I wanted to like this steampunky-themed book of short-stories, but it tried too hard at cleverness and told essentially uninteresting stories. The text does not deliver on what the fascinating illustrations promise. I gave it 78 pages, 18 beyond my minimum 50, and gave it up. ( )

How do you describe a book so strange and unique it defies genre? The Cabinet of Curiosities is like no other book. Probably closest to steampunk, that doesn't even begin to describe it. The illegitimate child of Monty Python and Umberto Eco.

Full of contributions from dozens of artists and authors, it's "entries" vary from stories inspired by, to descriptions of the items contained (or formerly residing, or related to) in the Cabinet, a sort of organic museum itself that defies description, literally. Illustrated throughout by some of the items, or reconstructions, or artist renderings of some of the missing curiosities.

The writing is mainly on the strange story side of things and doesn't really fall into horror, science fiction, or fantasy. There is a wry humor to most of it. Most of the unfortunate people, besides Dr. Lambshead himself, come to some sort of untimely end as a result of contact with the museum's curiosities. Many of the details are lost or unexplained just adding to the weirdness of the whole thing. Ultimately Dr. Lambshead dies (of natural causes, he seems immune to the Cabinet's more deleterious effects)in 2003 and the museum is partially consumed in a fire thereafter. Don't worry though, there is a 1/1000 scale model of the ENTIRE Cabinet still in existence but unfortunately the tiny key to it has been lost (eaten by a pet squid). But you can still peer through the needle sized keyhole and get a glimpse...

It's also a beautifully produce book.

I'm sure a lot of people will think three stars is too few for this, and they probably have a point, but I thought there was a fair amount of filler material here and certain sections of the book dragged a bit and failed to hold my attention.

I would still highly recommend this to anyone interested in the weird tale. Most will probably find the entire book entertaining. ( )

Þetta er ein af fáum bókum sem ég hef verslað mér vegna titilsins. Ástæðan er sú að furðuskápar eða Cabinet of Curiosities voru upphaf safna eins og við þekkjum þau í dag. Á síðmiðöldum kepptust ríkir hefðarmenn við að safna furðugripum og hlutum frá fjarlægum stöðum. Sjá mátti t.d. höfuðkúpu einhyrnings, síamstvíbura, einstök listaverk og gripi frá fjarlægum löndum sem varla þekktust í heimsmynd vestræns samfélags.
Thackery T. Lambshead, eða Lambshaus eins og við getum kallað hann, er persónusköpun Ann og Jeffs VanderMeers og er þetta önnur bókin er varðar þessa furðulegu persónu. Cabinet of Curiosities fjallar um mikið safn furðuhluta sem hann hefur sankað að sér og er hér líst af miklum fjölda höfunda sem sjá hlutina og sögu safnsins hver með sínu auga. Útkoman er stórfurðulegt safn sem er bæði heillandi en um leið ruglandi. Mörgum hlutum er líst en einnig persónu Lambshauss, heimsóknum gesta til hans og umræðum um hann. Hjónin Ann og Jeff virðast hafa gefið höfundum sínum nokkuð lausan tauminn við sagnaflæði sitt og á það kannski þátt í því hve mörg fræg nöfn þau hafa fengið til liðs við sig. Margar sögurnar eru heillandi og lýsa mörgum skemmtilegum furðuhlutum og gera furðusafn Lambshauss að ákaflega heillandi safni en um leið eru þær svo sundurlausar að liggja þarf yfir þeim og gefa sér tíma til að melta heildina. ( )

This book was a pleasure to read, and it is one to browse through. Pick the passages that appeal to you first, then come back and read others. The book combines a feel of nonfiction, kind of like like reading an exotic guide or even something like the 10th edition Brittanica combined with a good fiction collection. There is also a subtle sense of humor along with a sense of wonder in the collection. Since I borrowed the copy I read, I did feel a bit rushed, but this is a book I would not mind buying so I can go back to it now and then. If you like Steampunk, Victoriana, or similar genres, you will enjoy this book. The photos and art in it are pretty good too. ( )

This is a monster that shames but does not shamble, that bites but does not shit, that writhes but does not grasp.

This anthology succeeded as a perfect diversion. Premise is simple: fictional scholar/collector travels the world assembling the merely odd and the paranormally affected. Nothing too ghastly. Just weird. I bought it for the heavy-hitters, Moore, Chiang, Negarestani and especially Miéville, and they did not disappoint. Most of these collections are typically hit-and-miss, this one was uncanny, unheimlich, and ultimately entertaining: no duds. It is no easy task, providing a portrait or provenance in static form with just a hint of unease. ( )

I got to page 170 of this book and then decided to set it aside. It's a very creative idea; the whole book is about a fake man name Lambshead and his curiosities. It's written like a non-fiction book. I wasn’t a huge fan of Vandermeer’s “City of Saints and Madmen” either and I didn’t realize this book was related to that one (which it is).

This isn't the kind of book you sit down and read, but rather a good coffee table book that you pick up now and then and read a bit of. It's intriguing, odd, but ultimately wasn't really for me.

I think the thing I disliked most about this book was that it read a lot like a non-fiction book (which I am not a fan of reading a ton of non-fiction) but I knew it was all fake. So, I was suffering through reading a non-fiction-like book that wasn’t really helping me learn anything real.

My favorite part of this book were the stories based off of objects in Thackery’s Cabinet; some of these were decent and I enjoyed them.

Overall this book wasn’t for me but it is very creative and well done for what it is. If you are into Vandermeer’s whole fake steampunk world that he introduced in “City of Saints and Madmen” you’ll enjoy this. If you like the whole fake subject presented as real fact in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way I think you will enjoy this as well. ( )

This is a book that's hard to rate - some of the stories are quite brilliant - and others less so. I like the stories of the different people actually meeting Dr. Lambshead or the descriptions of the stuff in his cabinet, but some of the stories about the actual objects dragged a bit. The illustrations are quite brilliant. ( )

Book Info: Genre: Satire/speculative shorts
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Those who enjoy speculative fiction and clever storytelling

My Thoughts: I learned about cabinets of curiosities from reading the Pendergast novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. One of the novels is actually titled The Cabinet of Curiosities and it explains what these are. Basically, a cabinet of curiosities is a private collection of interesting and odd things, which were quite popular in the 19th century. Whatever the person putting it together is interested in would be collected. In this collection of short, speculative, essay-type stories, the various writers describe the stories behind the items in Thackery T. Lambshead's cabinet of curiosities.

This book is not as funny as the book of fake diseases I just read, but it is still wonderfully well done. The various authors have written of their assigned objects so convincingly that I often found myself thinking that I should look up more information on one thing or another, but of course the chances are that they were just making things up. However, there were some fairly funny stories, such as the story “Diminutions” by Michael Moorcock, in which some men decide to bring the Gospel to germs, and to receive some extra funding:
“Bannister... persuaded the governors that, if a will to do evil motivated these microns, then the influence of the Christian religion was bound to have an influence for good. This meant, logically, that fewer boys would be in the infirmary and that, ultimately, shamed by the consequences of their actions, the germs causing, say, tuberculosis would cease to spread.” [p. 169]
I enjoyed the stories by Charles Yu and Garth Nix so much that I plan to look through their available works to find new books for my wishlist. So, yeah, I really enjoyed this one, too.

If you are interested in this book, or if you read and enjoyed it, then you should check out the earlier anthology, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases (review linked here). And if you haven't read this one yet, definitely check it out; it's really fascinating and the stories are very well done.

Disclosure: I bought this book for myself. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: The death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead in 2003 at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, revealed an astonishing discovery: the remains of a remarkable cabinet of curiosities.

A carefully selected group of popular artists and acclaimed, bestselling fantasy authors has been assembled to bring Dr. Lambshead’s cabinet of curiosities to life. Including contributions from Alan Moore, Lev Grossman, Mike Mignola, China Miéville, Cherie Priest, Carrie Vaughn, Greg Broadmore, Naomi Novik, Garth Nix, Michael Moorcock, Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, Ted Chiang, and many more. ( )

Þetta er ein af fáum bókum sem ég hef verslað mér vegna titilsins. Ástæðan er sú að furðuskápar eða Cabinet of Curiosities voru upphaf safna eins og við þekkjum þau í dag. Á síðmiðöldum kepptust ríkir hefðarmenn við að safna furðugripum og hlutum frá fjarlægum stöðum. Sjá mátti t.d. höfuðkúpu einhyrnings, síamstvíbura, einstök listaverk og gripi frá fjarlægum löndum sem varla þekktust í heimsmynd vestræns samfélags.
Thackery T. Lambshead, eða Lambshaus eins og við getum kallað hann, er persónusköpun Ann og Jeffs VanderMeers og er þetta önnur bókin er varðar þessa furðulegu persónu. Cabinet of Curiosities fjallar um mikið safn furðuhluta sem hann hefur sankað að sér og er hér líst af miklum fjölda höfunda sem sjá hlutina og sögu safnsins hver með sínu auga. Útkoman er stórfurðulegt safn sem er bæði heillandi en um leið ruglandi. Mörgum hlutum er líst en einnig persónu Lambshauss, heimsóknum gesta til hans og umræðum um hann. Hjónin Ann og Jeff virðast hafa gefið höfundum sínum nokkuð lausan tauminn við sagnaflæði sitt og á það kannski þátt í því hve mörg fræg nöfn þau hafa fengið til liðs við sig. Margar sögurnar eru heillandi og lýsa mörgum skemmtilegum furðuhlutum og gera furðusafn Lambshauss að ákaflega heillandi safni en um leið eru þær svo sundurlausar að liggja þarf yfir þeim og gefa sér tíma til að melta heildina. ( )

Last but certainly not least we have a book acquired from one Jeff VanderMeer, signed by said editor and his accomplice, Ann VanderMeer, and kindly shipped to me for review purposes an embarrassingly long time ago. As is appropriate to such an anthology of bits and pieces, I read The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities in fits and starts, probably beginning by the pool last summer, the majority read at Chincoteague, and finished post-move in the new house. On the other hand, it's a rich and complex enough world to sink into, if one tends towards more efficient, focused reading.

This level of complexity largely stems from the wide array of contributors to this steampunk confluence, including Garth Nix, Tad Williams, Cherie Priest (of Boneshaker) and Alan Moore. While there were amusing oddities described in brief at various points in the book, the short stories have continued to stand out in my mind. The Relic, a story of a sand-bound church and its odd holy item, has stuck with me most. Some of the content felt mildly forced from the authors' pens, as if they had a story to tell, but had to include that one pesky element (the curiosity). The best written works used the items from Lambshead's cabinet, or snippets about the Doctor himself (because, of course, he was a doctor) to explore into a corner or two of the world set before them. This difference lies between the authors who tried to make the curiosities fit into a world of their own and those who used the curiosity to explore Lambshead's world.
Read in the original context on my blog ( )

In a generally-obscure English village named Whimpering-on-the-Brink there stands an elaborate mansion, the home of the renowned doctor, adventurer and eccentric, Thackery T. Lambshead. The house, and its occupant, were known as the foci of an ever-expanding collection of odd and interesting things, both material and otherwise. Lambshead’s most famous publication, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, exemplified this acquisitive approach to discovery, presenting a varied selection of anecdotes and obscure reports about little-known maladies from around the world.

Following Dr. Lambshead’s death in 2003 at the age of 103, his house stood largely (though not completely) untouched for five years, until the British government declared it a national treasure. A year after that, the caretakers discovered, in the basement, the remains of a long-rumored cabinet of curiosities–a set of rooms crammed with unusual and exotic items of all kinds. After extensive research and cataloging, the editors of the doctor’s compendium of diseases resolved to reveal these wonders to the world, and therefore compiled a set of texts describing the strange and tangled history of many of the fascinating objects being brought into the light of day.

So goes the story, anyway.

Specifically, the story contained within the introduction to The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. In 2003, Jeff VanderMeer, along with Mark Roberts, gave us the above-named Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, which brought together such esteemed authors of the fantastic as Michael Moorcock, China Miéville, Kage Baker, Cory Doctorow and Neil Gaiman to assemble an uproarious secret history, seen through the prism of a 19th-century popular medical guide.

Now, in the Cabinet of Curiosities, the VanderMeers revisit their mysterious fictional hero through a meticulous and engaging exploration of his personal cornucopia. The cabinet of curiosities was a remarkable tradition among the well-off in the Renaissance and later, a large room (or set of rooms) in which were kept and exhibited a variety of objects of mysterious provenance and little-understood purpose. Such collections, occasionally open to the public, provided the template for the natural-history museums of today; the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Grünes Gewölbe, and the Mütter Museum all accreted around the contents of notable cabinets.

Here, Dr. Lambshead’s cabinet is described through several sections or “exhibits”, consisting of short essays organized into subthemes. Such marvelous items as the Electrical Neurheographiton, Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny, the Pulvadmonitor, the Clockroach, and the Castleblakeney Key (with its attached hand) have their bizarre and darkly amusing stories told by a collection of authors just as impressive as in the previous volume. Ted Chiang, Garth Nix, Jay Lake, Naomi Novik, Cherie Priest, Tad Williams, Holly Black, and Alan Moore are only a few of the talents on offer, along with previous Lambsheadites such as Moorcock and Miéville.

As with the first Lambshead book, the mood is dryly humorous and satirical, with many of the essays parodying the arch style of 19th- and early 20th-century scientific writing. The scope, however, is far greater. Dr. Lambshead’s artifacts span all of the world’s cultures and thousands of years of history, and many have seemingly magical properties that have unpredictable effects on the lives of those who encounter them. This structure allows for a considerably greater variety of characters and stories than in the previous volume.

For example, Carrie Vaughn’s contribution, “Threads”, tells the story of several people who, visiting the doctor’s mansion, encounter a worn, faded tapestry of a unicorn. The tapestry, due to some mystical property that is never explained, has a powerful influence on all of them–and while the experience is brief, for some the result is life-changing. Vaughn uses this device to paint vivid portraits of average people who are perplexed by situations of which they are only vaguely aware.

Another example, “Lot 558: Shadow of My Nephew by Wells, Charlotte” by Holly Black, begins with the auction of an unusual item of taxidermy–a bear cub with diamond eyes and a speaker in its chest–and tells the sad and strange story of its creation, of a bear who falls in love with a human woman and who tries, and fails, to live as a man.

These surrealistic tales conjure up a world that still has room for mystery, in which not every phenomenon is understood and cataloged, in which there are more things than are dreamt of in our philosophies–and where a dedicated bricoleur such as Thackery Lambshead can be a caretaker of those mysteries for our benefit. Each of these stories, much like the items from the cabinet, serves as a little capsule of wonder and inspiration.

At its best, the so-called New Weird–a genre inextricably linked to the VanderMeers–masterfully evokes this feeling of wonder, usually in a modern setting that would normally be incompatible with such fantasies. The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities is a landmark of this style, probably even more so than its predecessor. It is a dense read, and perhaps not suitable to be tackled all in one go. But the intrepid explorer who stumbles upon this Wunderkammer will find treasures well worth the journey. ( )

I was saddened to learn of Dr. Lambshead’s passing. The world will be a poorer place without him, but what a legacy he’s left behind. Thankfully, we have luminaries from his inner circle, such people as Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, China Mieville and Naomi Novik, to name just a few, hard at work cataloging the many curiosities collected over the good Doctor’s lifetime and enlightening us of these finds.

While the world of Dr. Lambshead’s younger years was not ready for it, maybe now is the time to revive interest in such automata as Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny. I could see a modernized adaptation utilizing a tablet computing device and a more anthropomorphic mannequin, replacing the crude Victorian model collected by the Doctor, to help modern families with their child rearing burdens. Yes indeed. Thanks to Ted Chiang for revealing this wonder to us.

This is but one of the many wonders to be found in this very tongue in cheek collection of short stories and ramblings from some of the brightest fantasy writers publishing today. While not all of the stories are of the same level of enjoyment, unlike other anthologies with a common theme I’ve recently read, I did not find one substandard offering among them. All range from more than just very good to outstanding. Some were pure fantasy, such as Naomi’ Novik’s Lord Dunsany’s Teapot, others were decidedly steampunk influenced, as was Cherie Priest’s offering for this collection, Addison Howell and the Clockroach; the latter not surisingly bearing a resemblance to her wonderful novel Boneshaker.

Being short stories, most were quick reads and each story stands alone on its own merits. The ones that were not such a quick read were so good, I did not want them to end. If you are a fan of the good Doctor, or a fan of Steampunk or fantasy that is not all Damsels and Dragons but maybe something more of an alternate reality bent, you should try this collection. I think you will find something here to like.
This is an exceptional collection and well worth a full five stars. There is quite a collection of talent in this volume and each author adds to the persona of Dr. Lambhead in their own unique way. ( )

An Appraisal of a Unique and Fascinating Tome - The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities - Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities
Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Editors)
Harper Voyager
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
Hardcover
320 Pages
ISBN: 9780062004751

A Word Concerning the Discovery

After the death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead eight years ago a startling discovery was made at his manor house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England. Buried beneath the stacked detritus of antiques and collectibles in the basement of his Victorian-era cottage and nearly reduced to ash by fire was discovered the most remarkable cabinet of curiosities ever encountered. In it was a vast accumulation of extraordinary artifacts and curios. For the first time since that astonishing unearthing a select group of artisans (authors, fantasists, illustrators, and artists – hypnotists all) have assembled together to catalogue and craft to life the oddities recently found in Dr. Lambshead’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

The Curious Contents of the Cabinet

- The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities

- Introduction:

The Contradictions of a Collection, Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet - The Editors

- Holy Devices and Infernal Duds: The Broadmore Exhibits

The Electrical Neurheographiton - Minister Y. Faust , D. Phil

St. Brendan's Shank - Kelly Barnhill

The Auble Gun – Will Hindmarch

Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny – Ted Chiang

- Honoring Lambshead: Stories Inspired by the Cabinet

Threads – Carrie Vaughn

Ambrose and the Ancient Spirits of East and West – Garth Nix

Relic – Jeffrey Ford

Lord Dunsany’s Teapot – Naomi Novik

Lot 558: Shadow of My Nephew by Wells, Charlotte – Holly Black

A Short History of Dunkelblau’s Meistergarten – Tad Williams

- Microbial Alchemy and Demented Machinery: The Mignola Exhibits

Addison Howell and the Clockroach – Cherie Priest

Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham, GBE, a.k.a. Roboticus the All-Knowing – Lev Grossman

Shamalung (The Diminutions) – Michael Moorcock

Pulvadmonitor: The Dust’s Warning – China Mieville

- The Mieville Anomalies

The Very Shoe – Helen Oyeyemi

The Gallows-horse – Reza Negarestani

- Further Oddities

The Thing in the Jar – Michael Cisco

The Singing Fish – Amal El-Mohtar

The Armor of Sir Locust – Stephan Chapman

A Key to the Castleblakeney Key – Caitlin R. Kiernan

Taking the Rats to Riga – Jay Lake

The Book of Categories – Charles Yu

Objects Discovered in a Novel Under Construction – Alan Moore

- Visits and Departures

1929:The Singular Taffy Puller – N. K. Jemisin

1943: A Brief Note Pertaining to the Absence of One Olivaceous Cormorant, Stuffed – Rachel Swirsky

1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur – Mur Lafferty

1972: The Lichenologist’s Visit – Ekaterina Sedia

1995: Kneel – Brian Evenson

2000: Dr. Lambshead’s Dark Room – S. J. Chambers

2003: The Pea – Gio Clairval

- A Brief Catalog of Other Items

- -- An Inquisitive Review of Cabinet Curiosities by The Alternative One

Paragraph the First: Being a Failing on the Part of the Critic While Indicating a Certain Genius on the Part of the Editors.

The fault on my part is that due to a set of unfortunate circumstances I had never heard of Thackery T. Lambshead before purchasing a copy of the very unique and satisfying Cabinet of Curiosities. The brilliance of the editors is that for the first 20 pages or so (the entire introduction actually) I firmly believed that there really was a collector of oddities named Thackery T. Lambshead. So much so that I had to conduct a Google search to find that he (and the books about him – however vaguely) are pure fabrication. But oh, what beautiful curiosities I have been witness to here. I was spellbound and entranced from the moment I opened the tome. Unique devices, eerie tales, colossal inventions, peculiar stories, and hypnotic illustrations by the likes of Carrie Vaughn, Greg Broadmore, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Tad Williams, Cherie Priest, Lev Grossman, Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, and China Mieville, among others, make this one of the very best collections of dark ephemera, exhibits, relics, keepsakes, antiques, artifacts, illustrations, things in jars, and curiosities ever brought together under the cover of one beautifully etched and illuminated tome.

Paragraph the Second: Being a Review of the Contents in no Logical or Discerning Order but with an Eye Pointed Squarely at the Most Curious of Oddities.

The Introduction overflows with anecdotal information concerning Dr. Lambshead and his wife Helen. Unfortunately, much of Lambshead’s story is missing at this point. Fortunately, it appears that the remaining stories in the collection are rumored to shed more light on the mysterious doctor and his bevy of curiosities and indeed do not disappoint. Entries of significant import include (in order of personal enjoyment by this critic): Naomi Novik’s captivating Lord Dunsany’s Teapot; Cherie Priest’s (a perennial favorite of mine) Addison Howell and the Clockroach; Michael Moorcock’s addition Shamalung (The Diminutions); China Mieville’s always strange and imaginative Pulvadmonitor: The Dust’s Warning, and Amal El-Mohtar’s The Singing Fish.

Paragraph the Third: In Which a Brief Outline of Indelible Art and Outlandish Illustrations is Revealed.

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities contains some of the very best Steampunk art you may find. With unforgettable illustrations by the hands of esteemed artists such as Greg Broadmore, Sam Van Ollfen , James A. Owen , Jonathan Nix , and John Coulthart there is steampunk curiosity enough for everyone here. Honestly folks, I would own this book just for the artwork alone, sans stories. Fortunately for all, the text matches the illustrations in beauty and elegance.

Paragraph the Fourth: Recommendations by Variety of Like and Kind.

If you enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke , Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs , Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy , or Billy Sunday by Rod Jones then The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities will certainly be an entertaining distraction for you.

5 out of 5 stars

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin

Additional Reading:

Thackery T. Lambshead series:
1. The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases (2005)
2. The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists (2011) ( )

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/09/review-the-thackery-t-lambshead-cabinet-of-...

I was so excited when I received this book for review! It’s only lately that I’ve begun to warm to anthologies,and I often look upon them to discover an author’s work that I’m not familiar with,with a minimum of commitment. Cabinet of Curiosities gave me that,and much,much more! The anthology is based upon the (fictional) story of Thackery T. Lambshead (1900-2003),a mad doctor of sorts,and his odd and vast assortment of relics,knick knacks,medical paraphernalia,steampunk devices,and much more,supposedly uncovered beneath his estate. The book begins with background on Lambshead and the myth and mystery that surrounds the man.

The story behind each item is covered by a different author,with names such as Carrie Vaughn,Cherie Priest,Garth Nix,Lev Grossman,Holly Black contributing,along with a star studded list of others. Among the highlights is Carrie Vaughn’s “Threads”,covering the story behind a medieval tapestry,Lev Grossman’s “Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham,GBE,a.k.a. Roboticus the All-Knowing”,about the ravaged body of an adventuring dandy that’s rebuilt into a modern,robotic marvel,“Lord Dunsany’s Teapot”by Naomi Novik,and “Shamalung (The Diminutions)”by Michael Moorcock. Expertly compiled,filled with illustrations and pictures that will thrill every steampunk/fantasy fan,great writing from some of the top authors in the fantasy genre today,and brimming with Victorian sensibility and wit,”Cabinet of Curiosities”kept me occupied for hours and is a must for every Steampunk/Fantasy collection. For lovers of all things odd,this book is a gem!
Note: I urge you to splurge and get a hardcover copy if you can. I have a feeling the ebook wouldn’t do it justice. ( )

As befits the fictional collection, Cabinet harbours a myriad of delights, along with gorgeous paintings, sketches, and photographs (the book itself is gorgeous). Luminaries such as Michael Moorcock, China Mieville, Mike Mignola, Alan Moore, Lev Grossman, Tad Williams, Minister Faust, and dozens beside contribute tales, descriptions, and more, resulting in an anthology of vastly differing styles and themes. The entries, bearing titles such as Dunkelblau's Meistergarten, The Electrical Neurheographiton, the Clockroach, and The Thing in the Jar, are wondrous and strange, completely original, and sadly fictional (I want an Automatic Nanny).

Read the rest of the review here. ( )

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