Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616960019 ISBN 13: 9781616960018

Publisher: Tachyon Publications, 2010

Synopsis

Gentle Readers, after the outraged letters following our first volume, I would be remiss not to warn you. The handsome tome of classic and original fiction, nonfiction, and illustrations is perhaps even more shocking than its predecessor. And yet, I see that your curiosity is piqued, so....

Enter the Scintillating Clockpunk Gear-o-Torium: Herein dwell the breathless adventures that you secretly seek. Gaze upon the rebellious Mecha-Ostrich, the seductive Steam Dancer, the intrepid Mssrs. Balfour and Meriwether, and the hithertofore undefeated Cast-Iron Kid.

Experience the Delights of the Chrononaut Odditorium: An esteemed panel of self-appointed experts, under pain of ridicule, will reveal Top Secret Historical Enticements. Be dazzled by the first English translation of the quintessential Steampunk story Flying Fish Prometheus” by Vilhelm Bergsøe.

Oooh and Ahhh at the Subculture Contraptor Lounge: Authoress of the Parasol Protectorate Gail Carriger gaily holds forth on the fashionable subjects of fashion, fiction, and more. The Steampunk Workshop founder Jake von Slatt’s Steampunk Manifesto” shares his musings amusing and profound on the future of Steam.

Look Upon Our Brass-Plated Wonders: From the rough streets of modern-day Manchester, world-famous adventurer John Coulthart provides the near-tactile visual experience of this elaborative tome. He is joined by the likes of the artistes Secret Agent Ramona Szczerba (a.k.a. Winona Cookie) and Lovereaftian maestro Eric Orchard.

Meet the Masterminds: Editors Extraordinaire Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, the well-known literary vagabonds and mesmerists, do fully guarantee your satisfaction. However, the publisher does regret that the VanderMeers have become mysteriously unavailable to respond to any grievances.

It’s Steampunk and it’s reloaded.

About this title

About the Author

Ann VanderMeer is the Hugo Award winning editor of Weird Fiction Review. She was the fiction editor at Weird Tales and the publisher of Buzzcity Press, work for which received the British Fantasy, International Horror Guild, and Rhysling awards. An expert on Victoriana, she is the co-editor of the bestselling World Fantasy Award nominated Steampunk series. Her other anthologies include the Best American Fantasy and Leviathan series, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, The New Weird, and Last Drink, Bird Head.
Jeff VanderMeer is the best-selling author of City of Saints and Madmen, the noir thriller Finch, and the quintessential guide to writers, Booklife. His award-winning novels have made the year’s best lists at Publishers Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Wall Street Journal. His nonfiction and reviews have appeared in Washington Post Book World, the Huffington Post, and the New York Times Book Review.

Review

The dynamic VanderMeers follow 2008’s Steampunk with this engaging anthology of 23 stories (three original to this volume, including Jeffrey Ford’s Dr. Lash Remembers’), two essays (including one by Gail Carriger), and a roundtable interview, all of which define, deepen, and demonstrate the clockwork beauty of automaton-laden science fiction. Standouts include Tanith Lee’s madness-inspired The Persecution Machine’; Caitlín R. Kiernan’s hauntingly beautiful tale of The Steam Dancer (1896)’; Marc Laidlaw’s photographic encyclopedia of Great Breakthroughs in Darkness’; Sydney Padua’s comic Lovelace and Babbage: Origins, with Salamander’; the frightening Pinocchio of Cherie Priest’s Tanglefoot’; William Gibson’s proto-steampunk tale The Gernsback Continuum’; and Flying Fish Prometheus (A Fantasy of the Future)’ by Vilhelm Bergsøe, a Danish contemporary of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. Fabulous interior design by John Coulthart completes this worthy sequel to its well-regarded predecessor.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review

Steampunk is a genre for thinkers, and this book proves the point. The stories inside are beautiful, often lyrical, frequently disturbing, always exciting, and occasionally even funny, but they’re also dense, literary, and trusting of the reader to be smart enough to get’ it.”
New York Journal of Books

Steampunk fans will want to add this to their personal collections; libraries owning the first volume should round out their holdings.”
Library Journal

The VanderMeers have, once again, captured the essence of the genre.... This book is a must-have collection for fans of steampunk and those who love a dark, rousing tale of what could have been.”
Tangent

"This new collection of previously published stories spotlights some of the best short work in the subgenre."
—San Francisco Chronicle

About this edition

• Publisher: Tachyon Publications
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1616960019
• ISBN 13: 9781616960018
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432
• Editor: VanderMeer Ann, VanderMeer Jeff