{"id":282,"date":"2016-05-29T03:34:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-29T03:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sfintranslation.com\/?p=282"},"modified":"2016-05-29T03:34:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-29T03:34:43","slug":"review-the-best-of-spanish-steampunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfintranslation.com\/?p=282","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: The Best of Spanish Steampunk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"spanishsteampunk\"edited and translated by James and Marian Womack<\/p>\n

Cheeky Frawg\/ Ediciones Nevsky<\/p>\n

February 18, 2015<\/p>\n

610 pages<\/p>\n

\n

In her introduction to The Best of Spanish Steampunk<\/i>, Diana M. Pho points out what has become a hallmark of the genre: it gives writers \u201can opportunity to unearth and highlight the underdogs of history.\u201d The very nature of steampunk \u2014 its juxtapositions and unexpected connections \u2014 leads writers in the genre to explore what might have been had steam truly driven the world. Such an important alternative history, then, necessitates imagining significantly different outcomes in wars that were fought and those that might never have occurred. I can\u2019t help but go back to another recent steampunk collection \u2014 The SEA is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia<\/i>, edited by Jayme Goh and Joyce Chng \u2014 that did similar work, reimagining a world in which European colonial forces often failed to subjugate native populations, and where those populations developed steam-driven technology designed with their particular and unique environments and cultures in mind.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The writers represented in The Best of Spanish Steampunk<\/i> also reimagine conflict outcomes \u2014 the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th century, revolts in Andalusia in the 1930s, etc. \u2014 using steam technology and its accompanying hazards and benefits to offer us alternatives. Each of these writers, too, has an extensive background in speculative fiction and ongoing interest in steampunk aesthetics. By bringing their many and varied voices together in one collection, James and Marian Womack have been able to show us the richness of steampunk written in Spanish as it manifests itself around the world.<\/p>\n

Split into seven sections (the last includes only novellas), TBSS<\/i> runs the gamut of steampunk interests and aesthetics: politics, conflict, technology and innovation, \u201cmechanical men,\u201d time and perception, and even \u201cmetaliterature.\u201d And while each story was enjoyable for its unique perspective on history or technology, a few became personal favorites. These include the very dark \u201cSaturn\u2019s Children\u201d by Sergio Lifante, in which unsuspecting subjects\u2019 dreams are distilled by a powerful steam-driven machine into a \u201cperfect dream;\u201d the hilarious \u201cHating Lester J. Murray\u201d by Laura Fern\u00e1ndez, about an obnoxiously-chatty airship with writerly pretensions; and the delightful-yet-rockin\u2019 \u201cSuprends Le Monde!\u201d by Ismael Manzanares, set during the Paris Universal Exposition, in which the Eiffel Tower does\u2026well\u2026something unexpected<\/i>.<\/p>\n

This is a very small taste of a much larger and very entertaining collection. If you\u2019ve been looking to expand your speculative fiction horizons, or read more in translation, or learn more about the Spanish steampunk scene, this book\u2019s for you. And for anyone who just loves a good story about airship pirates or the creepy Dr. Moreau, or political intrigue- yeah, this book\u2019s for you, too.<\/p>\n

(first posted on SF Signal 3\/17\/16)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

edited and translated by James and Marian Womack Cheeky Frawg\/ Ediciones Nevsky February 18, 2015 610 pages In her introduction to The Best of Spanish Steampunk, Diana M. Pho points out what has become a hallmark of the genre: it gives writers \u201can opportunity to unearth and highlight the underdogs of history.\u201d The very nature<\/p>\n

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