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Forgotten Lore
A Cast of Crows
Life and Death and All Points In Between Crows have seen it all, and though they haven't always lived to tell the tale, still they play their part. We bring you ten tales inspired by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, paying tribute to his undying fascination with mankind's decaying state, both mental and physical. In conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, we bring you stories by Aaron Rosenberg, David Lee Summers, Judi Fleming, Dana Fraedrich, James Chambers, Jessica Lucci, Doc Coleman, Michelle D. Sonnier, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and Ef Deal. Introduction by Levi Leland and Virginia Poe of the Beyond the Oblong Box Podcast
- GenresSteampunk
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2023
41 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
116 books206 followersAward-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com).
Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, The Fox’s Fire, The Kindly One, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.
In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.
Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.
Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, The Fox’s Fire, The Kindly One, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.
In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.
Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 8, 2023
This is a fun collection of Steampunk short stories inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven. There's a great essay about Poe - I know I learned about him in school, but I must have forgotten that he's the father of the mystery novels featuring a detective as the main protagonist. Each story in this collection has a crow or raven character. It's a super quick read.
I was give an advance reader copy so this will be released in October!
I was give an advance reader copy so this will be released in October!
September 10, 2023
Poe requires no introduction. At this point, I feel, neither does steampunk - top-hats with goggles and Victorian steam-powered automatons are either your thing or they're not. A Cast of Crows takes the very natural evolution of putting the two things together. Poe's range of themes- from horror to mystery to lovelorn, are both seminal and perfect jumping-off points for innumerable steampunk adventures.
This fun little collection is very true to it's name - it has quite a cast of crows, and ravens (clockwork and otherwise). Indeed if one had never heard of E.A. Poe they might think corvids were the actual connective tissue. But baring the feathers, the authors featured each riff off, and pay homage to, the old Virginian's themes and imagery. None are straight retellings of a Poe tale, which is actually quite refreshing. A knowledgeable reader may notice the occasional raven alighting on a bust - and frankly a couple more than are really necessary croak "Nevermore" - but in general the connection is thematic. There are plenty of mysterious murders, live burials, and ominous costume parties. These just happen to occur on airships or in automaton workshops. And while there are no golden bugs, there is a ship called The Goldbug that a Union spy/were-raven has to divert from the Confederates. Even Edgar Allen Crow comes of as charming in one story. I giggled. The stories have diverse casts of POV characters, and for the most part acknowledge, where appropriate, the imperialist and colonizer underpinnings of the late 19th/early 20th Century settings.
I was not familiar with the contributors prior, but it seems many of them already have a pedigree of steampunk stories. This has been a neglected area in my reading, but after a collection of solid little adventures like this, I may be picking up a pair of goggles in the near future.
This fun little collection is very true to it's name - it has quite a cast of crows, and ravens (clockwork and otherwise). Indeed if one had never heard of E.A. Poe they might think corvids were the actual connective tissue. But baring the feathers, the authors featured each riff off, and pay homage to, the old Virginian's themes and imagery. None are straight retellings of a Poe tale, which is actually quite refreshing. A knowledgeable reader may notice the occasional raven alighting on a bust - and frankly a couple more than are really necessary croak "Nevermore" - but in general the connection is thematic. There are plenty of mysterious murders, live burials, and ominous costume parties. These just happen to occur on airships or in automaton workshops. And while there are no golden bugs, there is a ship called The Goldbug that a Union spy/were-raven has to divert from the Confederates. Even Edgar Allen Crow comes of as charming in one story. I giggled. The stories have diverse casts of POV characters, and for the most part acknowledge, where appropriate, the imperialist and colonizer underpinnings of the late 19th/early 20th Century settings.
I was not familiar with the contributors prior, but it seems many of them already have a pedigree of steampunk stories. This has been a neglected area in my reading, but after a collection of solid little adventures like this, I may be picking up a pair of goggles in the near future.
April 14, 2023
I have a soft spot for short story collections, and this one is no different.
You can tell that all of them are based of Poe’s poem, but they way that the authors have twisted it into something new and exciting is truly remarkable. All of them have a more serious tone, but the heaviness still varies, so it doesn’t get too much.
The steampunk setting really worked with the themes as well. All of them had varying degrees of stereotypical steampunk-ness, some leaning heavily into cogs and clockwork, while in some it kept more in he background, which was quite refreshing to see.
I will definitely be re-reading this in the future!
You can tell that all of them are based of Poe’s poem, but they way that the authors have twisted it into something new and exciting is truly remarkable. All of them have a more serious tone, but the heaviness still varies, so it doesn’t get too much.
The steampunk setting really worked with the themes as well. All of them had varying degrees of stereotypical steampunk-ness, some leaning heavily into cogs and clockwork, while in some it kept more in he background, which was quite refreshing to see.
I will definitely be re-reading this in the future!
October 2, 2023
I love short stories and anthologies. Even the best author must flex their writing skills to deliver quality short stories. In less than a usual chapter length, they must introduce us to the characters and their communities/ back stories, commit to an "event" and then solve it, all while keeping the reader engrossed and flipping pages. I often find that an author will switch genres in an anthology, which gives me an even better appreciation for their talent.
Many have a similar theme with the writers giving their story an unusual “spin” to meet the theme’s intent without copying each other. This one is an homage to Edgar Allan Poe and his cast of crows that were woven through his many tales, with a steampunk twist. It is not unusual to find a true gem mixed in with the overall excellent stories, making anthologies a triple threat/ treat.
Many have a similar theme with the writers giving their story an unusual “spin” to meet the theme’s intent without copying each other. This one is an homage to Edgar Allan Poe and his cast of crows that were woven through his many tales, with a steampunk twist. It is not unusual to find a true gem mixed in with the overall excellent stories, making anthologies a triple threat/ treat.
May 10, 2023
This was such a great collection of Poe themed short stories! I love that they were steam punk, both upfront and not as much. If you're a lover of EAP and are into steam punk, please give these stories a go!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, eSpec Books, for the opportunity! All opinions are my own.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, eSpec Books, for the opportunity! All opinions are my own.
May 15, 2023
This was such an enjoyable read. The common thread of the links to crows, raven and Poe himself create a wonderfully creative mix of stories that intrigue. For Poe fans, it is a definitely must in order to examine intertextuality and the enduring power of a story. Short story fan? Steampunk fan? Gothic fan? Crow fan? Poe fan? You will love these short stories. Came tot he end all too quickly.
October 10, 2023
Well done, full of suspense, creepy. Enjoyed it
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Want to read
September 11, 2023REVIEW TO COME.
💌 Thank you to NetGalley + eSpec Books for a digital copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
❝A Cast of Crows❞ will be released on 1 October 2023.
💌 Thank you to NetGalley + eSpec Books for a digital copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
❝A Cast of Crows❞ will be released on 1 October 2023.
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July 5, 2023
“A Cast of Crows” is an all-original anthology of short stories inspired by the work of Edgar Allen Poe and the sf/f sub-genre known as steampunk; hence, stories about mechanical devices that relate in some way to Poe’s fiction and poetry. As with any anthology, one reader will prefer stories that another reader does not care for: of the ten stories here, I found the strongest to be Aaron Rosenberg’s “A Heavy Air,” a take on the Masque of Red Death in a steampunk airship; “Proof of Life or Death: A Machinations Sundry Story,” by James Chambers, about a device-laden coffin designed to avoid premature burial, a greedy inventor, a clever detective and a team of street urchins; Jessica Lucci’s “Annabel Lee”; and “Dreams of Flight,” by David Lee Summers, which features a mash-up of Poe, steampunk and Native American mysticism. A couple of the stories are set in previously-written-about universes with which I am not familiar, so that I am not sure I understood them by themselves, but generally this is a good collection. All of the authors are new to me, probably because I am not a steampunk reader, but I did enjoy the relationships to Poe’s work; recommended! I received a copy of this work through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program.
July 7, 2023
The anthology does what it sets out to do: capturing the mood and atmosphere of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing while transposing that ambience into the world of steampunk. Each story is carefully crafted as an homage, but retains its own flavour and style. And, as with every anthology, some stories resonated with me more than others.
A couple of the tales, A Heavy Air and Proof of Life or Death take inspiration from Poe’s detective stories and are intriguing, well-rounded glimpses into enjoyable steampunk worlds. Others like Crowbait or Annabel Lee, take a darker approach or are steeped in bittersweet melancholia, but still draw the reader in for an engrossing journey. One story, Angel de la Muerte, felt more like a sequel than a standalone story but was beautifully written and darkly emotive. The book was a quick read and a nice sampling of the authors’ work
Overall, I would recommend A Cast of Crows.
A couple of the tales, A Heavy Air and Proof of Life or Death take inspiration from Poe’s detective stories and are intriguing, well-rounded glimpses into enjoyable steampunk worlds. Others like Crowbait or Annabel Lee, take a darker approach or are steeped in bittersweet melancholia, but still draw the reader in for an engrossing journey. One story, Angel de la Muerte, felt more like a sequel than a standalone story but was beautifully written and darkly emotive. The book was a quick read and a nice sampling of the authors’ work
Overall, I would recommend A Cast of Crows.
January 25, 2024
A Cast of Crows by Danielle Ackley McPhail is a Poe-inspired collection of short stories. Almost all the stories have the same element: a raven, which is the star of attraction. The stories are creepy, dark, and have a sense of excitement. Only some of the stories I read were incomplete, which crashed some of my hopes. But it is indeed a good start for a reader who has not read Poe's work. It will give them a fair idea of his style of writing. The authors have done a commendable job, as it is not easy to recreate a legend's work. For me, it is a 4-star read and definitely an exciting one.
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November 29, 2023Special thanks to NetGalley and the SFWA for the ARC copy they provided.
Unfortunately, I just did not feel enough of a pull to read this book, and I did not finish it in time to leave a review before the publication date.
The first story, what I read of it, had a wonderful steampunk feel, and boasted a decent mystery twist. If I finish this book in the future, I will leave a more in-depth review.
Unfortunately, I just did not feel enough of a pull to read this book, and I did not finish it in time to leave a review before the publication date.
The first story, what I read of it, had a wonderful steampunk feel, and boasted a decent mystery twist. If I finish this book in the future, I will leave a more in-depth review.
July 11, 2023
The stories focus on the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Alan Poe. Set in a steampunk fantasy world, the crows can be clockwork, spirits, or just plain Ravens. I enjoyed every story, and the Steampunk setting gives it a fun kick. I would recommend this if you enjoy steampunk, gothic, or both!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews