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The Steampowered Globe
First ever Steampunk Singapore anthology. Boldly going where no publisher has gone before. This third collaboration between Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy (AS¡FF) and the Happy Smiley Writers Group of Singapore breaks new ground and opens the way for new writing from Asia. This sci-fi-fantasy series actively encouraging writers who eschew all that postcolonial angst and mis-lit stuff. Happy endings (even if someone dies) are possible because there are, in fact, Asian writers who had happy childhoods and didn't need to migrate to the West to find happiness! The Steampowered Globe features seven short "Ascension" Leow Hui Min Annabeth "No, They Dream Of Mechanical Hearts" Claire Cheong "Morrow's Knight" Viki Chua "Colours" Yuen Xiang Hao "The Morning Glory Incident" Mint Kang "Help! Same Angler Fish's Been Gawking for Eight Minutes!" Ng Kum Hoon "Captain Bells and the Sovereign State of Discordia" JY Yang Go on! Be daring! Meet the reality of Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy and get rid of your misconceptions about the "Exotic East".
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 18, 2013
(Mild spoiler)
This book is bland. The novelty of the effort -- a Singaporean steampunk anthology, with a mainly-female crew, covering imperialism and Asia -- outweighs the actual experience of the stories. The stories are all mellow, as smooth and pleasant as the cover. That would work in mainstream fiction, but some stories here are not, and fall flat because of it. These stories also employ tired tropes, like blatantly stupid villains, stereotypical sneering hypocritical Westerners, and characters who are invincible by virtue of being mechanical. I honestly expected more from this anthology.
The opening story,"'Ascension", is fundamentally static. While it has a richly researched world with interesting characters, the story has neither conflict nor any sense of dynamism. It isn't a story; it's just a single long scene interrupted by musings. "Morrow's Knight" takes a while to build up steam -- a major strike against a short story, which does not have time to do that -- and quickly becomes predictable. The story of "No, They Dream of Mechanical Hearts" survives because of villains who aren't ruthless enough to press their case -- or clever enough to recognise the implications of imprisoning an expert android crafter in a cell guarded by an android. "How the Morning Glory Grows" could have been a steampunk police procedural about steampunk mecha and genetic engineering experts. Instead it settles for being a story about petty office politics, with quickly forgettable characters. "Colours" is a war story set in roughly Napoleonic times. It is arguably the best story in the anthology, but it seems unlikely that a conscript battalion somehow has more disciplined than elite soldiers -- especially since, in the era of Napoleonic wars, the elite soldiers were the most disciplined troops. It is equally unlikely for a single battalion to be operating alone, without combined arms -- and for an enemy's victories to hinge solely on the employment of a superweapon without even considering the impact of combined arms. "Help! Same Angler Fish's Been Gawking For Eight Minutes!" starts promisingly enough, but it rapidly becomes predictable. The untwist in the end can be seen a long way off if one pays attention to the reason why the protagonist is there. "Captain Bells and the Sovereign State of Discordia" could have been the best story. But the protagonist acts like an indecisive, naive civilian instead of a hardened bounty hunter. The Captain acts like a carefree idiot than an effective rebel. The bounty hunter seems sympathetic to the Captain's cause right from the beginning for no apparent reason, and her final decision seems more arbitrary instead of the gutwrenching decision the story tries to make it. There is no emotional impact.
This anthology is good for killing some time, but it is not recommended for serious readers or readers who expect great writing and characterisation.
This book is bland. The novelty of the effort -- a Singaporean steampunk anthology, with a mainly-female crew, covering imperialism and Asia -- outweighs the actual experience of the stories. The stories are all mellow, as smooth and pleasant as the cover. That would work in mainstream fiction, but some stories here are not, and fall flat because of it. These stories also employ tired tropes, like blatantly stupid villains, stereotypical sneering hypocritical Westerners, and characters who are invincible by virtue of being mechanical. I honestly expected more from this anthology.
The opening story,"'Ascension", is fundamentally static. While it has a richly researched world with interesting characters, the story has neither conflict nor any sense of dynamism. It isn't a story; it's just a single long scene interrupted by musings. "Morrow's Knight" takes a while to build up steam -- a major strike against a short story, which does not have time to do that -- and quickly becomes predictable. The story of "No, They Dream of Mechanical Hearts" survives because of villains who aren't ruthless enough to press their case -- or clever enough to recognise the implications of imprisoning an expert android crafter in a cell guarded by an android. "How the Morning Glory Grows" could have been a steampunk police procedural about steampunk mecha and genetic engineering experts. Instead it settles for being a story about petty office politics, with quickly forgettable characters. "Colours" is a war story set in roughly Napoleonic times. It is arguably the best story in the anthology, but it seems unlikely that a conscript battalion somehow has more disciplined than elite soldiers -- especially since, in the era of Napoleonic wars, the elite soldiers were the most disciplined troops. It is equally unlikely for a single battalion to be operating alone, without combined arms -- and for an enemy's victories to hinge solely on the employment of a superweapon without even considering the impact of combined arms. "Help! Same Angler Fish's Been Gawking For Eight Minutes!" starts promisingly enough, but it rapidly becomes predictable. The untwist in the end can be seen a long way off if one pays attention to the reason why the protagonist is there. "Captain Bells and the Sovereign State of Discordia" could have been the best story. But the protagonist acts like an indecisive, naive civilian instead of a hardened bounty hunter. The Captain acts like a carefree idiot than an effective rebel. The bounty hunter seems sympathetic to the Captain's cause right from the beginning for no apparent reason, and her final decision seems more arbitrary instead of the gutwrenching decision the story tries to make it. There is no emotional impact.
This anthology is good for killing some time, but it is not recommended for serious readers or readers who expect great writing and characterisation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2023
My impression of this collection is not quite as glowing as that of Jess Nevins, but is still on the whole positive. It's nice to see steampunk set in Asia, and in Singapore in particular, but there's just not a whole lot to differentiate most of these pieces in terms of subject matter from steampunk set anywhere else. Still, "Ascension," "Colours" and "How the Morning Glory Grows" are nicely written, and JY Yang's "Captain Bells and the Sovereign State of Discordia," by far the standout of the book, is both rollicking fun and emotionally complex.
September 29, 2012
Steampunk as seen by Singaporeans. There is nothing not to like about this idea. This collection has a great variety of short stories, both in style and quality; the authors range from a 16-year old girl to an acclaimed, accomplished writer, and the final effect is a bit hodge-podgy, but overall the experience is novel and refreshing. I particularly loved the titles, especially of the last two stories.
Normally I would give it four stars, but I grant one extra for effort and as encouragement. Would definitely want to see more like this!
Normally I would give it four stars, but I grant one extra for effort and as encouragement. Would definitely want to see more like this!
May 14, 2014
While I found the stories engaging, there was a kind of sameness of tone to many of them, and I didn't often get a strong sense of place (or perhaps I was just looking for more of that). That said, I loved the humour and light-heartedness that was pervasive in most of these stories, which I think sets them apart in the genre.
August 16, 2012
As I continued reading, there's definitely a lot more diversity in setting and imaginative storytelling. It appears several of the stories are set in Asian or Asian influenced settings. Enjoying it more as I go along
January 8, 2013
Review in progress
December 28, 2014
Format matters.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews