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The Long Past & Other Stories
1858 - Warring mages open up a vast inland sea that splits the United States in two. With the floodwaters come creatures from a long distant past. What seems like the End Times forges a new era of heroes and heroines who challenge tradition, law, and even death as they transform the old west into a new world.
In the heart of dinosaur country a laconic trapper and a veteran mage risk treason to undertake a secret mission.
A brilliant magician and her beautiful assistant light up stages with the latest automaton, but the secrets both of them are hiding test their trust in each other and pit them against one of the most powerful men in the world.
At the wild edge of the Inland Sea, amidst crocodiles and triceratops, an impoverished young man and a Pinkerton Detective must join forces to outmaneuver a corrupt judge and his gunmen.
In the heart of dinosaur country a laconic trapper and a veteran mage risk treason to undertake a secret mission.
A brilliant magician and her beautiful assistant light up stages with the latest automaton, but the secrets both of them are hiding test their trust in each other and pit them against one of the most powerful men in the world.
At the wild edge of the Inland Sea, amidst crocodiles and triceratops, an impoverished young man and a Pinkerton Detective must join forces to outmaneuver a corrupt judge and his gunmen.
225 pages, Paperback
First published October 3, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 7, 2017
Excellent. The first, longest novella was my favorite. Grove is maybe my favorite Hale character after Sykes and Harper from Wicked Gentlemen, whom I would love to see more of. I'd like to see more of Grove and Lawrence, too, if only to get to know Lawrence better. I'd also love to read more about the secondary character Lady Astor (how did she get so good at impersonations, for instance?). Fun stuff.
October 10, 2017
Historical Western Steampunk with Dinosaurs…need I say more?
Well, ok. I guess I can say a bit more.
Lately it has felt like I haven’t read anything really unique in quite some time. Sure there have been some good stories, but it has been a while since I’ve looked at a book and gone…well, didn’t see that coming. That is pretty much what happened when I saw the cover for this story, though. It is kinda exciting when you open a book and honestly have no clue what it is hidden in the pages below you. And it doesn’t happen nearly as often as I would like it to.
Here in this book are three steampunk stories that take place in alternate world where mages–those who wield magic innately–and theurgists–those who use it in context of religion and tradition–clash and create chaos around them. Both with good and bad intentions and results. The world is better explained as it goes on from story to story, but the basics are thus:
A group of rifts in time and space where opened up around the world. Through those rifts came catastrophic amounts of sea water, causing massive flooding. The world map was drastically changed by it. England and large sections of Europe and Asia have practically vanished. Huge inland seas have opened up in both North and South America. Needless to say, it created havoc, killed millions, and drastically altered the political landscape of most of the world. And then the dinosaurs showed up–doing pretty much what dinosaurs do.
While I enjoyed all three of these stories, the first is probably my favorite. If only because it is the longest and had more time to really flush out the characters and the world. But the way the history of this world, as well as the political and social atmosphere, grows over the 40 or so years from beginning to end, made these stories seem grounded in reality. Even if that reality is one in which dinosaurs exist alongside humanity.
There is also a great cast of multi ethnic characters here–both main and secondary–which only made the stories all the better.
I’ll give a review of all the stories individually, but on the whole I would like to say this is well worth the money. The characters are all well written, and while the two shorter stories could have been fleshed out a bit more, I didn’t have a hard time reading any of them. And really, when was the last time you read a book with real live dinosaurs in it? How could you say no to dinosaurs?!
The world might have been turned on its head by the sudden and devastating rifts opening around the globe, but some things don’t change. Being a black man in the wild west of the United State (or what parts of it that are not under water) is still not an easy prospect. But Grover has to admit that for all the damage done by the rifts that brought the floods and dinosaurs, the freedom he has in his little backwater town is not something he’d easily give up. Change is on the move once again, though, when an airship comes to town bearing some fancy mages and mysterious tidings. And one man he never thought he’d ever see again.
The first of the three stories told in this book is by far the largest. It centers around the lives of Grover and his first love Lawrence. It was an excellent set up to this world. While I would have liked a bit more explanation up top about how the rifts happen and how they are connected to what has happened to this world, I think the slow unfolding of the truth over the 150 or so pages, actually worked well. It wasn’t info-dumpy, and help build the tension between Grover and Lawrence. As well as helping make the two(ish) bad guys in this story be a distant if constant threat to the MCs as well as the rest of the world.
I am a little mixed on the accuracy of some of these dinosaurs coming thru the rift existing in the same time period though. I’m pretty sure that some of these totally didn’t live along with some of the others. But in all fairness, I don’t actually care all that much about the scientific accuracy, because DINOSAURS!!! The ten-year-old boy inside of me is just totally in love with this steampunk/Jurassic Park fusion of sorts and will stand no haters.
This was an excellent set up to the rest of the book. I’m certainly curious what the other two stories have in store for me.
Ashni Naugai and her assistant, Geula Mandelbaum, are in Chicago performing their magic show to the masses in town for the World’s Fair. A show full of slight of hand may not have drawn much attention in the past, but after a catastrophic event involving two mages, that ended with hundreds dead by burning, the country has banned all “unlicensed” mage work, so the titillation of magic without any of the danger is worth a few pennies and a half hour of people’s time. They must never, though, know that Ashni is in fact a mage. Because if they do it is very likely she will be arrested and put under the “care” of a theurgist. But times are hard–and train tickets to a freer west are expensive–so when Geula is approached by a group of theurgists to help find a missing woman, they both see their freedom and their doom on the horizon. Which way their fates will turn is unclear though.
This second story was the shortest of the bunch. While I really liked the characters and the plot, I don’t think it really got quite enough time to grow to its full potential. A lot has happened in the thirty years between the two stories, and I would have loved to have spent more time flushing out all those changes. Ashni and Geula were interesting, and I would have loved more on both their backgrounds, but the story did give enough so that they could function in the plot. Their romance was a bit lacking, however. Where with Grover and Lawrence I could feel their connection, here I had to go on simply what the book was telling me. Maybe if they had not been already together at the time of the story it would have been better. I don’t know.
The theurgists are still dicks, as far as I can tell, though. And Edison…still a massive asshole no matter what universe he exists in.
When Dalfon Elias made his way into Edgewater the first time, he was after a bounty on a killer. And while he certainly got his man, he also stole the heart of one Luc Spivey, otherwise known as Lucky. Now three years later, Lucky hasn’t forgotten the man who stole his heart…and then left him without so much as a goodbye. When Lucky spies the man back in town, he knows he shouldn’t trust the newly minted Pinkerton Detective, but old habits–even short-lived ones–die hard. Unfortunately he can’t say the same about either himself or Dalfon.
This third and last story in the collection is pretty much a good ol’ western. Gunslingers, lawmen, and shootouts over land, money, and prestige. I really dug it. And unlike the last story, this one did a lot better job selling the romance between the two MCs. I do wish we had gotten a bit more before the time-jump, but there was enough of that part of their tale retold in the main portion of the story that it worked well enough. The subplot between Lucky and some of the other people from Edgewater was a nice addition, and while it was a bit obvious where it was going once the situation became clear, I didn’t mind all that much. Overall it was a very nice wrap-up to this short collection of stories.
4.5 stars
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
Well, ok. I guess I can say a bit more.
Lately it has felt like I haven’t read anything really unique in quite some time. Sure there have been some good stories, but it has been a while since I’ve looked at a book and gone…well, didn’t see that coming. That is pretty much what happened when I saw the cover for this story, though. It is kinda exciting when you open a book and honestly have no clue what it is hidden in the pages below you. And it doesn’t happen nearly as often as I would like it to.
Here in this book are three steampunk stories that take place in alternate world where mages–those who wield magic innately–and theurgists–those who use it in context of religion and tradition–clash and create chaos around them. Both with good and bad intentions and results. The world is better explained as it goes on from story to story, but the basics are thus:
A group of rifts in time and space where opened up around the world. Through those rifts came catastrophic amounts of sea water, causing massive flooding. The world map was drastically changed by it. England and large sections of Europe and Asia have practically vanished. Huge inland seas have opened up in both North and South America. Needless to say, it created havoc, killed millions, and drastically altered the political landscape of most of the world. And then the dinosaurs showed up–doing pretty much what dinosaurs do.
While I enjoyed all three of these stories, the first is probably my favorite. If only because it is the longest and had more time to really flush out the characters and the world. But the way the history of this world, as well as the political and social atmosphere, grows over the 40 or so years from beginning to end, made these stories seem grounded in reality. Even if that reality is one in which dinosaurs exist alongside humanity.
There is also a great cast of multi ethnic characters here–both main and secondary–which only made the stories all the better.
I’ll give a review of all the stories individually, but on the whole I would like to say this is well worth the money. The characters are all well written, and while the two shorter stories could have been fleshed out a bit more, I didn’t have a hard time reading any of them. And really, when was the last time you read a book with real live dinosaurs in it? How could you say no to dinosaurs?!
The Long Past
Colorado Territory, 1864
The world might have been turned on its head by the sudden and devastating rifts opening around the globe, but some things don’t change. Being a black man in the wild west of the United State (or what parts of it that are not under water) is still not an easy prospect. But Grover has to admit that for all the damage done by the rifts that brought the floods and dinosaurs, the freedom he has in his little backwater town is not something he’d easily give up. Change is on the move once again, though, when an airship comes to town bearing some fancy mages and mysterious tidings. And one man he never thought he’d ever see again.
The first of the three stories told in this book is by far the largest. It centers around the lives of Grover and his first love Lawrence. It was an excellent set up to this world. While I would have liked a bit more explanation up top about how the rifts happen and how they are connected to what has happened to this world, I think the slow unfolding of the truth over the 150 or so pages, actually worked well. It wasn’t info-dumpy, and help build the tension between Grover and Lawrence. As well as helping make the two(ish) bad guys in this story be a distant if constant threat to the MCs as well as the rest of the world.
I am a little mixed on the accuracy of some of these dinosaurs coming thru the rift existing in the same time period though. I’m pretty sure that some of these totally didn’t live along with some of the others. But in all fairness, I don’t actually care all that much about the scientific accuracy, because DINOSAURS!!! The ten-year-old boy inside of me is just totally in love with this steampunk/Jurassic Park fusion of sorts and will stand no haters.
This was an excellent set up to the rest of the book. I’m certainly curious what the other two stories have in store for me.
The Hallow History of Professor Perfectus
Chicago, 1893
Ashni Naugai and her assistant, Geula Mandelbaum, are in Chicago performing their magic show to the masses in town for the World’s Fair. A show full of slight of hand may not have drawn much attention in the past, but after a catastrophic event involving two mages, that ended with hundreds dead by burning, the country has banned all “unlicensed” mage work, so the titillation of magic without any of the danger is worth a few pennies and a half hour of people’s time. They must never, though, know that Ashni is in fact a mage. Because if they do it is very likely she will be arrested and put under the “care” of a theurgist. But times are hard–and train tickets to a freer west are expensive–so when Geula is approached by a group of theurgists to help find a missing woman, they both see their freedom and their doom on the horizon. Which way their fates will turn is unclear though.
This second story was the shortest of the bunch. While I really liked the characters and the plot, I don’t think it really got quite enough time to grow to its full potential. A lot has happened in the thirty years between the two stories, and I would have loved to have spent more time flushing out all those changes. Ashni and Geula were interesting, and I would have loved more on both their backgrounds, but the story did give enough so that they could function in the plot. Their romance was a bit lacking, however. Where with Grover and Lawrence I could feel their connection, here I had to go on simply what the book was telling me. Maybe if they had not been already together at the time of the story it would have been better. I don’t know.
The theurgists are still dicks, as far as I can tell, though. And Edison…still a massive asshole no matter what universe he exists in.
Get Lucky
Riverain County, Illinois 1896-1900
When Dalfon Elias made his way into Edgewater the first time, he was after a bounty on a killer. And while he certainly got his man, he also stole the heart of one Luc Spivey, otherwise known as Lucky. Now three years later, Lucky hasn’t forgotten the man who stole his heart…and then left him without so much as a goodbye. When Lucky spies the man back in town, he knows he shouldn’t trust the newly minted Pinkerton Detective, but old habits–even short-lived ones–die hard. Unfortunately he can’t say the same about either himself or Dalfon.
This third and last story in the collection is pretty much a good ol’ western. Gunslingers, lawmen, and shootouts over land, money, and prestige. I really dug it. And unlike the last story, this one did a lot better job selling the romance between the two MCs. I do wish we had gotten a bit more before the time-jump, but there was enough of that part of their tale retold in the main portion of the story that it worked well enough. The subplot between Lucky and some of the other people from Edgewater was a nice addition, and while it was a bit obvious where it was going once the situation became clear, I didn’t mind all that much. Overall it was a very nice wrap-up to this short collection of stories.
4.5 stars
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
Want to read
February 14, 2018$0.99 at Amazon US 2/14/18 https://www.amazon.com/Long-Past-Othe...
Want to read
February 15, 2018The mount on the cover reminds me of chocobos from Final Fantasy; I had a whole victory dance choreographed that I could do on it. Love my chocobo.
Yes, that was a deciding factor in my purchase. Plus the sale price. AND Hale is a great read.
Yes, that was a deciding factor in my purchase. Plus the sale price. AND Hale is a great read.
October 3, 2017
Who but Ginn Hale would think to weave together the 19th century Western frontier, an alternative America bisected by a great Inland Sea which has done away with much of the Midwest and Southern states, a place where magic and clockwork technology intersect, and then introduce prehistoric beasts to the mix? I can’t even with this author’s seemingly infinite supply of imagination, and there’s a reason I have long said I worship at the altar of it. Yes, I’m an unapologetic fangirl.
The Long Past & Other Stories are three independent novellas spanning from 1864 to 1896, and while I say they are independent, they are also connected in the anthology’s overall arc. The characters themselves don’t overlap from one story to the next, but the contributions to the world made by Grover and Lawrence in the first story, The Long Past, influence the times in which both The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus and Get Lucky take place. I suppose that’s to be expected, though, when two men quite literally save their world.
In an 1864 America where airships and mages coexist with a man who’s tamed a giant prehistoric bird he rides like a horse, there is also an interracial love story at work between that man, Grover, and his first, and only, love, Lawrence—the man Grover had long thought dead. Theirs is a second-chance romance that plays out against the willing sacrifice Lawrence is committed to making which will right the wrong that instigated the rift and the resulting great flood that not only altered the landscape of the country and caused mass casualties but that also allowed dinosaurs to crossover out of their own time and into this era in the process. There is such a sense of despair mixed with hope in The Long Past, and I loved how it influenced the tone of the story, from Lawrence’s calling to he and Grover rebuilding what they’d thought was lost.
In ‘Professor Perfectus’, the year is 1893, the setting Chicago during what might have been the World’s Fair in our reality, in a time and place where magic is most certainly real but is played off as sleight of hand entertainment for an enthusiastic audience. There’s danger and mystery in this short story for our heroine Abril, and I loved the villain in this one as well as the sinister invention meant to enslave women in a clockwork Stepford Wives way. As much as I’d love to tell you all about the villainy in this piece, to do so would spoil so much of the surprise, and that would be the definition of reader evil. So, I won’t say a word about it. Let me just say, though, that it’s inspired. It’s up to Abril and her love, Geula, to stop this crazed genius from carrying out his plans and to save a woman, and all women, from becoming unwilling automatons. This story resonated with me on a personal convictions level, which I loved.
In the final story, Get Lucky, the year is 1896, the rift long closed and the flooding ended, but the landscape of the New United America is forever changed. Dalfon Elias is a hired gun who’s tracking his next mark when he meets Luc Spivey, also known as Lucky. Once again, without revealing too much, Hale gives a wink and a nod to H.G. Wells in this piece, and I loved Dalfon’s penchant for finding the most appropriate literary quotes for every situation. Amidst this, Hale also layers the story with a touching romance between Dalfon and Lucky, one that takes a poignant turn before resolving in the end. Extenuating circumstances and what could only be called a twist of fate come between them, but love and luck prevail the way they should.
I realize short stories and novellas aren’t everyone’s cuppa, and I’ve read more than my fair share that forget the beginning-middle-end arc of storytelling, often making it feel as though I’ve been dumped into the middle of a story with no context to lead up to it. What Ginn Hale does with a capable hand is to not only give each novella its due substance, layering details—even ones that might seem insignificant, if isolated, but serve the whole of the world building—into the setting and characters that make each story richer for it. These characters represent a cross section of people in race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality, and I appreciated the real-world context of their storylines in the fantastical setting. The post abolition/pre-women’s suffrage frame of reference offers a realism set against the religious overtones of the earth magic that’s present here. Ginn Hale is, simply put, a master of unique and incredible Alt U fantasy. I don’t devour her work as much as I work hard to savor every word of it because to do otherwise is a guarantee of missing something amazing.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
The Long Past & Other Stories are three independent novellas spanning from 1864 to 1896, and while I say they are independent, they are also connected in the anthology’s overall arc. The characters themselves don’t overlap from one story to the next, but the contributions to the world made by Grover and Lawrence in the first story, The Long Past, influence the times in which both The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus and Get Lucky take place. I suppose that’s to be expected, though, when two men quite literally save their world.
In an 1864 America where airships and mages coexist with a man who’s tamed a giant prehistoric bird he rides like a horse, there is also an interracial love story at work between that man, Grover, and his first, and only, love, Lawrence—the man Grover had long thought dead. Theirs is a second-chance romance that plays out against the willing sacrifice Lawrence is committed to making which will right the wrong that instigated the rift and the resulting great flood that not only altered the landscape of the country and caused mass casualties but that also allowed dinosaurs to crossover out of their own time and into this era in the process. There is such a sense of despair mixed with hope in The Long Past, and I loved how it influenced the tone of the story, from Lawrence’s calling to he and Grover rebuilding what they’d thought was lost.
In ‘Professor Perfectus’, the year is 1893, the setting Chicago during what might have been the World’s Fair in our reality, in a time and place where magic is most certainly real but is played off as sleight of hand entertainment for an enthusiastic audience. There’s danger and mystery in this short story for our heroine Abril, and I loved the villain in this one as well as the sinister invention meant to enslave women in a clockwork Stepford Wives way. As much as I’d love to tell you all about the villainy in this piece, to do so would spoil so much of the surprise, and that would be the definition of reader evil. So, I won’t say a word about it. Let me just say, though, that it’s inspired. It’s up to Abril and her love, Geula, to stop this crazed genius from carrying out his plans and to save a woman, and all women, from becoming unwilling automatons. This story resonated with me on a personal convictions level, which I loved.
In the final story, Get Lucky, the year is 1896, the rift long closed and the flooding ended, but the landscape of the New United America is forever changed. Dalfon Elias is a hired gun who’s tracking his next mark when he meets Luc Spivey, also known as Lucky. Once again, without revealing too much, Hale gives a wink and a nod to H.G. Wells in this piece, and I loved Dalfon’s penchant for finding the most appropriate literary quotes for every situation. Amidst this, Hale also layers the story with a touching romance between Dalfon and Lucky, one that takes a poignant turn before resolving in the end. Extenuating circumstances and what could only be called a twist of fate come between them, but love and luck prevail the way they should.
I realize short stories and novellas aren’t everyone’s cuppa, and I’ve read more than my fair share that forget the beginning-middle-end arc of storytelling, often making it feel as though I’ve been dumped into the middle of a story with no context to lead up to it. What Ginn Hale does with a capable hand is to not only give each novella its due substance, layering details—even ones that might seem insignificant, if isolated, but serve the whole of the world building—into the setting and characters that make each story richer for it. These characters represent a cross section of people in race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality, and I appreciated the real-world context of their storylines in the fantastical setting. The post abolition/pre-women’s suffrage frame of reference offers a realism set against the religious overtones of the earth magic that’s present here. Ginn Hale is, simply put, a master of unique and incredible Alt U fantasy. I don’t devour her work as much as I work hard to savor every word of it because to do otherwise is a guarantee of missing something amazing.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
September 16, 2021
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.25 stars
This anthology features three stories by Ginn Hale that all take place in this same world, but in different cities and spanning about 40 years. The world building is incredible here, combining magic, dinosaurs, steampunk, and an alternate reality where the rifts changed the world. Hale manages to make all these things work together in a real triumph of world building. I particularly enjoyed how the anthology spans time and place, but still connects to this very detailed and creative world. The stories all feature main characters of color, and address the politics of race and gender of the time. They also include three different types of mages — earth, air, and water — and the lore about magic and how it works in this world is nicely done.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
4.25 stars
This anthology features three stories by Ginn Hale that all take place in this same world, but in different cities and spanning about 40 years. The world building is incredible here, combining magic, dinosaurs, steampunk, and an alternate reality where the rifts changed the world. Hale manages to make all these things work together in a real triumph of world building. I particularly enjoyed how the anthology spans time and place, but still connects to this very detailed and creative world. The stories all feature main characters of color, and address the politics of race and gender of the time. They also include three different types of mages — earth, air, and water — and the lore about magic and how it works in this world is nicely done.
Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.
January 3, 2022
4.5 stars rounded up
The Long Past - 4.5 stars
Gorgeous writing, fascinating steampunk world-building, wonderfully paced, and some fabulous characters. The whole thing was gripping and engaging, the romance and plot were both lovely, the ending satisfying, and we got some really well done POC rep with a Black MC. Knocking off half a star only because I do think the world building was a smidge confusing at times, but everything else was so great I didn't even care.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus - 4 stars
Set a few decades later than the previous story in Chicago and centering a mage pretending to just be a magician. Excellent writing, and I loved the "lesbians take on evil Thomas Edison" concept a lot. Though I was so interested in how much the world had changed from the previous stories that I was a bit distracted wishing I knew a little more about how we got there.
Get Lucky - 4.25 stars
This one felt a bit more similar in vibe and tone to the first story (my favorite) and even mentions the characters from that one, and I really enjoyed the extra bit of connectedness. Also, just a lovely read.
The Long Past - 4.5 stars
Gorgeous writing, fascinating steampunk world-building, wonderfully paced, and some fabulous characters. The whole thing was gripping and engaging, the romance and plot were both lovely, the ending satisfying, and we got some really well done POC rep with a Black MC. Knocking off half a star only because I do think the world building was a smidge confusing at times, but everything else was so great I didn't even care.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus - 4 stars
Set a few decades later than the previous story in Chicago and centering a mage pretending to just be a magician. Excellent writing, and I loved the "lesbians take on evil Thomas Edison" concept a lot. Though I was so interested in how much the world had changed from the previous stories that I was a bit distracted wishing I knew a little more about how we got there.
Get Lucky - 4.25 stars
This one felt a bit more similar in vibe and tone to the first story (my favorite) and even mentions the characters from that one, and I really enjoyed the extra bit of connectedness. Also, just a lovely read.
January 20, 2019
★★★★☆ ~ 4 Stars
Three short stories comprise this anthology (Get Lucky has been expanded in this anthology, I originally read it in the Once Upon A Time in the West anthology).
The Long Past Assumed dead Lawrence returns to close the last rift and reconnect with his boyhood friend and first love, Grover. They have a second chance to build a long life if only Lawrence can survive repairing the rift. Grove is quite his own character, taming a ridingbird dinosaur and is probably some sort of a mage in his own right.
Professor Perfectus This was the weakest story for me. Not as fleshed out as the other two, Abril is horrified that the scientist that she has been running from for nine years is also at the Chicago World's Fair and her love, Geula has been tasked to find a missing woman who has been kidnapped by her nemesis and is now the Mechanical Maid.
Get Lucky As I was reading this, I had a deja vu that I've read this before and it was my favorite story in this anthology and the other anthology I'd read it in. This is also a second chance story, Dalfon had left Lucky three years prior and now is on a hunt for a missing heir who just happens to be Lucky. Can they survive who is hunting them both to make a life for themselves?
Three short stories comprise this anthology (Get Lucky has been expanded in this anthology, I originally read it in the Once Upon A Time in the West anthology).
The Long Past Assumed dead Lawrence returns to close the last rift and reconnect with his boyhood friend and first love, Grover. They have a second chance to build a long life if only Lawrence can survive repairing the rift. Grove is quite his own character, taming a ridingbird dinosaur and is probably some sort of a mage in his own right.
Professor Perfectus This was the weakest story for me. Not as fleshed out as the other two, Abril is horrified that the scientist that she has been running from for nine years is also at the Chicago World's Fair and her love, Geula has been tasked to find a missing woman who has been kidnapped by her nemesis and is now the Mechanical Maid.
Get Lucky As I was reading this, I had a deja vu that I've read this before and it was my favorite story in this anthology and the other anthology I'd read it in. This is also a second chance story, Dalfon had left Lucky three years prior and now is on a hunt for a missing heir who just happens to be Lucky. Can they survive who is hunting them both to make a life for themselves?
December 2, 2017
Won this from Ginn Hale on a Facebook Giveaway
3.75 stars rounded up
While I might not always understand this universe, as well as the mage/magical plot but I am rounding this up because of the idea. It's so fuc*ing cool and I don't think I've read it anywhere before.
The Long Past and Get Lucky both featured second-chance romance trope. The romance was sweet and tender, I loved it when the love interest call the other "darling". Get Lucky first published in Once Upon a Time in the Weird West but this one has prologue and epilogue.
I skimmed most of the 2nd story, The Hallow History of Professor Perfectus ". Not because I don't like F/F ... I read a number of F/F stories this year. I just thought that strangely, Ashni's 'voice' didn't feel like a female character. I mean, to me, she can also easily be like the men in the first / third story. Somehow it just threw me off the story completely.
3.75 stars rounded up
While I might not always understand this universe, as well as the mage/magical plot but I am rounding this up because of the idea. It's so fuc*ing cool and I don't think I've read it anywhere before.
The Long Past and Get Lucky both featured second-chance romance trope. The romance was sweet and tender, I loved it when the love interest call the other "darling". Get Lucky first published in Once Upon a Time in the Weird West but this one has prologue and epilogue.
I skimmed most of the 2nd story, The Hallow History of Professor Perfectus ". Not because I don't like F/F ... I read a number of F/F stories this year. I just thought that strangely, Ashni's 'voice' didn't feel like a female character. I mean, to me, she can also easily be like the men in the first / third story. Somehow it just threw me off the story completely.
June 2, 2018
-“Hey, whatcha reading?”
-“Oh, just your basic American Old West alternative history/steampunk fantasy with magic and airships and alchemy and dinosaurs and time travel in a 19th century landscape rearranged by a magically induced cataclysmic event that introduced prehistoric creatures and flooded half the world, with a bit of a mystery/adventure story and exploration of how this changed world affects 19th century pioneering society and leads to an alternative history of emancipation in oppressed people of colour communities of North America, particularly former slaves and Native Americans, oh and with a side of “former lovers with complicated/painful personal history have to set aside their differences to work together against a common enemy” interracial queer romance sort of thing. And then two more stories in the same world, one of them featuring lesbian lovers taking on the patriarchy and an evil steampunk version of Thomas Edison and kicking ass at magic and such, and did I mention the dinosaurs?”
-“Ah, that old chestnut. Any good?”
-“Pretty bloody awesome, actually.”
-“Oh, just your basic American Old West alternative history/steampunk fantasy with magic and airships and alchemy and dinosaurs and time travel in a 19th century landscape rearranged by a magically induced cataclysmic event that introduced prehistoric creatures and flooded half the world, with a bit of a mystery/adventure story and exploration of how this changed world affects 19th century pioneering society and leads to an alternative history of emancipation in oppressed people of colour communities of North America, particularly former slaves and Native Americans, oh and with a side of “former lovers with complicated/painful personal history have to set aside their differences to work together against a common enemy” interracial queer romance sort of thing. And then two more stories in the same world, one of them featuring lesbian lovers taking on the patriarchy and an evil steampunk version of Thomas Edison and kicking ass at magic and such, and did I mention the dinosaurs?”
-“Ah, that old chestnut. Any good?”
-“Pretty bloody awesome, actually.”
March 25, 2018
I usually shy away from anthologies and short stories, but I had to take a deep breath and trust Ginn Hale to not lead me astray. I was not disappointed, and only wished these stories were longer (i.e. full novel-length).
The Long Past is an introduction to this alternative, historical-fantasy/science fiction story that blends alchemy, magic and the space-time continuum. The world building is Ginn Hale's strength and I find myself absolutely lost (in the GOOD WAY) to this fascinating world. The characters, Grover and Lawrence, were a delight to experience this world with. Rating: 4 stars.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus takes a time jump into the future from The Long Past, and boy did the future take a dark turn. Even though at this point, the world isn't completely new, the changes brought by time has me feeling re-immersed to something familiar, but new. While I feel that the two characters didn't appeal to me as much as Grover and Lawrence from the previous story, they were still pleasant to read about. Rating: 3.5 stars
Get Lucky put me in my happy place, mainly because Lucky and Dalfon pulled at my heartstrings. I felt their meeting and developing relationship appealed to the adventurer romantic inside of me. Otherwise, expect the same great writing in the previous story.
I'm not really sure what more to say. I really enjoyed this anthology and don't really feel ready to leave this world behind.
The Long Past is an introduction to this alternative, historical-fantasy/science fiction story that blends alchemy, magic and the space-time continuum. The world building is Ginn Hale's strength and I find myself absolutely lost (in the GOOD WAY) to this fascinating world. The characters, Grover and Lawrence, were a delight to experience this world with. Rating: 4 stars.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus takes a time jump into the future from The Long Past, and boy did the future take a dark turn. Even though at this point, the world isn't completely new, the changes brought by time has me feeling re-immersed to something familiar, but new. While I feel that the two characters didn't appeal to me as much as Grover and Lawrence from the previous story, they were still pleasant to read about. Rating: 3.5 stars
Get Lucky put me in my happy place, mainly because Lucky and Dalfon pulled at my heartstrings. I felt their meeting and developing relationship appealed to the adventurer romantic inside of me. Otherwise, expect the same great writing in the previous story.
I'm not really sure what more to say. I really enjoyed this anthology and don't really feel ready to leave this world behind.
March 9, 2022
Thoroughly charming. Great world building.
October 4, 2017
This review is long due because thanks to Nicole's and Ginn's kindness I got a paper copy much in advance to the publication date. On the other side, it always takes a while for me to write a review of Ginn's books, because I feel it has to reflect how astoundingly great her work is, and that's difficult.
I liked the fact that even though there are several stories here, there are only three of them, which makes them quite ''meaty''. The universe is the same, the US Wild West in a steampunk setting, with magic thrown in the mix. Racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and so on are present, but they don't make the stories too heavy. The world building is just incredible: Ginn is one of those writers who doesn't economise with new, original ideas, and there are several of them here.
There is plenty of romance (all the three MCs couples makes you go ''aww!'' several times without a single sappy moment), but also adventures and action. I can't say which story I preferred, because all of them are excellent. Highly recommended.
I liked the fact that even though there are several stories here, there are only three of them, which makes them quite ''meaty''. The universe is the same, the US Wild West in a steampunk setting, with magic thrown in the mix. Racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and so on are present, but they don't make the stories too heavy. The world building is just incredible: Ginn is one of those writers who doesn't economise with new, original ideas, and there are several of them here.
There is plenty of romance (all the three MCs couples makes you go ''aww!'' several times without a single sappy moment), but also adventures and action. I can't say which story I preferred, because all of them are excellent. Highly recommended.
January 30, 2018
Another winner from Ginn Hale! It never ceases to amaze me how she can still come up with fresh new subject matters and world-building in every one of her new novels even after all of the books she has written. Highly recommended!
February 22, 2019
This was quite fun; loved the world conceit, and I enjoyed that each story followed the previous one to some extents. A very cohesive read, with good compact stories.
January 23, 2018
Fantastic read! Two of the stories came out in previous anthologies, but the novella that starts off this collection is new, and sets the stage for the other two, explaining the world building and how dinosaurs came to exist in 1800’s steampunk America as well as a large inland sea that now splits the states in half and has flooded most of them.
I’m always amazed at Ginn’s world building!
Two stories here are M/M Romance, one featuring a biracial couple, and one is a lesbian romance. And all of them are well worth the read!
I’m always amazed at Ginn’s world building!
Two stories here are M/M Romance, one featuring a biracial couple, and one is a lesbian romance. And all of them are well worth the read!
October 6, 2017
A brilliant combination of alternative, supernatural history with steampunk elements, while it retained much of the culture that existed within the time period. There is, unfortunately, racism, misogyny, queermisia, and more, but they were all textually challenged through the main characters, and several of the supporting characters.
Check out the full review on my blog!
Check out the full review on my blog!
October 28, 2017
Yet another awesome Ginn Hale book filled with fascinating creatures and great stories. There's no one who can build the worlds like her!
I finished reading the book weeks ago, but I still catch myself thinking of Grover and Lawrence, Ashni and Geula every once in a while. And how about Betty, Romeo and King Douglass—my favorite dinosaurs ever! I highly recommend to find out who are these people and creatures I'm talking about.
Five shining wild, weird, Old West stars!
I finished reading the book weeks ago, but I still catch myself thinking of Grover and Lawrence, Ashni and Geula every once in a while. And how about Betty, Romeo and King Douglass—my favorite dinosaurs ever! I highly recommend to find out who are these people and creatures I'm talking about.
Five shining wild, weird, Old West stars!
January 17, 2018
This is an excellent imaginative book. The author should be much more popular than her current status. I think she is not promoting herself enough. Read this book - a true gem.
May 11, 2018
4.5 stars
January 18, 2018
The Long Past
I enjoyed this story but something just felt a little off. I mean, it was fun and I already knew enough about the world that it was interesting to find out how the rifts became things. (And I like the dinosaurs and mages and how it's really just a mix of things that you don't usually find together.) I can't even begin to guess what my problem was because I like the story and I liked the characters.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus
I don't know how to rate this story. Did I enjoy it? Sort of - but it also creeped me out. You see, the major plot point has to do with mind control, wherein a man creates a device that he's planning to sell to other men for them to collar the women in their lives that are too independent. I mean, we can't have that at all, can we. (Basically, without going too much into spoilers, the men lock the women in their own minds so they can't control their own body and use them for sex slaves.) Add that to the fact that it's first person perspective (which I've never read from this author before) and I just don't know what to DO with this story.
Get Lucky
(Okay, so I didn't actually re-read this story, but here's the review for it I wrote up when I read it in Once Upon a Time in the Weird West anthology.)
Dinosaurs, clockwork atomata, element mages and a couple that is so different and yet so perfect for each other. What more do you need? <3 I mean, dinosaurs and steampunk and magic and I'm in love with this story. Simply love and adore everything about it. Except it could have been longer. I would have LOVED that, too.
(Have to re-read it to be sure, but it's probably my favorite in this book.)
I enjoyed this story but something just felt a little off. I mean, it was fun and I already knew enough about the world that it was interesting to find out how the rifts became things. (And I like the dinosaurs and mages and how it's really just a mix of things that you don't usually find together.) I can't even begin to guess what my problem was because I like the story and I liked the characters.
The Hollow History of Professor Perfectus
I don't know how to rate this story. Did I enjoy it? Sort of - but it also creeped me out. You see, the major plot point has to do with mind control, wherein a man creates a device that he's planning to sell to other men for them to collar the women in their lives that are too independent. I mean, we can't have that at all, can we. (Basically, without going too much into spoilers, the men lock the women in their own minds so they can't control their own body and use them for sex slaves.) Add that to the fact that it's first person perspective (which I've never read from this author before) and I just don't know what to DO with this story.
Get Lucky
(Okay, so I didn't actually re-read this story, but here's the review for it I wrote up when I read it in Once Upon a Time in the Weird West anthology.)
Dinosaurs, clockwork atomata, element mages and a couple that is so different and yet so perfect for each other. What more do you need? <3 I mean, dinosaurs and steampunk and magic and I'm in love with this story. Simply love and adore everything about it. Except it could have been longer. I would have LOVED that, too.
(Have to re-read it to be sure, but it's probably my favorite in this book.)
December 26, 2017
I'm imagining Ginn Hale and her wife hanging out one afternoon, drinking coffee. They start talking about the Weird West and its stories, and one of them said: what kind of world, what kind of Weird West, would there be if magic was real? Suppose the practitioners of this magic, mages, wage war, and this war results in " a vast inland sea that splits the United States in two. With the floodwaters come creatures from a long distant past. What seems like the End Times forges a new era of heroes and heroines who challenge tradition, law, and even death as they transform the old west into a new world" (backcover). What kind of adventures would these heroes and heroines have?
The stories in this collection, love stories all of them, include tales of a "laconic trapper and veteran mage" risking everything to close the rift that unleashed the great flood, of a "brilliant magician and her beautiful assistant fight one of the most powerful men in the world and his diabolic automaton invention, and of "an impoverished young man and a Pinkerton Detective" fighting a corrupt judge, are the results of these "what-if" questions, this world building. That these are GLBT heroes and heroines, and people of color, makes these well-told tales all the richer.
Check this book out.
The stories in this collection, love stories all of them, include tales of a "laconic trapper and veteran mage" risking everything to close the rift that unleashed the great flood, of a "brilliant magician and her beautiful assistant fight one of the most powerful men in the world and his diabolic automaton invention, and of "an impoverished young man and a Pinkerton Detective" fighting a corrupt judge, are the results of these "what-if" questions, this world building. That these are GLBT heroes and heroines, and people of color, makes these well-told tales all the richer.
Check this book out.
December 31, 2017
I was going into this book expecting something light hearted that poked fun at common alternative history tropes.
What I wasn't expecting was finding 3 stories that take place years apart in a world that I would fall in love with.
I would love to see a full series set in this world. I want to see more on how people adapt to the dinosaurs, how magic is used in the world, and how people deal with the growing tech that combines magic and science.
It'll be one of the handful of books I read this year that will be getting a reread.
My biggest complaint about the whole thing was the romance. I don't care that the characters were gay; I care that the relationships added nothing to the stories. Replace the gay lovers in the first story with childhood friends and it plays out the same way. Replace the lesbian lovers in the second story with two friends who won't be held down by the patriarchy, and again it plays out exactly the same. Replace the gay lovers with a Mentor/youth relationship and the story would still be the same.
This is why I couldn't give the book 5 stars; the romance added nothing to the stories.
What I wasn't expecting was finding 3 stories that take place years apart in a world that I would fall in love with.
I would love to see a full series set in this world. I want to see more on how people adapt to the dinosaurs, how magic is used in the world, and how people deal with the growing tech that combines magic and science.
It'll be one of the handful of books I read this year that will be getting a reread.
My biggest complaint about the whole thing was the romance. I don't care that the characters were gay; I care that the relationships added nothing to the stories. Replace the gay lovers in the first story with childhood friends and it plays out the same way. Replace the lesbian lovers in the second story with two friends who won't be held down by the patriarchy, and again it plays out exactly the same. Replace the gay lovers with a Mentor/youth relationship and the story would still be the same.
This is why I couldn't give the book 5 stars; the romance added nothing to the stories.
Read
July 7, 2019I did enjoy reading this collection of stories. The strongest by far was The Long Past, the novella and first story in the book. Dinosaurs? Magic? The Wild West? Queer romance? Lots of diversity? All really good stuff. The other two stories were a little weaker. The second story was a solid tale, but without the dinosaurs or Wild West setting - the elements I really enjoyed about the novella - it seemed more generic steam punk. I don’t think it would have stuck out if the collection has more stories in different settings or if it was in a different collection, but in this one it seemed discordant. The third story also wasn’t too bad, but it was packed and I think the plot and characterization would have benefited from a higher word count. Despite these critiques, I definitely would recommend this collection!
July 12, 2019
I love Ginn Hale and this set (1 short novel and 2 short stories) just reminded me why. Interesting world-building, a deft hand at creating characters that feel real within the space of a few paragraphs, and an admirable ability to wrap plot and description together in an organic way. I really loved these! Only two niggling problems. One, in the third story there's a time jump that glosses over an important development that I wish the reader could have taken part in, not had presented after the fact. If you take into account the particulars of the first story, it's easy to understand why she wrote it this way, it just would have been nice if it could have been fleshed out more. Second, and I know I am being utterly importunate, but why are there no more stories in this world?!
October 27, 2021
Absolutely fantastical novellas. I loved all 3 of them, can't say which is is a favorite. The have a somewhat common theme of the mages opening rifts that brought the Jurassic animals into the lives of unsuspecting humans who have to learn living in the new world and adapt to it to survive.
Mages are being persecuted vs theurgists (magic users in a specific regulated context) and there are steam machines that make technological advancement into this strange world.
There are many important themes and issues brought in and beautifully addressed, including rac1ial, social and phycological.
Each story is different and unique and hugely entertaining.
Mages are being persecuted vs theurgists (magic users in a specific regulated context) and there are steam machines that make technological advancement into this strange world.
There are many important themes and issues brought in and beautifully addressed, including rac1ial, social and phycological.
Each story is different and unique and hugely entertaining.
February 23, 2018
So interesting, so inventive, so much feeling in these stories. Love the setting - Wild West & dinosaurs & steampunk & magic & the Chicago's World Exposition!
Actually, I'm kind of in awe of these stories, how she builds this world and it deepens with each story while at the same time I think each one could stand on its own, and how she weaves the relationship with the action.
I've tried reading her longer books and been a bit overwhelmed by them (even as they're glorious) - so it was grand to have these shorter stories in this American setting.
Actually, I'm kind of in awe of these stories, how she builds this world and it deepens with each story while at the same time I think each one could stand on its own, and how she weaves the relationship with the action.
I've tried reading her longer books and been a bit overwhelmed by them (even as they're glorious) - so it was grand to have these shorter stories in this American setting.
April 23, 2019
Weird West-steampunk-dinosaur-postapocalyptic-fantastical-romantic adventures with gay and lesbian protagonists? Sign me up! Hale is a terrific writer and this collection is no exception on that front. These three tales are full of a memorable and diverse cast of characters and the world building creates a unique setting, one I’ve never seen before in sf/f. I really enjoyed this and hope she does more with these characters in this world.
May 30, 2024
I had a lot of fun with this trio of stories! The prose and plotting don't quite keep up with the wildly inventive worldbuilding, but aren't bad by any means (although I had to roll my eyes a bit that all three have pretty much exactly the same climactic romantic moment and some passages got a little didactic), and any complaints I have are mostly quelled by the sheer delight of queer love stories set in a world with both magic AND dinosaurs. At the end of the day, I am fairly easy to please.
October 7, 2017
There was a scene feathered theropods doing bird of paradise dancing. I am the target audience of this book in a very specific way.
Bonus points for a weird west book that dealt with not having a Civil War...by completely destroying the South in a different way, AND while not handwaving away racism.
Bonus points for a weird west book that dealt with not having a Civil War...by completely destroying the South in a different way, AND while not handwaving away racism.
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