Stars: 3 out of 5.
I have a love-hate relationship with anthologies. They can be a lot of fun if the stories held within are entertaining and written by authors who have the knack for writing compelling stories in the least amount of words possible. Trust me, it’s a hard art to master. On the other hand, they can be a slog if most of the stories are lackluster at best and uninspired at most. Then it turns into an exercise of frustration reading them, because I feel bad skipping a story I don’t like, especially since I’m not guaranteed that I would like the next story, or the one after that either… Yet, for some reason, I keep requesting anthologies every time I see them on NetGalley, and I read every single one of them.
In this case, the anthology is rather meh. Most of the stories felt rather uninspired. And a few only vaguely touched on the theme. I came expecting fun stories of mechanics with grease on their coveralls and under their fingernails, and a knack for fixing anything with the right size wrench and a few curse words. But a lot of stories concentrated more on their political messages than that particular theme. I felt like I was being preached to instead of entertained. And a short story is NOT the right medium to get your political, philosophical, or moral point across. There are simply not enough pages to establish the world, and the stakes, and make us care for the characters and the message you want to deliver.
Also, there were fewer mechanical shenanigans than I wanted in a dieselpunk anthology.
The two stories that stood out for me were “Nobody’s Hero” and “The Return of the Diesel Kid”. They were written by different authors, but seem to share the same world, where superheroes, called Capes, and their sidekicks are a common occurrence. Those stories didn’t take themselves seriously, but were really fun to read. I thoroughly enjoyed our non-powered mechanics saving the day in both of them.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.