Review: Gears of Brass

Gears of Brass: A Steampunk Anthology - Jordan Elizabeth, Lorna MacDonald Czarnota, Christine Baker, W.K. Pomeroy, Eliza Tilton, Heather Talty, Grant Eagar, Natalia Darcy, Clare Weze, S.A. Larsen, J. Million, Susan Kaye Quinn

Gears of Brass is a collection of all things steampunk. With characters rich and poor, selfish and kind, clever and.. well, not... there is at least one person you will hate and one you will want to be. The steampunk elements are as varied as the characters, with stories highlighting clockwork animals, airships, vehicles, and even replacement body parts. Even if you aren't a huge fan of steampunk, you will probably find stories in here that you enjoy. While all stories in this collection at least mention some sort of steampunk design or machine, some stories are centered more on human behavior and interactions, while others heavily dabble in clockwork creations.

It's difficult to judge a collection based on the individual stories, but overall I thought the stories worked well and all fit the collection in one way or another. "A Clockwork Dollhouse" opens up the collection with murder, mystery, and perhaps magic. "Clockwork Wolf", the third story, is probably one of the creepiest, with an edge of madness at the end. "Autumn Rose", "Time Spun Souls" and "Clockwork Dwarves" mix fairy tale elements with magic and/or mechanicals, and "The Key Girl" brings us adventure, priests, and a goddess. "Lana's End", "A Princess of Zephryis" and "My Golden Anabel" all deal with mechanical manipulation of humans... living and dead. "Last of the Giants" closes out the collection with an adaptation of "Jack the Giant Killer" staring a girl named Jackie as she confronts the last of the giants.

While I enjoyed some stories more so than others, it was a good, solid collection.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Source: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3IXELIHXGHPU6