Title: Steampunk Prime

Edited by: Mike Ashley

Publisher: Nonstop Press 2010

Genre: Steampunk

Pages: 239

Rating:   4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Local Library; Steampunk

An anthology of classic (written between 1880-1914) steampunk stories.  The origins of the genre.  I thought it would be good to read this anthology before diving completely into the modern takes on the genre.  While most were science heavy with explanations of the machines, they were great reads.  Ashley chose not to include the more famous authors (like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne), but instead focused on some relative unknowns.  My favorites:

1. "The Automaton" by Reginald Bacchus and Ranger Gull (1900) -- A creepy story about a chess playing automaton.  Right amount of suspense, supernatural, and intrigue.  Definitely my favorite from the entire anthology!

2. "The Gibralter Tunnel" by Jean Jaubert (1914) -- A classic style man-made disaster.  What could go wrong by digging a train tunnel underwater from Spain to Morocco?  Yeah.  Try everything.  Great action adventure story!

3. "In the Deep of Time" by George Parsons Lathrop (1897) -- A good story involving Mars, suspended animation, and a love story.  Supposedly written after a conversation with Thomas Edison, the story definitely focuses on the new machines.