Steampunk

I've never really read Steampunk before. Oh, sure, I've seen some quasi-Steampunk movies (i.e. Wild, Wild West or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but I haven't really ever experienced the literary charms of the genre. I decided it would be best to rectify that oversight and so I purchased a few anthologies and a highly recommended novel. I started with Steampunk first.

This is a collection of short stories and snippets from novels. I skipped the novel snippets; I'd rather read a complete story rather than a piece of one.

For the most part, these were okay. The stand-out for me was Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang, a well thought-out romp through bad science, golem mythology, and nineteenth century manners. I really enjoyed that story, mostly because it was close to something I had been brainstorming.

Otherwise, the other stories were okay. I'm not quite ready to declare myself a Steampunk enthusiast or affectianado or anything like that. I still have some more books to read. But it was a good jumping off point.