Just Finished Reading: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk edited by Sean Wallace

Steampunk appeals to me for the same reason that Cyberpunk appeals. It’s life on the streets at the sharp end where people live by their wits and use whatever technology and know-how they have to survive on a day-to-day basis. It’s very much like the worlds of classic noir fiction where the hero (or heroine) gets down and dirty to get the job done – or that’s how it should be. By and large Cyberpunk keeps close to its roots. There is a formula or sorts to be followed but it is much more a feel it’s trying to get across. My experience with Steampunk so far has been far more problematic. Some authors, in this collection as well as others, think they can just throw in some of the elements of steampunk and call it that. As long as they have a trip in an airship or one passes over the action at some point, or steam and clockwork get a mention then as far as they are concerned (and the editors of such collections as this) think it’s enough. Fortunately some authors, in this volume and elsewhere, strive to produce stories that reflect the genre they supposedly sit in.

I guess that I should have been warned by the blurb on the back which said in bold letters that the stories inside were intended to ‘push the boundaries of steampunk’ and that they did. The most disappointing aspect of a significant number out of the 30 stories was the intrusion of supernatural elements. I had no idea that the supernatural was ‘steampunk’ material. The other surprise, though maybe it shouldn’t have been if I’d thought about it a bit longer, was the amount of gay and particularly lesbian steampunk. Go figure! This fact alone shouldn’t put you off for two very good reasons – that the 4-5 stories are some of the best in the book and that the lesbian elements are far from explicit. Amongst the best stories over all are Fixing Hanover by Jeff VanderMeer, The Effluent Engine by N K Jemisin, Zeppelin City by Eileen Gunn and Michael Swanwick, The People’s Machine by Tobias S Buckell, Machine Maid by Margo Lanagan (very good) and Reluctance by Cherie Priest (the best in the book which is good as I already have several of full length novels).

Overall, as with most volumes of short stories, this was a pretty mixed bag quality and style wise. The worst of them (or maybe just the strangest of them) where still readable and I hardly ever felt the inclination to skip over any individual story. As collections go this is more than reasonable although I’d probably pick something else as an introduction to the genre.