Reviews of the books read for the theme of Steampunk
Theme: Steampunk
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
We learned something interesting with this book. This was one of the original set of book that were first dubbed “Steampunk”. The term originated in the late 1980s as a tongue-in-cheek variant of cyberpunk. It was coined by K. W. Jeter, a science fiction author himself, looking for a way to describe works by Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986), and himself (Morlock Night, 1979, and Infernal Devices, 1987) All of these books are set in a 19th-century ( and usually Victorian) and had similar conventions like H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine.
This book was time travel and the steampunk was secondary really, overall we enjoyed it. It’s nice to dip into classics and the mystery in the narrative along with the call back to other pieces to literature was great.
This book turned out to be something of a fairy tale. It was your classic YA book with an interesting protagonist who had special powers. We were all hoping it would get much more steamy than it did, but were reminded this was a YA book. It was in interesting twist on a “love saves” trope. ANd the system of how time work was intriguing. We enjoyed the Greek Mythology that was sprinkled in. As well as the strong female characters. Our protagonist was a bit whiny, dealing with many issues. Not only was he gay, but he was gay for a clock. The story touches on friendship, love, family, and community.
The Black God’s Drums
by P. Djèlí Clark
We enjoyed this short story and really wish it was longer. The characters were good and the narrative was interesting. Still some parts felt rushed and would really have loved to learn more about the Gods connections to their hosts. Overall a good read.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass,
by Jim Butcher
The book was full of snark! Interesting characters, some bordering on annoying. Strong female leads but it was often the side characters who stole the show. And the cats! probably the best part of the book was the plot line about the cats and the actions they take to help in the story. Oh and there was some boring stuff about airships.
Chimera Readers 