Off the Bookshelf: CLOCKWORK FAGIN

"Clockwork Fagin," by Cory Doctorow, is the first story in a collection appropriately titled, "Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories" edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. Only the first story in the anthology was available in the free preview I downloaded on my Nook.

I'm gonna go back and get the whole anthology when I finish all the freebies and samples I downloaded.

What's it about? Well ... think Oliver Twist, but the orphans not only take over the orphanage, they manage to change their horrible servitude and abusive living conditions into a life that children should live. How? Well ... it's kind of gruesome, when you think about it. It starts with a murder -- justified, believe me -- and turns into a puppet show. It gives a fascinating look at what the Industrial Revolution would have looked like if computers and lots of techno-wizardry-gadgetry had been part of it, and all the children who wound up in the poorhouse/workhouse were the castoffs, injured on the job. But their brains remain, even more clever in the quest for survival.

That's all I'm going to tell you. Get the freebie, and then read the rest of the anthology when you get the chance.