I will admit that this is one of my first forays into the world of steampunk. While I found the stories compelling and the writing engaging, it felt that many of the stories were created to support the technology, rather than the other way around; that is to say, the "cool tech" appears to be the driving element behind the tales, rather than being a creative tool for making good stories more compelling. When the tech was brought to the forefront, it became far more difficult to believe, and therefore the book became more difficult to "fall into" with that willing suspension of disbelief that usually making such tales so engaging. That said, this book was definitely worth checking out, and was certainly a welcome addition to my growing experience with the genre. ( )

I received this book as an Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing, and the untimeliness of my review is largely because I attempted, and bounced off, the first story several times. Military SF really isn't my thing, even when it's steampunk. What I really enjoyed are the Madame Magdala stories, which spin off from the worldbuilding in the earlier Shadow Conspiracy stories series which Radford edited. Anything to do with Ada Lovelace, Mary Shelley, or Lord Byron, and I'm pretty much there, and Radford plays with these characters in an interesting way. The writing, honestly, did not do much for me -- though Magdala and her sister, the steampunk pirate Trude, are very different characters, their voices didn't seem that different to me. However, there's a good bit of imagination and steampunk tech here. ( )

I love anything steampunk and wasn't disappointed with this collection of stories. If anything, I wouldn't mind seeing more fleshed out work by this author and as a matter of fact, the last story "Night Dancer" is a sneak peek at a future novel.

The blurb for the eBook is quite enticing and is a pretty good indication of what to expect:

Steampunk’s big, brassy, powerful, and sweaty way of looking at the world sideways inspires six stories of the Victorian age of wonder. Irene Radford offers new and old stories that reach from a weapon of mass destruction that could change the outcome of the U.S. Civil War, the truth behind why the ballet Giselle disappeared for nearly fifty years, pirates in Indonesia questioning whether we should control technology or be controlled by it, to a glimpse of Princess Victoria coming of age as secret operatives try to protect her from madmen acting in the name of long dead Lord Byron. Adding to the fun Steampunk Journeys includes a sneak peek at an upcoming novel in the world of dirigibles, necromancy, a steam powered book catalog, and hints of romance.

It will be interesting to see how far the author can take what's she's dished out as starters and see how some main courses will look. ( )

I picked this book because I had read Irene Radford's collection Fantastical Ramblings and liked the book. I found the same great format in this book, she can tell wonderful stories. I liked the strong female character hidden behind the facade of Victorian properness.

There are two reasons for the lower rating, one being my personal taste, I just have not developed an interest in the Steampunk environment of literature. The second is because in spite of having the same lead character the book lacked in my opinion the cohesiveness needed in a good collection of stories. It left me longing for a good hefty novel or two combining all the bits and pieces of the stories. ( )

Straightforward collection of short stories in the steampunk genre. It was a bit confusing as to 5 or 6 stories. The 6th, Night Dancer, is actually a sneak peek of an upcoming release. The other titles are about what you expect in this type of collection: some Civil War, some London, some automatons, some gadgets & gizmos etc etc. They are all well done and could have easily been turned into full length novels. I especially enjoyed Pirate Queen of French Prairie-really good story with pirates and a steamboat! The characters were interesting and I wish it had been a stand alone book with even more details and a longer storyline. If you like steampunk and quick reads, definitely get this book. I received a copy to review, my opinion is my own. ( )