Title: To Seek Her Fortune
Author: Nicole Kornher-Stace
In: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Sean Wallace)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Steampunk
Dates read: 6th March 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: The dice had earned him a week free of maintenance duties and a tidy heap of coins – round, ringed, hexagonal, octagonal, brass, copper, silver, lead – by the time his mother emerged from the laboratory, flushed with agitation and worrying at a sleeve.

Lady Explorer has managed to rise in the ranks and overcome her past. But she keeps searching for something, some sign of the future.

I really liked this short story. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with it… but the idea of a woman in a position of power constantly trying to protect her son drew me in immediately. Especially when it was obvious that she is exhausted and almost just existing for her child.

The flashbacks as to how Lady Explorer rose in power work really well with the storyline. As does the quick passages of time. The jumpiness of the timeline gave the story a far more surreal edge and one that I think worked well with the theme and protectiveness of an exhausted mother.

<- Arbeitskraft Review

The Ballad of the Last Human Review ->

Image source: Amazon