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Altered America #1-2
Altered America: Steampunk Stories
Steampunk fans will rejoice in the appearance of Altered America: Steampunk Stories, collecting Nebula and World Fantasy Award-nominated author Cat Rambo’s steampunk fantasies, including “Clockwork Fairies,” “Snakes on a A Train,” and “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart,” into a single book. Rambo’s wry humor, precise and evocative descriptions, and ability to create a world with a few deft touches are showcased in these ten tales.
Includes “Clockwork Fairies,” “Rare Pears and Greengages,” “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?”, Darrell Award nominated “Memphis BBQ,” “Rappacini’s Crow,” “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart,” “Snakes On a Train,” “Web of Blood and Iron,” “Ticktock Girl” and “Seven Clockwork Angels."
Includes “Clockwork Fairies,” “Rare Pears and Greengages,” “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?”, Darrell Award nominated “Memphis BBQ,” “Rappacini’s Crow,” “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart,” “Snakes On a Train,” “Web of Blood and Iron,” “Ticktock Girl” and “Seven Clockwork Angels."
166 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
9 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Cat Rambo
251 books572 followersF&SF writer Cat Rambo lives and writes in the Midwest. They have been shortlisted for an Endeavour Award, Locus Award, World Fantasy Award and most recently the Nebula Award. Their debut novel, BEASTS OF TABAT, appeared in 2015 from WordFire Press, the same year she co-edited AD ASTRA: THE SFWA 50TH ANNIVERSARY COOKBOOK. Their most recent book is DEVIL'S GUN (novel, Tor Macmillan). They are a former two-term President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and still volunteers with the organization.
They run the popular online writing school focused on fantasy and science fiction, the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. (academy.catrambo.com)
Sign up for Cat's newsletter at
They run the popular online writing school focused on fantasy and science fiction, the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. (academy.catrambo.com)
Sign up for Cat's newsletter at
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 22, 2018
A reminder that I use the Goodreads definitions of star values and, at the time of writing this, 3 stars is "liked it".
While I can enjoy a smorgasbord approach to a short story collection, I really appreciate that nearly all the stories in this collection take place in a shared universe. I think Ms. Rambo is a very talented crafter of environments and she creates great premises for her stories. I also like that the stories in this collection explore some characters that are somewhat rare in SFF (although getting more exposure with every passing day) like non-whites, trans folks, and others on the LGBT spectrum. Also, I know steampunk in America is definitely a thing, but I've been exposed to so much more British and European steampunk so it was fun to see some American stories.
My only criticism is that many of the stories end somewhat abruptly as though Ms. Rambo suddenly realized she had a character or page limit. After a lot of great build-up, it can just feel like the climax comes and is gone a little too fast. I'd like to read one of her long-form books to see if she fares better there or is afflicted by the same ailment that plagued many of Neal Stephenson's early work.
As I do with anthologies, here's a slightly edited version of my status updates:
"Clockwork Fairies" - While it's period-accurate, it's crazy that our main POV character (so far) is attracted to a tinkerer, but at the same time is scared of her holding sufragist and scientific thoughts! Also, bravo on Cat making the heroine mixed race. Ultimately, not just an introduction to Ms Rambo's steampunk fairy world, but also a great look at gender and race in the Victorian era. It's crazy how much autonomy single women gave up on marriage back then.
"Rare Pears and Greengages" - This one is much more fairy than Steampunk. I feel like, as usual, it's assumed that everyone understands how faerie stuff works. Over the past couple years I've picked up enough to know it's probably bad that people are eating fairy fruit and to understand about changelings. But I don't get the tears thing. I feel like I'm missing so much in this. In the end it's a story of mothers and how hard it can be to deal with tragedy when you're a mother.
"Memphis BBQ" - This is a REALLY fun story to read; my favorite story so far. Great tone and the suitor is awesome instead of a jerk. Love to read more from this universe.
"Laurel Laurel where do you roam?" - a tale of a train trip with the background of how Lincoln won the Civil War with necromancers"
"Snakes on a Train" - Another Baltimore to Seattle train trip with a necromancer. This time bodyguards are a Jewish mind-reader and an automaton. I surprised by the ending. Good job, Rambo
"Doctor Rapacini's Crow" - scary story about how the war injured are turned into cyborgs and sent back to war until their bodies or minds are too broken to go on. The trans reveal makes sense with the time period. One of my undergrad electives studied this phenomenon and it was actually quite common back before SSNs.
"Her Windowed Eyes, Her Windowed Heart" - back to Artemus the automaton and his partner, Elspeth the psychic. This time the story is from his point of view. Neat ending. I want a longform Pinkerton story.
"web of blood and iron" - very fun caper involving betting with vampires, but I'm not sure I enjoyed the ending
"Ticktock Girl" - a neat combo of steampunk and superhero genre during the suffragette era."
"Seven Angels...Pin" - the best retelling of Sleeping Beauty I've ever read."
While I can enjoy a smorgasbord approach to a short story collection, I really appreciate that nearly all the stories in this collection take place in a shared universe. I think Ms. Rambo is a very talented crafter of environments and she creates great premises for her stories. I also like that the stories in this collection explore some characters that are somewhat rare in SFF (although getting more exposure with every passing day) like non-whites, trans folks, and others on the LGBT spectrum. Also, I know steampunk in America is definitely a thing, but I've been exposed to so much more British and European steampunk so it was fun to see some American stories.
My only criticism is that many of the stories end somewhat abruptly as though Ms. Rambo suddenly realized she had a character or page limit. After a lot of great build-up, it can just feel like the climax comes and is gone a little too fast. I'd like to read one of her long-form books to see if she fares better there or is afflicted by the same ailment that plagued many of Neal Stephenson's early work.
As I do with anthologies, here's a slightly edited version of my status updates:
"Clockwork Fairies" - While it's period-accurate, it's crazy that our main POV character (so far) is attracted to a tinkerer, but at the same time is scared of her holding sufragist and scientific thoughts! Also, bravo on Cat making the heroine mixed race. Ultimately, not just an introduction to Ms Rambo's steampunk fairy world, but also a great look at gender and race in the Victorian era. It's crazy how much autonomy single women gave up on marriage back then.
"Rare Pears and Greengages" - This one is much more fairy than Steampunk. I feel like, as usual, it's assumed that everyone understands how faerie stuff works. Over the past couple years I've picked up enough to know it's probably bad that people are eating fairy fruit and to understand about changelings. But I don't get the tears thing. I feel like I'm missing so much in this. In the end it's a story of mothers and how hard it can be to deal with tragedy when you're a mother.
"Memphis BBQ" - This is a REALLY fun story to read; my favorite story so far. Great tone and the suitor is awesome instead of a jerk. Love to read more from this universe.
"Laurel Laurel where do you roam?" - a tale of a train trip with the background of how Lincoln won the Civil War with necromancers"
"Snakes on a Train" - Another Baltimore to Seattle train trip with a necromancer. This time bodyguards are a Jewish mind-reader and an automaton. I surprised by the ending. Good job, Rambo
"Doctor Rapacini's Crow" - scary story about how the war injured are turned into cyborgs and sent back to war until their bodies or minds are too broken to go on. The trans reveal makes sense with the time period. One of my undergrad electives studied this phenomenon and it was actually quite common back before SSNs.
"Her Windowed Eyes, Her Windowed Heart" - back to Artemus the automaton and his partner, Elspeth the psychic. This time the story is from his point of view. Neat ending. I want a longform Pinkerton story.
"web of blood and iron" - very fun caper involving betting with vampires, but I'm not sure I enjoyed the ending
"Ticktock Girl" - a neat combo of steampunk and superhero genre during the suffragette era."
"Seven Angels...Pin" - the best retelling of Sleeping Beauty I've ever read."
June 26, 2019
My rating for the Steampunk stories in this book averages to 3.6. This book also has an Afterward after each story, which I found interesting. Rounding up my rating to 4 stars.
My comments on the stories can be seen in this thread, posts 181 to 190:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My comments on the stories can be seen in this thread, posts 181 to 190:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
July 14, 2016
I blurbed this! "Each one of Cat Rambo's steampunk stories stands solidly on its own, but as a collection, these stories click together like cogs to depict a complicated, curious alternate Earth filled with magic, technology, and mayhem.” -Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger
June 14, 2019
A funny, touching, richly imagined collection of a fantastic past in which monsters of folklore mix with dreams of science.
July 31, 2016
I received this free copy for exchange of an honest review
I enjoyed this book, but I don't think I would revisit it. The writing was ok, the stories were rather amusing and I had a good time reading it.
I enjoyed this book, but I don't think I would revisit it. The writing was ok, the stories were rather amusing and I had a good time reading it.
October 5, 2023
At first I was grumpy: I thought I had finally gotten rid of all the anthologies on my Kindle. And the subject of this one didn't even seem interesting! But it was still on there, so I read it...
Three of the first four stories didn't interest me, but they were well-written, so I kept going. I'm glad I did, because most of the rest worked! And the longest ones were all set in the same world, so it was almost like this anthology was one story.
About midway through the book I peered at the cover to try to see who the author is. (Book covers are less than an inch tall and in black and white on my Kindle.) Cat Rambo! THAT'S why I had this book! I really like her. Once I post this, I have to look for more stuff by her.
Three of the first four stories didn't interest me, but they were well-written, so I kept going. I'm glad I did, because most of the rest worked! And the longest ones were all set in the same world, so it was almost like this anthology was one story.
About midway through the book I peered at the cover to try to see who the author is. (Book covers are less than an inch tall and in black and white on my Kindle.) Cat Rambo! THAT'S why I had this book! I really like her. Once I post this, I have to look for more stuff by her.
September 17, 2016
I really like steampunk, both visually and in literature, so when my eyes came upon this cover I was drawn to it. The maps, clock, lettering, even the cat, they all grabbed my intention so I requested this book and was lucky enough to be approved by the publisher! *Thank you* !
I’ve decided to write a little something for each story because I liked some more than others. But they all work really great together as a whole. Plus they each had an author’s afternotes at the end that was really insightful.
"Clockwork Fairies" was not my favourite, so I was a little afraid I wouldn’t enjoy this collection. The narrator was a “man of his time” as some would say, or in other words a racist sexist man. The young woman he was after (well they actually are presented as fiancé) was a mixed race inventor that seemed really intelligent and with a great personality. I was bummed that she was not the main character but I soon realised that it was a way to better twist the end and show how she is the real heroine of this story viewed by an external pov.
At first I skipped "Rare Pears And Greengages" because it started with a rape and then because the characters were not very engaging. But the afternotes made me regret it somehow so when I was done with the collection I came back to it. It was a story of fairies and creatures that come from another world, a world where human tears are currency and fairy fruits are some sort of drug for humans.
"Memphis BBQ" was the first that made me really excited about this collection. It felt shorter than the others but I liked it a lot and would totally have loved to read an entire novel with this idea. A young man come to the house of the girl he likes -an inventor again- to bring her mother a letter. But while he’s chatting with the mother, the girl and her father who were arguing in front of the house get kidnapped. So he wants to go and save them, and the mother wants to accompany him, with the automatons that she also can control. I felt like the mother was the true hero of this one! Plus, final twist!
"Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?" was also amazing! A woman is in a train, heading to her new job. Then a little girl got on the train and an unusual relationship unfold. Zombies, ghouls, necromancy, engineering, fake limb, I won’t say more but that one and Memphis BBG were my favourites!
"Snakes On A Train". The snakes here are actually lizard-wizards! The story focuses on a duo of bodyguards composed of Elspeth, a psychic woman who can hear thoughts and senses emotions and Artemus, an automaton. They have to watch over a professor heading to Seattle to help with the War, and his daughter who thoughts cannot be heard by the psychic. But a murder on the train occurs! I really liked the characters of that one and was glad two stories on this collection had them as main characters.
"Rappaccini’s Crow". In that one, the man and his crow are really mean. Still, I love how birds are so so so intelligent and this story recognise that. The setting is of an asylum for war victims and the main character is Native American, transgender and mute (because of a war injury). This story was way sadder and heart-breaking than the others. About the transgender character, I don’t really know if this was well handled in the story but I think it was, according to what I read on the subject. *If you think otherwise please come explain to me why, and I hope I didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings!<3*
"Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart". Back with Elspeth and Artemus! We get more informations on Artemus’s origins and this story focuses more on him than Snakes on a train. In this story they are on the hunt for a fugitive and they tracked him to the house of his late mother, herself an engineer. And the house end up being more than what they thought it was.
"Web Of Blood And Iron" is a story of werewolves and vampires. It focuses on the servant of a lycanthrope, who is himself a gnome. His master fell in love with a girl –a war correspondent– but as she disappeared, he came looking around vampires to find out what happened to her. This story is set in Europe, where supernatural creatures are way more present than in the States. It features card games and car chase. It was fun but also a little bit sad, with an ending I did not see coming!
"Ticktock Girl" is about a mechanical woman who sees time differently than humans, build by an English suffragette. She then become some kind of superheroine. A cool thing I loved is how her creator actually call herself her “creatrix”. In the afternotes the author talk about how she wanted to combine two things she loved: steampunk and super-heroes; as I also love both it was a really nice story to read.
"Seven Clockwork Angels, All Dancing On A Pin" was a steampunk retelling of Sleeping Beauty! And the (clockwork) cat from the cover appears.
This collection immersed me in an alternate Earth with a war going on in America and suffragettes; filled with magic and supernatural creatures, technology and fine inventions, adventures, sassy characters and girl power. It is 134pages long on my ereader and under 6$/£/€ on amazon! I really had a good time reading those short stories and will check Cato Rambo’s other works out!
A review copy (eARC) of this book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley.
(Complete review with some quotes on the blog! https://adragoninspace.wordpress.com/...)
I’ve decided to write a little something for each story because I liked some more than others. But they all work really great together as a whole. Plus they each had an author’s afternotes at the end that was really insightful.
"Clockwork Fairies" was not my favourite, so I was a little afraid I wouldn’t enjoy this collection. The narrator was a “man of his time” as some would say, or in other words a racist sexist man. The young woman he was after (well they actually are presented as fiancé) was a mixed race inventor that seemed really intelligent and with a great personality. I was bummed that she was not the main character but I soon realised that it was a way to better twist the end and show how she is the real heroine of this story viewed by an external pov.
At first I skipped "Rare Pears And Greengages" because it started with a rape and then because the characters were not very engaging. But the afternotes made me regret it somehow so when I was done with the collection I came back to it. It was a story of fairies and creatures that come from another world, a world where human tears are currency and fairy fruits are some sort of drug for humans.
"Memphis BBQ" was the first that made me really excited about this collection. It felt shorter than the others but I liked it a lot and would totally have loved to read an entire novel with this idea. A young man come to the house of the girl he likes -an inventor again- to bring her mother a letter. But while he’s chatting with the mother, the girl and her father who were arguing in front of the house get kidnapped. So he wants to go and save them, and the mother wants to accompany him, with the automatons that she also can control. I felt like the mother was the true hero of this one! Plus, final twist!
"Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?" was also amazing! A woman is in a train, heading to her new job. Then a little girl got on the train and an unusual relationship unfold. Zombies, ghouls, necromancy, engineering, fake limb, I won’t say more but that one and Memphis BBG were my favourites!
"Snakes On A Train". The snakes here are actually lizard-wizards! The story focuses on a duo of bodyguards composed of Elspeth, a psychic woman who can hear thoughts and senses emotions and Artemus, an automaton. They have to watch over a professor heading to Seattle to help with the War, and his daughter who thoughts cannot be heard by the psychic. But a murder on the train occurs! I really liked the characters of that one and was glad two stories on this collection had them as main characters.
"Rappaccini’s Crow". In that one, the man and his crow are really mean. Still, I love how birds are so so so intelligent and this story recognise that. The setting is of an asylum for war victims and the main character is Native American, transgender and mute (because of a war injury). This story was way sadder and heart-breaking than the others. About the transgender character, I don’t really know if this was well handled in the story but I think it was, according to what I read on the subject. *If you think otherwise please come explain to me why, and I hope I didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings!<3*
"Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart". Back with Elspeth and Artemus! We get more informations on Artemus’s origins and this story focuses more on him than Snakes on a train. In this story they are on the hunt for a fugitive and they tracked him to the house of his late mother, herself an engineer. And the house end up being more than what they thought it was.
"Web Of Blood And Iron" is a story of werewolves and vampires. It focuses on the servant of a lycanthrope, who is himself a gnome. His master fell in love with a girl –a war correspondent– but as she disappeared, he came looking around vampires to find out what happened to her. This story is set in Europe, where supernatural creatures are way more present than in the States. It features card games and car chase. It was fun but also a little bit sad, with an ending I did not see coming!
"Ticktock Girl" is about a mechanical woman who sees time differently than humans, build by an English suffragette. She then become some kind of superheroine. A cool thing I loved is how her creator actually call herself her “creatrix”. In the afternotes the author talk about how she wanted to combine two things she loved: steampunk and super-heroes; as I also love both it was a really nice story to read.
"Seven Clockwork Angels, All Dancing On A Pin" was a steampunk retelling of Sleeping Beauty! And the (clockwork) cat from the cover appears.
This collection immersed me in an alternate Earth with a war going on in America and suffragettes; filled with magic and supernatural creatures, technology and fine inventions, adventures, sassy characters and girl power. It is 134pages long on my ereader and under 6$/£/€ on amazon! I really had a good time reading those short stories and will check Cato Rambo’s other works out!
A review copy (eARC) of this book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley.
(Complete review with some quotes on the blog! https://adragoninspace.wordpress.com/...)
March 10, 2017
A nice bundle of steampunk stories within a shared setting.
The stories range from mannerpunk, through steampunk to weird west tales, but thanks to the shared setting and themes the stories do form a consistent whole.
For my tastes it added a bit too much modern 'urban' fantasy elements (fairies, werewolves and vampires show up next to the clockwork elements), but Rambo knows how to craft good stories.
The stories range from mannerpunk, through steampunk to weird west tales, but thanks to the shared setting and themes the stories do form a consistent whole.
For my tastes it added a bit too much modern 'urban' fantasy elements (fairies, werewolves and vampires show up next to the clockwork elements), but Rambo knows how to craft good stories.
February 10, 2019
A few of these were delightfully enjoyable, a few unexceptional. Unfortunately I was never the short story type, preferring epic length stories. Personal fault.
April 5, 2020
Interesting and full of variety. Really enjoyed the final story.
November 19, 2021
glittering steampunk
Beautiful collection of steampunk stories, carefully crafted specially spun & glamorously glittering with the special magic that is true steampunk….
Beautiful collection of steampunk stories, carefully crafted specially spun & glamorously glittering with the special magic that is true steampunk….
March 19, 2017
I really enjoyed this collection of stories. The world-building was consistent from one story to another, but each of them foregrounded a different facet, with characters ranging from inventor to necromantic engineer to Civil War veteran or housemaid, among others. I was surprised at the range of fantastic included here (vampires, shape-shifters and fairies don't often come to mind when I think of steampunk), but Cat Rambo makes it interesting. The author's notes at the end of each story, usually about the germ of the idea for the story, really added to my enjoyment.
August 7, 2016
Altered America: Steampunk Stories by Cat Rambo is a collection of the author’s short stories. Unlike other Steampunk works, Rambo focuses on crafting an alternate history of the world in which dreadful magic returns and supernatural threats run rampant.
Most of the stories take place in America during the mid-1800s, early 1900s. Unlike other shorts in the genre, those in Altered America focus on a singular, pivotal event: the mysterious return of fairies, heralding in other forms of magic and supernatural life.
Cat Rambo’s writing is excellent. My major complaints have to do with the story selection and their relationship with Steampunk and sci-fi rather than any fault inherent in the writing. I did find that some of the stories ended too quickly, as if the stories were forced into short story form. Some of the shorts in Altered America would be much better as seeds for future novels (Laurel and Windowed are great stories that would be even better in novel form).
My favorite stories are “Ticktock Girl” (a story of a “special” feminist avenger named Athena, pure poetry), “Clockwork Fairies” (nailing all of the themes perfectly with good pacing), “Memphis BBQ” (a tale of sky pirates), “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?” (action packed with strong characters), “Snakes on a Train” (Pinkerton bodyguards with special attributes), “Rappachi’s Crow,” and the return of the Pinkertons Elspeth and Artemus in “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart.”
Many cool themes are present in Rambo’s shorts. Clockwork, Memphis and Laurel all feature strong female characters rebelling against the anti-feminist sentiment of those in that time period. Women’s suffrage is a motivator for many characters and it fits well. The idea of women choosing their own role in life during this time – as seen in “Memphis BBQ” – is on point and very well explored. Racial tensions with Native Americans is always behind the scenes but shines in “Rappachi’s Crow,” which also features the controversial topic of gender identity. Artemus and Elspeth’s stories are outstanding as they focus on love and what it means to be a human (or machine).
My least favorite story was “Rare Pears & Greengages.” The role playing-style narrative didn’t fit with the other stories in the collection. There were no Steampunk in that story at all. Maybe it was included to flesh out some of the fantasy in Altered but it didn’t work. The ending of that story is well implemented.
The major problem with Altered America is that it doesn’t faithfully and consistently “do” any one genre very well.
While many of the stories are well written and likeable as Works of general fiction, they don’t fit for a Steampunk collection. While I wasn’t expecting the full world building of a novel, Altered America focuses too heavily on weak fantasy and less so on the technology. The fantasy in Altered is almost stereotypical (Werewolves don’t take kindly to silver, etc). Some suspenseful moments devolve into “vampires, fairies and werewolves.”
One story that featured some awesome fantasy storytelling was, “Web of Blood and Iron.” A bet with the vampire elite becomes a spectacle of horror, hinting at the shape of things to come. A portrait of the past and a glimpse of the future. Although it did have early 1900s elements that were cool, I thought it played into the fantasy aspects of Altered America very well.
The novel does have some Steampunk. Mainly in the background or as a setting to other stories. These things include war machines, bioengineered/augmented soldiers, a combustible chemical that gets more mention than it should, steam powered trains, and a steam gun. Chambered Heart features cool flying machines. They’re all cool ideas but they just aren’t present in the right proportions throughout the book.
I recommend Altered America for those interested in reading a blend of wacky fantasy with good old fashioned storytelling. While Steampunk elements are present, Altered America excels at providing the reader with original general fiction shorts rather than Steampunk.
(This book was received from the publisher for a fair and honest review.)
Most of the stories take place in America during the mid-1800s, early 1900s. Unlike other shorts in the genre, those in Altered America focus on a singular, pivotal event: the mysterious return of fairies, heralding in other forms of magic and supernatural life.
Cat Rambo’s writing is excellent. My major complaints have to do with the story selection and their relationship with Steampunk and sci-fi rather than any fault inherent in the writing. I did find that some of the stories ended too quickly, as if the stories were forced into short story form. Some of the shorts in Altered America would be much better as seeds for future novels (Laurel and Windowed are great stories that would be even better in novel form).
My favorite stories are “Ticktock Girl” (a story of a “special” feminist avenger named Athena, pure poetry), “Clockwork Fairies” (nailing all of the themes perfectly with good pacing), “Memphis BBQ” (a tale of sky pirates), “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?” (action packed with strong characters), “Snakes on a Train” (Pinkerton bodyguards with special attributes), “Rappachi’s Crow,” and the return of the Pinkertons Elspeth and Artemus in “Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart.”
Many cool themes are present in Rambo’s shorts. Clockwork, Memphis and Laurel all feature strong female characters rebelling against the anti-feminist sentiment of those in that time period. Women’s suffrage is a motivator for many characters and it fits well. The idea of women choosing their own role in life during this time – as seen in “Memphis BBQ” – is on point and very well explored. Racial tensions with Native Americans is always behind the scenes but shines in “Rappachi’s Crow,” which also features the controversial topic of gender identity. Artemus and Elspeth’s stories are outstanding as they focus on love and what it means to be a human (or machine).
My least favorite story was “Rare Pears & Greengages.” The role playing-style narrative didn’t fit with the other stories in the collection. There were no Steampunk in that story at all. Maybe it was included to flesh out some of the fantasy in Altered but it didn’t work. The ending of that story is well implemented.
The major problem with Altered America is that it doesn’t faithfully and consistently “do” any one genre very well.
While many of the stories are well written and likeable as Works of general fiction, they don’t fit for a Steampunk collection. While I wasn’t expecting the full world building of a novel, Altered America focuses too heavily on weak fantasy and less so on the technology. The fantasy in Altered is almost stereotypical (Werewolves don’t take kindly to silver, etc). Some suspenseful moments devolve into “vampires, fairies and werewolves.”
One story that featured some awesome fantasy storytelling was, “Web of Blood and Iron.” A bet with the vampire elite becomes a spectacle of horror, hinting at the shape of things to come. A portrait of the past and a glimpse of the future. Although it did have early 1900s elements that were cool, I thought it played into the fantasy aspects of Altered America very well.
The novel does have some Steampunk. Mainly in the background or as a setting to other stories. These things include war machines, bioengineered/augmented soldiers, a combustible chemical that gets more mention than it should, steam powered trains, and a steam gun. Chambered Heart features cool flying machines. They’re all cool ideas but they just aren’t present in the right proportions throughout the book.
I recommend Altered America for those interested in reading a blend of wacky fantasy with good old fashioned storytelling. While Steampunk elements are present, Altered America excels at providing the reader with original general fiction shorts rather than Steampunk.
(This book was received from the publisher for a fair and honest review.)
April 19, 2017
Enjoyable. Especially the homages to The Wild Wild West, a favorite show of mine, too.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews