Title: Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel, Being an Anthology of Mormon Steampunk
Editor: John M. Olsen
Publisher: Immortal Works LLC, Salt Lake City
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Year Published: 2019
Number of Pages: 330
(Reviewed by Conor Hilton)
I thoroughly enjoyed the second volume in the Mormon Steampunk Anthology series. There’s lots of pulpy, good, Mormon-inflected fun throughout. There’s a wide range of stories once again, with a little something for everyone. I didn’t love all of the stories, but similar to the first volume I appreciated seeing what they had to say about what Mormonism is by way of what it might have been.
A few stories that I particularly enjoyed:
“Rachel’s Prayer”, Megan Rupp
“Sisters Sorenson and the Mechanical Man”, Scott E. Tarbet
“The Miracle of the Gulls”, D.J. Moore
“Solids Don’t Evaporate”, Mindie Erb
“By Ailad’s Bootstraps”, Kurt Kammeyer
I found myself moved by moments in these stories in particular and pondering their events still, some weeks after I finished reading them. Some good, thoughtful, pulpy fun.
Title: Press Forward, Saints, Being an Anthology of Mormon Steampunk
Editor: D. J. Butler
Publisher: Immortal Works LLC, Salt Lake City
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Year Published: 2019
I think these volumes get better and better! And this third volume has some great stuff in it–airships, re-tellings of Book of Mormon stories, thoughts on science and religion, space pirates, lesbians, violence and redemption, and Mormons on Mars!!!
A few of my favorites from this volume:
“Blood Unto the Sun”, Sean Smith
“Above the Top of the Mountain”, Dan Thurot
“Con-Founded”, Bruce Webster & John Lundwall
“Spirit Photographs”, James Wymore
AND one of the best Mormon short stories I’ve ever read: Theric Jepson’s “The Prophetess of Mars”. Seriously LOVED this. I can’t stop thinking about it–vivid images and ideas, wonderful work building a world that feels very Mormon even though there are some stark deviations from what you would expect. It’s wild and weird and provocative and ends on a hopeful but not fully resolved note that is so delicious and tantalizing I’ll be sitting with this for a long time. Wow. Stunning, wonderful, incredible work. The whole collection is worth it, even if you read just this story. (Which you shouldn’t limit yourself to! You’d be missing out on quite a lot of fun.)