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A review by aceinit
Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling
2.0
I've had a mediocre run of luck with anthologies lately, and this one is no exception. Though the setting and subject matter appealed to me deeply, and quite a few of my favorite authors are included, there simply weren't enough standout entries in here to make the collection memorable.
The standout entries were, for me, "The Unwanted Women of Surrey," "Phosphorous," and my personal favorite "Charged," all of which can be found in the middle of the collection. "The Vital Importance of the Superficial," was another intriguing entry, but the passive narrative structure of a story told entirely in letters took some of the enjoyment out of it.
What surprised me was that the one thing I really didn't like about this series was one of the ideas I thought would be most appealing: the taking of a classic character or work or literature from that time period, and re-imagining it with a twist. There are alternate takes on Frankenstein, alternate takes on Ebeneezer Scrooge, the Bronte siblings, the Queen herself, and even a certain consulting detective. But all of these stories fell almost flat for me, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.
I expected more from this collection...a series of stories to captivate and intrigue in a way reminiscent of the dramatically changing time in which they were set. In that respect, only "Charged" and "Phosphorous," which dealt with the innovation of electricity and the forgotten horrors of the industrial revolution, respectively, met those expectations. Instead, what I found were a series of stories that were quite tedious to read. There were many times I wanted to skip ahead to the next entry, more than I can recall in any other anthology I've read. I was quite frankly, bored with most of the stories. Perhaps some of this is my fault for having such high expectations...but given the contributors and how strong I know their storytelling skills can be, I am particularly disappointed.
The standout entries were, for me, "The Unwanted Women of Surrey," "Phosphorous," and my personal favorite "Charged," all of which can be found in the middle of the collection. "The Vital Importance of the Superficial," was another intriguing entry, but the passive narrative structure of a story told entirely in letters took some of the enjoyment out of it.
What surprised me was that the one thing I really didn't like about this series was one of the ideas I thought would be most appealing: the taking of a classic character or work or literature from that time period, and re-imagining it with a twist. There are alternate takes on Frankenstein, alternate takes on Ebeneezer Scrooge, the Bronte siblings, the Queen herself, and even a certain consulting detective. But all of these stories fell almost flat for me, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.
I expected more from this collection...a series of stories to captivate and intrigue in a way reminiscent of the dramatically changing time in which they were set. In that respect, only "Charged" and "Phosphorous," which dealt with the innovation of electricity and the forgotten horrors of the industrial revolution, respectively, met those expectations. Instead, what I found were a series of stories that were quite tedious to read. There were many times I wanted to skip ahead to the next entry, more than I can recall in any other anthology I've read. I was quite frankly, bored with most of the stories. Perhaps some of this is my fault for having such high expectations...but given the contributors and how strong I know their storytelling skills can be, I am particularly disappointed.