Review: Nice Start
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2012
I'm normally a sci-fi and fantasy reader, but I've been getting into steampunk, starting with the Vampire Empire series and more recently, Boneshaker.  Both of those books were cross-genre with vampires and zombies respectively, and Stealing Time was the first truly steampunk story that I've ever read.  CK Garner's writing style, I think, set the tone for a stronger reader experience in this genre.  The choice of words and flow that the author used was, for lack of a better description, very 1860's-ish, and that made me feel more immersed in the steampunk "world".The story itself was fun and fast-paced, with lots of characters that I'd like to see again (probably in a full length novel, because there was a strong foundation here for a full novel).  There is a potential love triangle involving Nikola Tesla, time travel concepts that can probably provide a whole universe of possibilities for plot twists, and interesting main characters that become separated, facing dire situations, but not dead or forgotten.  The mention of several other historical figures (Einstein for example) could be fleshed out more in the future, and I got the impression that the author has put a lot of time into building this world, and we only caught a small glimpse of everything in this short story.There were a few things that I didn't quite understand within the plot, but I think that's because I'm not used to steampunk, so it took me a little longer to follow.  Otherwise, this was a fun short story and I think it has the potential to lead to much more.