The SEA is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia is beautiful, exciting, and it makes your inner Steampunk landscape more complete. It also reminds you that there are cultures in this part of the world Europeans and North Americans usually know so little about, that are older than our own, that have their own histories, stories and ways to deal with the world.Check it out, and also check out the whole site, Traveler's Steampunk Blog!
Is this a collection worth reading? If you’re looking for something different, absolutely. It promises, and delivers, a series of compelling imaginative journeys, often showing off new directions, and conceptual spaces I, for one, was unfamiliar with – and delighted to be introduced to. On that basis – yes, this one is worth a read!Thanks, Chris!
These stories fit an enormous amount of character and creativity into a small space, never relying on awkward exposition or “explaining” either the culture or the plot points. They characters exist without having to justify themselves to the audience. And the diversity goes beyond race and culture; there are some queer characters, some disabled characters. Most focus on women, women as inventors, leaders, explorers, and on women of different backgrounds working together- a nicely feminist tilt that’s becoming more prominent in steampunk.
