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Katherine "Kitty" Katt #9.25
Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens
When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers.
CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE contain fourteen stories from some of the genre's top authors, so pour yourself that cup of tea, settle on those spectacles, sit back, and get ready to have your gaskets blown!
contains:
Introduction by Patricia Bray
The Cavorite Job by Ian Tregillis
Gracie’s Fire by Leah Cutter
Quinta Essentia by Bradley P. Beaulieu
When Comrade Ekaterina Died for the Motherland by J.R. Hargenrader
A Clockwork Alien by Gini Koch
Heart of the Empire by Jason Palmatier
The Red Queen and the White by C.B. Pratt
The Wizard of Woodrow Park by Jean Marie Ward
Of War and Wings by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Airship Down: A Sound and Fury Adventure by Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin
Steamsuit by David J. Fortier
Fingers of Steam, Veins of Gold by Brad Hafford
Heart of Clockwork by S.C. Butler
Lady Antheia’s Guide to Horticultural Warfare by Seanan McGuire
CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE contain fourteen stories from some of the genre's top authors, so pour yourself that cup of tea, settle on those spectacles, sit back, and get ready to have your gaskets blown!
contains:
Introduction by Patricia Bray
The Cavorite Job by Ian Tregillis
Gracie’s Fire by Leah Cutter
Quinta Essentia by Bradley P. Beaulieu
When Comrade Ekaterina Died for the Motherland by J.R. Hargenrader
A Clockwork Alien by Gini Koch
Heart of the Empire by Jason Palmatier
The Red Queen and the White by C.B. Pratt
The Wizard of Woodrow Park by Jean Marie Ward
Of War and Wings by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Airship Down: A Sound and Fury Adventure by Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin
Steamsuit by David J. Fortier
Fingers of Steam, Veins of Gold by Brad Hafford
Heart of Clockwork by S.C. Butler
Lady Antheia’s Guide to Horticultural Warfare by Seanan McGuire
284 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2014
6 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Bray
32 books68 followersPatricia Bray is the author of a dozen novels, including Devlin’s Luck, which won the 2003 Compton Crook Award for the best first novel in the field of science fiction or fantasy. A multi-genre author whose career spans both epic fantasy and Regency romance, her books have been translated into Russian, German, Portuguese and Hebrew. Patricia Bray has also spent time on the editorial side of the business, as the co-editor of After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar (DAW, March 2011), The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity (DAW, March 2012), and Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens (ZNB, June 2014).
Patricia lives in a New England college town, where she combines her writing with a full-time career as a Systems Analyst, ensuring that she is never more than a few feet away from a keyboard.
Patricia lives in a New England college town, where she combines her writing with a full-time career as a Systems Analyst, ensuring that she is never more than a few feet away from a keyboard.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 17, 2014
I'm going to be honest with y'all....back when this was just a Kickstarter project, I selected a reward level to be "tuckerized" (essentially, have a character named for me) in the story written by Gini Koch, who is one of my favorite authors....
But, I really do think that Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray have put together another solid anthology. The theme of this one is "What if Aliens came to Earth during the Victorian Age of Industrialization?" (aka the alt-history urban fantasy sub genre of Steampunk)
The 14 authors in this anthology include the aforementioned Gini Koch, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Ian Tregillis, Seanan McGuire, Jean Marie Rabe, Gail Z. Martin and David L. Martin, Leah Cutter, J. R. Hargenrader, Jason Palmatier, C.B. Pratt, Tansy Rayner Roberts, David J. Fortier, Brad Hafford, and SC Butler. I enjoyed all of the stories, and I think a few of these would make really great full length novels.
But, I really do think that Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray have put together another solid anthology. The theme of this one is "What if Aliens came to Earth during the Victorian Age of Industrialization?" (aka the alt-history urban fantasy sub genre of Steampunk)
The 14 authors in this anthology include the aforementioned Gini Koch, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Ian Tregillis, Seanan McGuire, Jean Marie Rabe, Gail Z. Martin and David L. Martin, Leah Cutter, J. R. Hargenrader, Jason Palmatier, C.B. Pratt, Tansy Rayner Roberts, David J. Fortier, Brad Hafford, and SC Butler. I enjoyed all of the stories, and I think a few of these would make really great full length novels.
September 21, 2014
An excellent collection of stories where the big ideas don't stop at the gadgets and gears.
November 23, 2015
An anthology which imagines aliens appearing in various steampunk realities. My favorites in the collection were "The Cavorite Job" by Ian Tregillis, "A Clockwork Alien" by Gini Koch, "Airship Down: A Sound and Fury Adventure" by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, and "Fingers of Steam, Veins of Gold" by Brad Hafford. In fact, I really enjoyed all the stories except for a couple, which didn't feel like they came to satisfying conclusions.
January 24, 2015
Uneven like many anthologies. There are some awesome stories in here though and more than enough fantastic female protagonists. I backed the Kickstarter and am already looking forward to the next book from these editors.
March 12, 2018
This was a fun anthology that I easily read over the course of a weekend of airplane flights. The stories were dissimilar enough that they were easily distinguishable, despite the thematic elements that tied them all together. I especially enjoyed that the stories did not all take place in England or even Europe, and that elements of character diversity were also present.
Favorite story: The final story in an anthology should always end with a bang, and in this case, Seanan McGuire's "Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare" was an absolute delight. The main character was charming and vicious, and the narrative upended my expectations of the story in surprising and clever ways.
Story I wish was a novel: There is incredible potential for expansion with C.B. Pratt's "The Red Queen and the White." I was instantly drawn to the depth of the main and secondary characters, and the world-building was solid enough for the purposes of the story while leaving me wanting so much more. I'd happily read a longer form narrative of the events in this story, because there was so much more to be explored therein, for both Earth and the mysterious aliens who arrive.
Favorite story: The final story in an anthology should always end with a bang, and in this case, Seanan McGuire's "Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare" was an absolute delight. The main character was charming and vicious, and the narrative upended my expectations of the story in surprising and clever ways.
Story I wish was a novel: There is incredible potential for expansion with C.B. Pratt's "The Red Queen and the White." I was instantly drawn to the depth of the main and secondary characters, and the world-building was solid enough for the purposes of the story while leaving me wanting so much more. I'd happily read a longer form narrative of the events in this story, because there was so much more to be explored therein, for both Earth and the mysterious aliens who arrive.
August 4, 2018
The theme is excellent! Alien invasions in a steampunk setting. I enjoyed most of the stories, and a few standouts made this an excellent anthology. My hands down favorite was Of War and Wings by Tansy Rayner Roberts, more of a mood piece than a story, but such a beautiful and haunting tribute to the theme. Other favorites were Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare by Seanan McGuire and The Wizard of Woodrow Park by Jean Marie Ward.
July 13, 2024
This is pure steampunk in all its glory. The best summary would be the original War of the Worlds colliding with 19th Century Victorian sensibilities and technology. There are fourteen short stories presented with the overarching theme being aliens invading an alternate steampunk earth, at various levels of intensity depending on the author. I won’t single out any one tale as they all had their merits, but this is definitely an alternate universe worth visiting.
September 12, 2017
There were a couple of stories in this anthology that I really enjoyed, but I found most of them disappointing, sadly.
November 7, 2023
No index
Some of the early stories were not good, and with nonfunctional index to select next story I just dnf. St
Some of the early stories were not good, and with nonfunctional index to select next story I just dnf. St
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February 21, 2017Read: Lady Antheia’s Guide to Horticultural Warfare
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Interesting change of perspective and fresh approach to colonization.
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Interesting change of perspective and fresh approach to colonization.
December 29, 2014
I am not really a short-story person especially anthologies (just look at Way of The Wizard's stasis to see I find them difficult to return to) but I found this collection very fun. I contribute this to several factors
- I was invested as a kickstarter contributor so I was going to read at least one of the stories
- I found they were all very well written and interesting
- short stories are perfect for steampunk which is a little tenuous and struggles to often maintain credibility for even short novels. These bite sized chunks rarely get beyond the realm of too-much-disbelief.
There were a couple of hardcore steampunk stories, a couple of forced-millieu pieces and at least two Twilight-zone style stories with steampunk decoration. In general all were good.
There were not too many stories either, a very good length for an anthology.
The one gotcha was that I had been expecting more of a "Wild Cards" situation with linked stories (Steampunk and Aliens invading Earth) but actually its a collection of unconnected stories treating a single concept quite differently. Some of the invasion ideas were definitely more compelling than others and would not a novel/compendium make but I had liked that idea. Next time ;)
- I was invested as a kickstarter contributor so I was going to read at least one of the stories
- I found they were all very well written and interesting
- short stories are perfect for steampunk which is a little tenuous and struggles to often maintain credibility for even short novels. These bite sized chunks rarely get beyond the realm of too-much-disbelief.
There were a couple of hardcore steampunk stories, a couple of forced-millieu pieces and at least two Twilight-zone style stories with steampunk decoration. In general all were good.
There were not too many stories either, a very good length for an anthology.
The one gotcha was that I had been expecting more of a "Wild Cards" situation with linked stories (Steampunk and Aliens invading Earth) but actually its a collection of unconnected stories treating a single concept quite differently. Some of the invasion ideas were definitely more compelling than others and would not a novel/compendium make but I had liked that idea. Next time ;)
October 6, 2014
An excellent debut anthology for the independent press Zombies Needs Brains. The title isn't the least bit coy about the main subject of the stories, so hey, no need to waste time explaining what the idea is about this.
I think there was only one story out of the whole anthology that I actually couldn't read (for me that is rare - generally, in an anthology the number is closer to 50%) because it didn't attract my attention at all. And as all good anthologies do, it ended on the real kicker of story, and had one of the best twists on alien in the whole book.
I think there was only one story out of the whole anthology that I actually couldn't read (for me that is rare - generally, in an anthology the number is closer to 50%) because it didn't attract my attention at all. And as all good anthologies do, it ended on the real kicker of story, and had one of the best twists on alien in the whole book.
June 17, 2015
The premise - what would happen if aliens invaded a steampunk Earth?
While perhaps not the strongest anthology I've read this year, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and filled with moments of sheer delight. Vastly different takes and treatments of the theme, including a few that I hope ultimately become seeds for new series. The strongest story was undoubtedly Seanan McGuire's "Miss Anthea's Guide to Hortilogical Warfare".
While perhaps not the strongest anthology I've read this year, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and filled with moments of sheer delight. Vastly different takes and treatments of the theme, including a few that I hope ultimately become seeds for new series. The strongest story was undoubtedly Seanan McGuire's "Miss Anthea's Guide to Hortilogical Warfare".
December 6, 2015
When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers.
neither the best nor the worst of anthologies, Clockwork Universe was a fun romp.
neither the best nor the worst of anthologies, Clockwork Universe was a fun romp.
April 18, 2015
Steampunk isn't a favorite genre for me - I don't dislike it, but I have no great draw towards it, either - so while this wasn't bad, it didn't wow me. Unsurprisingly, the standout story was Seanan McGuire's; I'm glad it was placed last, so as to end the anthology on a high note.
January 6, 2015
Only read '“Of War and Wings” by Tansy Rayner Roberts' so far because TANSY~ Hope to have time to come back and read the rest of the anthology sometime soon.
April 28, 2017
Kickstarter books get a bad rap. This is a great anthology from tons of established and up and coming writers. The Jason Palmatier-penned story is a good one. Much to endorse here.
taking-a-break
May 15, 2018Gini Koch - Katherine "Kitty" Katt 09.25 - A Clockwork Alien - 2.5 stars
April 2, 2019
Only read the clockwork alien. 09/20/2018
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews