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Lost Fables From New Albion
A book of fantastical short stories centering around the city of New Albion during its steampunk, dieselpunk and atompunk periods. Full of odd characters, faeries, a sentient room, a popular drug that is the byproduct of an underground generator, talking mice, singing cockroaches, and rogue narratives gone astray.
Based on the popular New Albion pulp operas which can be found these stories flush out the larger details of the city and some of its more interesting denizens.
Based on the popular New Albion pulp operas which can be found these stories flush out the larger details of the city and some of its more interesting denizens.
- GenresSteampunk
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 12, 2018
Go listen to 'The Dolls of New Albion'. After you've done that, listen to a number of the other musicals by Shapera. Then find his fandom and ask them questions if you're inclined to learn more about the setting. Maybe then read this and it will be enjoyable to an extent.
This is an anthology of short stories that deepens and explains the lore and world of New Albion (which is the setting of some fantastic online musicals by the author) but while it might intrigue members of the community that hold his works in high regard (the type who, understandably, enjoy every piece of information they can get about a setting no matter it's form) it is quite honestly written very badly and unprofessionally.
There may be choice quotes here and there that sound good but aside from those the writing is extremely informal, improper, and lacks basic proofreading you would find anywhere else as there are frequent spelling and punctuation errors. Most all of the stories will also be confusing if you haven't listened to some of the musicals, with some stories in the anthology requiring knowledge of 8 or more different musicals and their background details. It's very unfortunate that there isn't more care taken into this work as there are very good stories and characters with lots of potential here, but the execution is that of a rushed first draft of an unpracticed author.
2/5 - what's here isn't good, but it adds a lot if you know what's going on with all his other works.
This is an anthology of short stories that deepens and explains the lore and world of New Albion (which is the setting of some fantastic online musicals by the author) but while it might intrigue members of the community that hold his works in high regard (the type who, understandably, enjoy every piece of information they can get about a setting no matter it's form) it is quite honestly written very badly and unprofessionally.
There may be choice quotes here and there that sound good but aside from those the writing is extremely informal, improper, and lacks basic proofreading you would find anywhere else as there are frequent spelling and punctuation errors. Most all of the stories will also be confusing if you haven't listened to some of the musicals, with some stories in the anthology requiring knowledge of 8 or more different musicals and their background details. It's very unfortunate that there isn't more care taken into this work as there are very good stories and characters with lots of potential here, but the execution is that of a rushed first draft of an unpracticed author.
2/5 - what's here isn't good, but it adds a lot if you know what's going on with all his other works.
February 23, 2020
I absolutely adore all the mythology and lore that had been hinted at in The Dolls of New Albion and the following albums, but finally expanded into full fledged stories in this book. It accompanies the albums perfectly and is very much a love letter to all the aficionados of Mr. Shapera's work.
The book is a collection of stories set in the various eras of the fictional city of New Albion. Everything in this book stems directly from the wonderful albums and there is plenty more to discover as you read on.
Personal favorite is The Ballad of Lloyd Allan because of its format and the brilliant character it is featuring.
The book is a collection of stories set in the various eras of the fictional city of New Albion. Everything in this book stems directly from the wonderful albums and there is plenty more to discover as you read on.
Personal favorite is The Ballad of Lloyd Allan because of its format and the brilliant character it is featuring.
April 15, 2020
Awesome, it really gives you a new sense for the structures and connections behind the fantastic works of the Shaperaverse.
The omission of a fifth is a purely subjective thing, because it's a collection of short stories, while I prefer longer, coherent novels, and most of them are more focused on exploring the background events of the musical works, rather than on the things I tend to enjoy more, such as fun characters and their interactions with one another, but I can hardly blame the book for doing what it's supposed to do, can I?
It's a great read for any fan of Paul Shapera.
The omission of a fifth is a purely subjective thing, because it's a collection of short stories, while I prefer longer, coherent novels, and most of them are more focused on exploring the background events of the musical works, rather than on the things I tend to enjoy more, such as fun characters and their interactions with one another, but I can hardly blame the book for doing what it's supposed to do, can I?
It's a great read for any fan of Paul Shapera.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews