What do you think?
Rate this book
The Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales
"Once upon a time" is a phrase that immediately conjures images of enchantment. Royal balls, magical creatures, love at first sight... We are taken to a fantasy world where anything is possible. The Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales brings together the magic of fairytale and the allure of cogs and gears. Within these pages, find dancing automatons, industrial age fairies, a mermaid with wind-up legs, heroes of the steam age, and more. Drawing from classic tales of the Brothers Grimm, Carlo Collodi, Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, and Homer, these original interpretations are sure to delight fans of steampunk and fairytales alike.
130 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2018
15 people want to read
About the author
Crysta K. Coburn
15 books13 followersCrysta K. Coburn has been writing award-winning stories her whole life. Her first short story was published at the age of sixteen after winning runner-up in a local writing contest. She earned her bachelors degree in creative writing from Western Michigan University in 2005. She is a journalist, fiction writer, poet, editor, podcast co-host, and one-time rock lyrics writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 16, 2020
A nice collection of seven retellings that had some of the best reimaginings of certain fairy tales I've read in recent memory, all of them done in the Steampunk style, though some are more fantastical and others have more of a historical ambiance.
THE CLOCKWORK NIGHTINGALE by Bess Rachael Goden
5 stars
A short and sweet retake on The Nightingale in a Steampunkish version of Imperial China. The plot doesn't stray far from the original tale, and has a happier and more uplifting finale, but what it lacks in twists 'n' turns, it makes up for with prose and atmosphere. It's just lovely! Oh, and also it has a point to add in to the natural vs artificial debate.
THE SLEEPING STEAMING BEAUTY by Victoria L. Szulc
1 star
Eh, not a bad premise but a terrible execution. This one creates an alternate England in which Queen Victoria goes on to conquer the whole wide world after her widowhood, with the help of the brightest minds of the time, and then puts on the throne of the fictional New London a couple of her relatives, with whose child the traditional Sleeping Beauty plot will play out, curse at christening included. For an alternate world, it's unbelievable, there's many plotholes and illogical developments due to the changes in time and society, and in general this "alternate history" aspect seems to be there just to fill in the Steampunk requisite and nothing else. It was the worst story in the anthology for me.
ODYSSEY? by Aaron Isett
4 stars
What if Ulysses' crew were automatons instead of flesh-and-blood seamen? This story retells a portion of The Odyssey where Ulysses has to brave the dangers of Poseidon's wrath and the lure of the sirens, but instead of our Homeric hero we have a British officer tasked with bringing his men out of the disastrous Crimean War and back to England. Quite creative! Wish the author gets to write more in this setting or style one day. I'd sure read it if he were to undertake retelling The Iliad next, or even just expand on this story some more.
THE MARIONETTE by Phoebe Darqueling
5 stars
A retelling of Pinocchio in which Gepetto's creation is more like Chucky without the malice? I'm sold! This story is the most sinister rendering of Carlo Collodi's tale I've found, and I had to make sure at first I wasn't mistaking the tale for a retelling of the story of the evil doll Chucky from film fame. The author has a great mastery of atmosphere and suspense, and I liked how she interpreted the process of creating Pinocchio, into which go more than just the creators's love and skill.
THE LITTLE WIND-UP MERMAID by K. Gray
3 stars
It doesn't stay true to Andersen's tale and seems to rely more on Disney's rendition, but it's one of the very few retellings of The Little Mermaid without a witch, and with a different motivation for trading the mermaid's voice for a pair of legs. I liked this well enough, but it's very hard not to think of the story as just a Disney retelling with Ariel and Ursula as cyborgs.
TREASURE by Crysta K. Coburn
4.5 stars
I'm sure this wasn't intended as such, but I actually felt more sympathy for the Evil Queen here than Snow White, whom I saw as just an useless pretty doll with no other purpose than be pretty and sing prettily. Think about it: a beautiful queen who is in love and is loved back by her kingly spouse, both want children and dream of how they will be like . . . Then, one day, the king sees this automaton and becomes obsessed with it, forces the doll's owners to sell it to him, and imposes that automaton as "their child" on his unwilling wife and"their princess" on his subjects, depriving the wife he claims to love and worship of having the real children he promised her they would have. How to not feel sorry for the queen, then? I'd have cheered if she'd destroyed that silly automaton, it would have served the inconsiderate king right. Oh, but the tinkerer who takes care of the automaton is a good character, too, and far more resourceful than seven dwarfs would be.
THE QUEEN OF CLOCKS by Thomas Gregory
4 stars
It felt unfamiliar in the beginning and I wasn't liking it much, but soon the environment of clockwork creations drew me in. The Queen of Clocks is an interesting character, but the same can't be said of Hans the clockmaker, and the plot needed to be better paced, because it goes from slow to too fast and rushed in a blink.
THE CLOCKWORK NIGHTINGALE by Bess Rachael Goden
5 stars
A short and sweet retake on The Nightingale in a Steampunkish version of Imperial China. The plot doesn't stray far from the original tale, and has a happier and more uplifting finale, but what it lacks in twists 'n' turns, it makes up for with prose and atmosphere. It's just lovely! Oh, and also it has a point to add in to the natural vs artificial debate.
THE SLEEPING STEAMING BEAUTY by Victoria L. Szulc
1 star
Eh, not a bad premise but a terrible execution. This one creates an alternate England in which Queen Victoria goes on to conquer the whole wide world after her widowhood, with the help of the brightest minds of the time, and then puts on the throne of the fictional New London a couple of her relatives, with whose child the traditional Sleeping Beauty plot will play out, curse at christening included. For an alternate world, it's unbelievable, there's many plotholes and illogical developments due to the changes in time and society, and in general this "alternate history" aspect seems to be there just to fill in the Steampunk requisite and nothing else. It was the worst story in the anthology for me.
ODYSSEY? by Aaron Isett
4 stars
What if Ulysses' crew were automatons instead of flesh-and-blood seamen? This story retells a portion of The Odyssey where Ulysses has to brave the dangers of Poseidon's wrath and the lure of the sirens, but instead of our Homeric hero we have a British officer tasked with bringing his men out of the disastrous Crimean War and back to England. Quite creative! Wish the author gets to write more in this setting or style one day. I'd sure read it if he were to undertake retelling The Iliad next, or even just expand on this story some more.
THE MARIONETTE by Phoebe Darqueling
5 stars
A retelling of Pinocchio in which Gepetto's creation is more like Chucky without the malice? I'm sold! This story is the most sinister rendering of Carlo Collodi's tale I've found, and I had to make sure at first I wasn't mistaking the tale for a retelling of the story of the evil doll Chucky from film fame. The author has a great mastery of atmosphere and suspense, and I liked how she interpreted the process of creating Pinocchio, into which go more than just the creators's love and skill.
THE LITTLE WIND-UP MERMAID by K. Gray
3 stars
It doesn't stay true to Andersen's tale and seems to rely more on Disney's rendition, but it's one of the very few retellings of The Little Mermaid without a witch, and with a different motivation for trading the mermaid's voice for a pair of legs. I liked this well enough, but it's very hard not to think of the story as just a Disney retelling with Ariel and Ursula as cyborgs.
TREASURE by Crysta K. Coburn
4.5 stars
I'm sure this wasn't intended as such, but I actually felt more sympathy for the Evil Queen here than Snow White, whom I saw as just an useless pretty doll with no other purpose than be pretty and sing prettily. Think about it: a beautiful queen who is in love and is loved back by her kingly spouse, both want children and dream of how they will be like . . . Then, one day, the king sees this automaton and becomes obsessed with it, forces the doll's owners to sell it to him, and imposes that automaton as "their child" on his unwilling wife and"their princess" on his subjects, depriving the wife he claims to love and worship of having the real children he promised her they would have. How to not feel sorry for the queen, then? I'd have cheered if she'd destroyed that silly automaton, it would have served the inconsiderate king right. Oh, but the tinkerer who takes care of the automaton is a good character, too, and far more resourceful than seven dwarfs would be.
THE QUEEN OF CLOCKS by Thomas Gregory
4 stars
It felt unfamiliar in the beginning and I wasn't liking it much, but soon the environment of clockwork creations drew me in. The Queen of Clocks is an interesting character, but the same can't be said of Hans the clockmaker, and the plot needed to be better paced, because it goes from slow to too fast and rushed in a blink.
July 7, 2018
Great idea for a short story collection; steampunk versions of fairytales and legends. Some well written tales here, mostly with a quite old-fashioned feel. As with any story collection, not all of them worked for me, but overall this was a good read. Pinocchio and Mermaid retelling were probably my favourites.
May 4, 2020
Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over
I rarely review anthologies because not all the stories work for me in most. I was pleasantly surprised to find something to like in all these stories, even the more horrific I usually shy away from.
A lot of what makes this a successful anthology is the use of not one overall concept but three blended together. The stories are all some sort of mix between fairy tale and myth, and steam/clockwork punk. They also share a common omniscient narrative style, though with different approaches at times. The stories feel like they fit together despite strong differences, a factor in why I wasn’t jerked from one world to another.
The downside of using fairy tale retellings comes in how several of the stories were so well known to me I thought I’d read these particular takes at first. That rarely lasted to the end, however, as these tales offer a creative approach to traditional ones, often changing the lesson to be taught along with the specifics. I will speak in generalities to avoid spoilers in my thoughts on each story.
The Clockwork Nightingale by Bess Raechel Goden
This is a story I’ve read in several iterations, even at least one steampunk version. It lends itself to the world of automatons as a way out of the original story where a thing of nature when trapped loses what made it special. However, in this version, the outcome is a new take on both those elements, and I enjoyed how things turned out.
Sleeping Steaming Beauty by Victoria L. Szulc
Again, an interesting steampunk take on the traditional tale of Sleeping Beauty that has its similarities to the previous story themes.
Odyssey? by Aaron Isett
There were many ways the author could have gone with a ship crewed by clockwork sailors. This one stays a bit closer to the original Homeric poem while offering an interesting twist on the consequences of hearing siren song.
The Marionette by Phoebe Darqueling
This is the darkest tale in the anthology and so the furthest from my preference. However, I appreciated the narrative voice. It went one step further than the others to bring back memories of prison accounts, fictional or true, written by noble prisoners as they awaited a gruesome death in the Tower of London or revolutionary France. The story is told through the lens of future knowledge in a dispassionate account of the truly horrific, almost as though the narrator remains emotionally shut down after what he has experienced. And the last line is beautiful, appropriate, prose.
The Little Wind-up Mermaid by K. Gray
Gray’s story dances on the edge of horror without going over as an overly curious mermaid goes to the surface after great sacrifice. There are some unfinished pieces at the end, but the major conflicts are resolved in a surprising way.
Treasure by Crysta K. Coburn
Several elements are changed to make this Snow White retelling into a steampunk story, but it stays true to a jealousy so strong as to drive the queen mad, and the homage to its origins are clear. I enjoyed the queen’s innovation, if not her intent, and the tinkerer who takes the place of the seven dwarves is fun to read about.
The Queen of Clocks by Thomas Gregory
This is my favorite of all the stories, and a good end to the anthology even though I had some issues with the story’s ending. It felt rushed, leaving me to guess at some of the links in between, but still carried the elements of the traditional fairy tale style. What elevated this story in my regard, though, had everything to do with the clockwork descriptions. How Hans accomplishes his tasks and is of help to those in need is lovely, as are the creations that pepper the story. The puzzles necessary to repair what he is tasked to help are also well thought out.
There are some editing issues in my version I hope have been fixed in a later one, but nothing that could stop me from enjoying the whole. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially since Phoebe Darqueling’s story was the one to draw me to the anthology and I’m not much of a horror fan.
The first two stories swept away any lingering concerns, and each one had some aspects that shone. I have not found all the stories in an anthology enjoyable for some time, but The Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales made me reconsider that risk.
I rarely review anthologies because not all the stories work for me in most. I was pleasantly surprised to find something to like in all these stories, even the more horrific I usually shy away from.
A lot of what makes this a successful anthology is the use of not one overall concept but three blended together. The stories are all some sort of mix between fairy tale and myth, and steam/clockwork punk. They also share a common omniscient narrative style, though with different approaches at times. The stories feel like they fit together despite strong differences, a factor in why I wasn’t jerked from one world to another.
The downside of using fairy tale retellings comes in how several of the stories were so well known to me I thought I’d read these particular takes at first. That rarely lasted to the end, however, as these tales offer a creative approach to traditional ones, often changing the lesson to be taught along with the specifics. I will speak in generalities to avoid spoilers in my thoughts on each story.
The Clockwork Nightingale by Bess Raechel Goden
This is a story I’ve read in several iterations, even at least one steampunk version. It lends itself to the world of automatons as a way out of the original story where a thing of nature when trapped loses what made it special. However, in this version, the outcome is a new take on both those elements, and I enjoyed how things turned out.
Sleeping Steaming Beauty by Victoria L. Szulc
Again, an interesting steampunk take on the traditional tale of Sleeping Beauty that has its similarities to the previous story themes.
Odyssey? by Aaron Isett
There were many ways the author could have gone with a ship crewed by clockwork sailors. This one stays a bit closer to the original Homeric poem while offering an interesting twist on the consequences of hearing siren song.
The Marionette by Phoebe Darqueling
This is the darkest tale in the anthology and so the furthest from my preference. However, I appreciated the narrative voice. It went one step further than the others to bring back memories of prison accounts, fictional or true, written by noble prisoners as they awaited a gruesome death in the Tower of London or revolutionary France. The story is told through the lens of future knowledge in a dispassionate account of the truly horrific, almost as though the narrator remains emotionally shut down after what he has experienced. And the last line is beautiful, appropriate, prose.
The Little Wind-up Mermaid by K. Gray
Gray’s story dances on the edge of horror without going over as an overly curious mermaid goes to the surface after great sacrifice. There are some unfinished pieces at the end, but the major conflicts are resolved in a surprising way.
Treasure by Crysta K. Coburn
Several elements are changed to make this Snow White retelling into a steampunk story, but it stays true to a jealousy so strong as to drive the queen mad, and the homage to its origins are clear. I enjoyed the queen’s innovation, if not her intent, and the tinkerer who takes the place of the seven dwarves is fun to read about.
The Queen of Clocks by Thomas Gregory
This is my favorite of all the stories, and a good end to the anthology even though I had some issues with the story’s ending. It felt rushed, leaving me to guess at some of the links in between, but still carried the elements of the traditional fairy tale style. What elevated this story in my regard, though, had everything to do with the clockwork descriptions. How Hans accomplishes his tasks and is of help to those in need is lovely, as are the creations that pepper the story. The puzzles necessary to repair what he is tasked to help are also well thought out.
There are some editing issues in my version I hope have been fixed in a later one, but nothing that could stop me from enjoying the whole. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially since Phoebe Darqueling’s story was the one to draw me to the anthology and I’m not much of a horror fan.
The first two stories swept away any lingering concerns, and each one had some aspects that shone. I have not found all the stories in an anthology enjoyable for some time, but The Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales made me reconsider that risk.
November 5, 2018
The opening tale, ‘The Clockwork Nightingale,’ actually brought me to tears. The imagery in this story is absolutely divine. ‘The Marionette’ read like a horror story, turning the story of Pinocchio into something I hadn’t expected (but loved immensely). ‘Treasure’ gave a complete steampunk revamp to Snow White, as did ‘The Little Wind-Up Mermaid’ for The Little Mermaid.
Each author showed their talent for creating fantastical stories, recreating our favorite fairy tales, and writing stories that you just can’t help but enjoy. This is a must-read for steampunk lovers and fairy tales addicts alike.
Read my complete review here - https://glassgoatpublishing.com/2018/...
Each author showed their talent for creating fantastical stories, recreating our favorite fairy tales, and writing stories that you just can’t help but enjoy. This is a must-read for steampunk lovers and fairy tales addicts alike.
Read my complete review here - https://glassgoatpublishing.com/2018/...
November 9, 2022
I enjoy re-imagined stories. It's fun to see a new twist on an old plot, through fresh writer-eyes. The Queen of Clocks did not disappoint. It's very steampunky, with plenty of gears, steam and brass, and even the always-welcome mad scientist.
The first story, "The Clockwork Nightingale" is my favorite. It's sentimental, sweet, and very beautiful. "Sleeping Steaming Beauty" amused me greatly, and proved to be the most immersive of the stories. "The Little Wind-up Mermaid" is perhaps the most ambitious of the stories. It feels much bigger than the short story it is - I might even call it the Tardis of Short Stories.
The collection of stories run the gamut, from sweetly beautiful to absolute horror. Most of the stories are just long enough to really get immersed into, but not so long that they can't be read in one go. Seven tales are perfect for a week's worth of bedtime stories.
The first story, "The Clockwork Nightingale" is my favorite. It's sentimental, sweet, and very beautiful. "Sleeping Steaming Beauty" amused me greatly, and proved to be the most immersive of the stories. "The Little Wind-up Mermaid" is perhaps the most ambitious of the stories. It feels much bigger than the short story it is - I might even call it the Tardis of Short Stories.
The collection of stories run the gamut, from sweetly beautiful to absolute horror. Most of the stories are just long enough to really get immersed into, but not so long that they can't be read in one go. Seven tales are perfect for a week's worth of bedtime stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews