The dresses and music, lace doilies on decorative little tables, fluted glasses for wine, the soft glow of oil lamps . . . ah, to be transported there. But to be transported there with the use of a time machine, such as is available in “Kinetic Dreams,” is even better. The Victorian era is a little more interesting with a good dose of science fiction, steampunk style, thrown in. Some of the authors in this collection were in DAW’s previous offering—Steampunk’d. They even revisit their favorite characters in a romantic light. As the title implies, these are all love stories—with varying degrees of steam to suit most tastes. But the tales are more than smoochy scenes filled with tender embraces and a few sweaty sheets. They are also filled with intrigue, danger, pyrotechnics, and plenty of gadgets. It wouldn’t be proper steampunk without some gadgets and airships and automatons and the like. There are even a few pairs of goggles in the mix. The stories weave their way from England to the New World to Egypt and back again, from high above the earth to deep beneath it.
