Steampunking around in Lambshead’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’

For those readers whose hair stands on end when thinking about complex do-dads and peculiar thingamajigs, a trip into The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities will be a satisfying journey.

Pulling together various stories from famed steampunk and fantasy writers, editors Ann and Jeff Vandermeer have created an anthology that stresses the finer details. From descriptions of an electrical nuerheographiton to the hilariously strange device known as Dunkelblau’s Meistergarten, the book creates a fake reality and devotes itself to setting its characters and events in a quasi-historical context.

Like any anthology, some of the stories are ‘holy,’ while others are ‘infernal duds.’ None of them are uninteresting, and because they rarely go on for more than 10 pages, the stories are always fleeting and harmless.

One of the finer examples is “The Auble Gun” by Will Hindmarch, which details the unlikely story of a “man-portable, multibarreled mitrailleuse designed to be carried and fired on an operator’s shoulder for ease and haste of transport and displacement in tenuous battlefield circumstances.”

The tale works so well because the technology of the instrument is not the entire focus of the story. When steampunk writers become so enamored in description and arcane scientific references, often character and plot take a backseat. The vignettes that work best in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities are those that set the device’s inventor as a pivotal, engaging character.

To that end, the stories featuring Lambshead himself are highly enjoyable entries. Throughout most of the book, the title character remains nebulous. We know he is dead. We know he spent a lifetime acquiring various curios from his many travels and professions. But other than those broad details, the good doctor is a mystery, with often conflicting evidence about his whereabouts, his intentions, his loyalties and, of course, his cabinet of curiosities.

To better categorize the book, the Vandermeers have broken the stories into several sections, including Stories Inspired by the Cabinet, Microbial Alchemy and Demented Machinery, Visits, Departures and Oddities. Each writer is given free reign to spin their respective yarns as tight or loose as possible. Some are content with a three-page parable involving Lambshead and his collection as supporting characters. Others create proper short stories with engrossing plots that stand apart as nice breaks from the overall trajectory of the book.

A highlight has to be Jeffrey Ford’s “Relic,” which describes the eerie circumstances of Saint Ifritia’s foot. Set in a fantastical landscape, dubbed the “end of the world,” the story follows a religious man and religious woman who sermonize about the majesty of the strange relic in their possession. Reading Ford’s tale is an enchanting experience; he draws the reader in with alternating sections of prose and sermon transcripts.

Some of the stories in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities are wistful (“The Singing Fish” by Amal El-Mohtar and “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny” by Ted Chiang), some are bordering on scary (“A Key to the Castleblakeney Key” by Caitlín R. Kiernan) and some are quite lovely (“Threads” by Carrie Vaughn). Some have clever concepts, but become lost in the description process (“Pulvadmonitor: The Dust’s Warning” by China Miéville).

All of them feature several funny moments; steampunk, after all, values comedy and clever wordplay. Many of the strange names and unbelievable contraptions are meant to be hidden comments on today’s society. The inventions are far from the truth, but they all feature an underlying allegory. You’re supposed to think: Well, that hasn’t happened yet, but I could see the world moving in that direction.

It’s a credit to the Vandermeers that Lambshead’s cabinet never loses its wonderment. The doctor proves to be enjoyable company, even if he remains a complete and frustrating mystery.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities

• Edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer

• Featuring stories from Holly Black, Greg Broadmore, Ted Chiang, Lev Grossman, China Miéville, Mike Mignola, Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Helen Oyeyemi, Cherie Priest, Carrie Vaughn and more

• Harper Voyager, 320 pages (hardcover)

• Retail price: $22.99

• Rating:

• Click here to purchase The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities.