tale adaptations are brilliant and original; however, to me most of the nine stories seemed forced, like the author was desperately trying to recreate them to fit the steampunk genre.
I suppose it’s possible that I just don’t appreciate steampunk. If you do, you’re welcome to enjoy this collection. Some of the stories are worth it.
Read this book:
If you live for windups, airships, automatons, boilers and various mechanicals. If you think every story could use a few more coils, cogs and gears.
Don't Read this book:
If you could care less about the steampunk angle.
Once you're done, do this:
Grab some cogs and gears and do some tinkering of your own.
