Tick Tock Tales

Awsome Hubbin got me a pretty cool book for our anniversary.  It is a collection of steampunk fairytales called Clockwork Fairy Tales edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Basset.  My last collection of steampunk stories was a bit hit or miss for me so I was bit nervous to start this one, but it turned out to be awesome!  Here are some of my favorites.

La Valse by K.W. Jeter - This gory tale is based on The Red Shoes (which is a pretty gruesome story to begin with) is a bit of a nightmare scenario.  It involves decrepit old nobles locked into a giant music box type apparatus.  A mentor killed.  Revenge taken and so much blood.  Great story!  Just be warned this is not your typical happily ever after fairy tale.

Fair Vasyl by Steven Harper - Lately I've really been into the old Baba Yaga tales and this one based on the old Russian story of Vasilisa the Beautiful captures the essence of the old witch perfectly.  Along with one of my favorite villains, this story really captures the perfect essence of what a family should be, a group of beings who love and need each other.

Mose and the Automatic Fireman by Nancy A. Collins - Mose the Fireboy is the inspiration for this fantastic story of a small boy who becomes a major hero.  The firefighter/EMS girl in me cheered the whole time I was reading this.  It has a fantastic rollicking American Tall Tale feel that is perfect perfect perfect.

The Steampiper, the Stovepiper and the Pied Piper of New Hamelin, Texas by Gregory Nicoll - This story is what I always think of when I think steampunk.  It has humor, it has sass, it has rats and it has so many clockwork toys!  The American West has been used a lot in steampunk as an alternative to the normal Victorian England steampunk we see so much of, and in this story it works to its advantage.

There were several things about this collection that worked for me.  First of all the stories were really steampunky, with lots of actual devices used to change or further the plot.  Unlike a lot of supposed steampunk books I have read, where they toss in an airship, or goggles and call it a day, there was an actual building of alternate worlds using clockwork devices.  The other thing I really liked was the combination in ever single story in this collection of sticking to the original tale they were based on, I mean every single story was recognizable, even down to some of the small details.  While doing this, each story was also wildly original, I'm not sure how these authors pulled it off every single time, but they did.  I give this collection  8 out of 10 wind up birds and recommend it to anybody who loves fairytales, steampunk, or a well told story.
What good steampunk stories have you read?  How do you think the authors managed to stay true to the original tale, while still being completely original themselves?  How bad do you want a clockwork pet?

A Twist Of Grimm

Picked up a book on impulse the other day (shocking I know).  It was just to pretty not to and I figured even if the book sucked, it would at least look super cool on my shelf.  Lucky for me the book did not suck.  The book is called Grim, a collection of short stories edited by Christine Johnson. According to the blurb on the back they are supposed to be a dark twist on some of the classic fairy tales, which it accomplishes with varying degrees of success.  Here are the stories that really stood out in this collection.

Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready - This was one of my favorites, a fabulous modern twist on The Puss In Boots that keeps all the feel of the original and adds the perfect bit more.  I like the characters in this story, especially the main guy who is a fun mix of angsty musician and weird kid.  This kind of story is the type of retold fairy tale I particularly enjoy because it retains the essence of the original, but feels like a new story all at the same time.

The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa - Three Little Pigs with a truly dark twist!  The story starts out fun and a bit humorous and it took me a few minutes to figure out what story it was.  Then as your reading, smiling BAM!  The wolf comes in a most unexpected form.  I would have never guessed in a million years that reading The Three Little Pigs would ever be more then a funny simple story...I was wrong.

Untethered by Sonia Gensler - If we are going off of the idea that most of these stories are rewrites of Grimm Fairytales then the closet story I could find was The Shroud to base this one off of.  I don't want to say to much about this story as it will ruin it for you, but I loved it.  The twist was actually surprising, but that was only one small part of its appeal.

Better by Shaun David Hutchison - I am still trying to decide if this story was based on Pinocchio or Frankenstein.  This story about a man trying to save his son and all the other children by experimenting on a bio cyborg goes horribly wrong when the boy and girl fall in love and use some pretty controversial techniques to keep him alive.  All of this and a scene with proverbial pitchforks makes me think the author had more then the classic fairytale in mind when he wrote this.

Light It Up by Kimberly - AWESOME twist on the Hansel and Gretel story.  It is the perfect reminder that while it may have been a children's story, it is still about a homicidal guardian and a cannabalistic baddie.  Seriously even the original story was dark and scary, and this one has even more of the elements that make this such a dark story.

I found this collection to be hit or miss in a lot of the stories.  The ones I like, I loved, the ones that didn't do for me were not worth reading again.  There were a couple instances where the story was kept almost exactly the same, which seems to negate the idea that they were supposed to have been rewritten.  The book itself is beautiful with a gorgeous cover, old school font, creepy trees, and even a bookmark!  I recommend it for anybody who likes a re-written fairy tale and does not mind some darkness, violence, or cannibalism (seriously so much cannibalism).  Definitely one you do no read to your kid before they go to bed at night :-)  I give it 7 out of 10 Brothers Grimm
How hard do you think it is to make some of these tales darker then they already are?  Do you like your tales to have a happy ending?  Do I need to quit buying books based solely on their looks?