Listed as one of Steampunk: 13 Titles To Update Your Collections

Unlike a lot of steampunk, Valentine’s novel seems to be set in a postapocalyptic future world. The Circus Tresaulti is made up of mechanically modified performers who travel the countryside, never visiting any city twice. The plot is fairly basic: a shadowy character wants to return to preapocalypse prosperity with the help of the circus, but his motives are muddled and may not actually be a good thing for the circus and its performers. This is not a flaw, however, as it lets the reader delve into Valentine’s wonderful characters and descriptive voice. Darker than a lot of steampunk, this isn’t for everyone, but it will suit fans of Angela Carter and Jack O’Connell.

Lightspeed: Year One, edited by John Joseph Adams, has just been added to Prime’s releases for November.

Lightspeed: Year One compiles all the fiction published by Prime Books’ online science fiction magazine Lightspeed in its first year. Originally published stories include Nebula Award finalists Vylar Kaftan’s “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” and Adam-Troy Castro’s “Arvies” as well as Carrie Vaughn’s Hugo Award-nominated “Amaryllis.” Plus there are classic stories by Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, and more.

The popular, critically-acclaimed Lightspeed is edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams. Lightspeed publishes all types of science fiction, from near-future sociological soft sf to far-future star-spanning hard sf—and everything in between. Each month, Lightspeed features a mix of original and classic stories, from a variety of authors, showcasing the best new genre voices along with bestsellers, award-winners, fan favorites, and notable authors readers already know.

Full contents and more information can be found on the product page for Lightspeed: Year One.

Jeff VanderMeer further explores his NYTimes review of Mechanique for Amazon’s Omnivoracious column, saying:

“Two…writers covered in the feature, Lauren Beukes and Genevieve Valentine, represent the future of fantastical fiction…Valentine’s novel, Mechanique, is the debut of a writer who has been enthralling readers with unique short fiction over the past few years. Her tale of a tight-knit group of altered circus performers in a ruined future mesmerizes by dint of the author’s ability to understand her characters. As I wrote, ‘Valentine…raises the novel above the ordinary through her ability to convey the richness of the circus performers’ emotional lives, coupled with impressive writing.'”

Sedia superbly blends novel of manners, alternate history, and le Carré–style espionage with a dash of superheroes and steampunk. In a Russia in which the Decembrist revolution succeeded and Constantine never abdicated, 18-year-old Sasha is unexpectedly enrolled at university thanks to a challenge her aunt Eugenia issues to Constantine. Her initial concerns about sexism fade to the background once she realizes that Chinese students are vanishing. After a visiting British student named Jack, who has strange powers, helps Sasha prevent a kidnapping, she learns of a plot that could lead Russia into war with China, England, or both. Sedia assembles a nice list of supporting characters–the forceful Eugenia, the Russian soldiers and Chinese fur traders Sasha befriends, sinister spymaster Florence Nightingale–and Sasha’s often frustrated but always practical narrative voice smoothly carries the novel to its satisfying conclusion.