Description
Stepping Sideways features short stories from talented Australian authors. Some tales are steampunk, others dystopian, and all combine to create unique and intriguing stories that will transport you into amazing and complex worlds.
A circus is not all it seems. A monster… and opportunity… waits in ocean mists. A friendship is out of time. A group of kids escape scavenger dogs in a brutal world. A water sprite is far from home. And a machine generates romance. These stories and others await in this steampunk and dystopian anthology by Australian authors, sure to transport you into worlds of danger and wonder.
Authors include Lynne Stringer, Emily Larkin, Annaliese Hudson, Linsey Painter, Shaye Wardrop, Andreas Katsineris-Paine, Adele Jones, Elizabeth Klein, Jeanette O’Hagan, Rachel Denham-White, Jennifer Horn and Bianca Breen.
Review
A plethora of terrific Australian authors have contributed to this collection of short stories based in steampunk or dystopian worlds. Although the stories are short they will make the reader think. Each reader will find their favourites but for me there were a couple of standouts.
Firstly, in Big Top Breakout we have a despotic circus boss who mistreats his performers. So to see Eva, whose time was nearly up, escape in a rigged-up clown car with thirteen others all piled in, seemed a fitting end! A hope for their future in a bleak dystopian world.
Similarly, I enjoyed The Spark which depicted a rich young man whose family bought his way into a technology guild scholarship to further develop his thinking machine. But he was too lazy to perform the detailed work to make it a truly remarkable machine, so in steps the young Miss Eyeli who works tirelessly as his apprentice to get the machine to have its own voice, thoughts and even emotions. Artificial intelligence at its best, with the success due to a remarkable young girl.
Whichever story appeals most to the reader, it is wonderful to have this collection written by great Australian authors. It will be most enjoyed by those aged 12 to 15 years.
