In which I lose interest in the Hugo-nominated novelettes

I am really unhappy with the Hugo ballot this year. The novelettes were so bad, I had to delete an f-load of f-bombs from my original notes. Two of the stories I don’t want to finish, one I wish I hadn’t finished, one I finished but have no idea what was going on, and one, only […]

Re: Sandra Plays For the Cast Iron Man

Sandra is playing piano at the last piano bar after the end of the world. Radok asks her for an unwelcome encore. As their argument grows heated, we discover steam and big honking rivets in “Sandra Plays For the Cast Iron Man” by Tom Crosshill. There punk also in its heart that longs for music […]

Re: A Serpent in the Gears

As “A Serpent in the Gears,” by Margaret Ronald opens, Charles has served as a valet to Colonel Dieterich for twenty years. Now they are sailing on the airship Regina through the Sterling Pass to the secretive land of Aaris. No one aboard is what they seem to be, and Charles is no exception. Even […]

Re: The Women of Nell Gwynne’s

One thing “The Women of Nell Gwynne’s,” by Kage Baker, really gets right is that you can’t take steampunk seriously.

Re: Boneshaker

The prologue is the most exciting part of Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. In 1863, the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine went on a rampage. In Seattle, there was a boom when the failed 49ers passed through to strike out for the Yukon. Angling for a commission from the Russians to drill for gold, a mad scientist, […]