Carnal Machines - book discontinued by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Airen Wolf

When we discussed the concept of Steampunk Erotica in the Naked Reader's Book Club I was intrigued. I like Victorian Erotica and I also like stories of fucking machines; the idea of putting both together seems like magic! I am very pleased to report that it IS magic and Carnal Machines should be on every lover of Victorian Erotica's bookshelf.


Carnal Machines is edited by D. L. King and includes stories by: Teresa Noelle Roberts, Janine Ashbless, Renee Michaels, Poe Von Page, Kannen Feng, Jay Lawrence, Delilah Devlin, Lisabet Sarai, Kathleen Bradean, Elias A. St. James, Essemoh Teepee, Tracey Shellito, Elizabeth Schechter and D. L. King. It was good to see some writers I had met before in other anthologies and meet some potential new friends.

The book begins with an introduction by D. L. King that explains what Steam Punk Erotica is about and whets the appetite for the stories that follow. As the editor puts it: Steampunk, even without sex, is erotic; with sex it's over-the-top-hot.


In Human Powered by Teresa Noelle Roberts a widowed woman tinkers with the idea of using sexual frustration energy to power a household. Goodness knows she knows all about that! She shows her device to her husband's friend and together they find out that her theory is sound but sexual energy is MUCH more powerful than sexual frustration energy.

Sleight Of Hand by Renee Michaels delves into the world of marital jealousy and the things it can make us do when a hot-headed husband accuses his innocent wife of wrongdoing. He wins her back in a most ingenious way.

What happens in an age where the most qualified mutineer on a Victorian Age ship is a woman? Something marvelous in Poe Von Page's Mutiny On The Danika Blue.

Deviant Devices by Keenan Feng delves into the twin worlds of sex machines and voyeurism. A young woman is paid to perform for an unseen audience with a new fangled machine that can fuck her senseless....and does. She even gets more value for her time when the attractive assistant offers to show her all of the machines functions.

Professor Higgins makes an appearance in The Perfect Girl by Jay Lawrence. It seems he is still looking for the perfect girl. He finds it in a brothel, but soon enough the illusion is ruined by the accent of the woman in question.

A young man discovers a vast treasure in a piece of furniture he knows SHOULD be a intricate piece of steam-driven clockwork if only he can get it to work. He finds the key to the chair one evening when his lover is away. He spends an uncomfortable night in the Infernal Machine by Elias A. St. James wondering if his aristocratic lover will return from a visit with his father. This story was my favorite as it is a sweet but nasty-hot story of love and exploration of a steam-driven sex machine.


There are 14 stories in this anthology and all of them are just long enough to be perfect for reading just before bed, or for those few minutes on a lunch break. The cover art is actually very safe for work as it only shows a woman dressed in vaguely Victorian clothing with a pair of goggles on her lovely face. The title of the book is done in red and white and simply reads: Carnal Machines Steampunk erotica.

As usual with Cleiss Press books there is a short biography, at the back of the book, of each author including, in some cases, how to either contact the author or where to find more material written by him or her. There is a longer biography included about D.L.King as well that shares some interesting factoids about the editor.

I DEVOURED this book and then went back and savored most of the stories again. I rarely read books twice but this one is getting positively dog-eared! I thought ti would be an amusing diversion in my jaded reading experiences but I discovered a new genre to explore and I want more!!

The stories stick with me in a way that is both amusing and gratifying. I highly recommend this anthology to anyone looking for something different. Oddly neither guy was particularly interested in these stories...but that's ok too. It can be my little slice of pleasure!

While this book doesn't cover the depth and breadth of the Steampunk genre it is still an amazing look into the world of Steampunk for the uninitiated or the avid reader.