Steampunk

[mousme]

Dear flist,

After reading a few of you wistfully talk about steampunk, I realized that I am not all that familiar with the genre. Do you have any recommendations? I'd prefer books, but movies and whatnot are fine too. :)

Thanks!

Comments

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Not a steampunk, nor do I play one on TV, but I've come across some steampunk stuff in my travels:

Girl Genius is reputedly steampunk.

The Steampunk's Guide To The Apocalypse is worth a skim.

DRB has some steampunk articles.

[delta-november.livejournal.com]

I will open the bidding with:

The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. ISBN 0-575-04762-3.

Gibson and Sterling are both foundations of the Cyberpunk genre, and this is their exploration of a world of steam.

[swestrup]

True, but, much as I like both Gibson and Sterling, I hated The Difference Engine. Talk about a boring book.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear someone else say this; I always thought I was the only one who found The Difference Engine boring!

[elanya.livejournal.com]

TBH, although I am a big fan of the aesthetic, I haven't read much of the established literature myself, mostly on account of not having any time -_-

But really, some of the stuff in the ....crap I can't remember the name of the gameworld.... Beyond the Pale, to me, is fairly steampunk. It is steampunk + the undead, really. :)

So there, you've been writing it all along and you just never knew :V

Mostly anything that is sort of Victorian-ish + extra crazy technology (ray guns, mad scientists, air ships, etc) probably can qualify as Steampunk. It can stray in to other eras, as well. I am kind of fascinated by what I have heard dubbed 'sandalpunk' also, which is 'what if the Romans had developed steam technology?'

[pdaughter.livejournal.com]

Oh, good question! I'll be checking the comments section as well for suggestions. The past Doctor Who Christmas special was steampunk and it was very cool.

[dizietsma.livejournal.com]

The wikipedia article covers a good range of literature in the genre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk , see mainly the proto-steampunk and popular fiction sections.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

I just picked up a collection of steampunk stories called Extraordinary Engines, it's quite good so far.

There's any number of anime movies out there (I'm thinking Steam Boy specifically).

Wild Wild West is an example of steampunk (though it might more accurately be termed Weird West), but it's a pretty terrible film otherwise so I wouldn't recommend it. While I'm on the subject of terrible films, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen may be considered steampunk, though it blurs into gaslight romance. Read the graphic novel, it's infinitely better.

Van Helsing and the third Back to the Future film both qualify.

Any of China Mieville's Bas-Lag series of books (Perdito Street Station, Iron Council, etc) technically qualify as steampunk (though they've essentially branched off into their own genre, the New Weird).

Steampunk also encompasses the originators of speculative fiction: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus; the works of H.G.Wells and especially Jules Verne (though personally I don't consider them steampunk since steampunk is more of a revisiting of those times, not actual first-hand accountings of the period - it would be like calling the ruins of the Parthenon 'Neo-Classical').

[dizietsma.livejournal.com]

"Wild Wild West is an example of steampunk (though it might more accurately be termed Weird West), but it's a pretty terrible film otherwise so I wouldn't recommend it."

I'm told the original 60s TV series was much better.

Agreed on the comic book version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, much better than the film it spawned.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

I saw Extraordinary Engines on the shelf t'other day and almost picked it up. May I borrow it when you're done?

(though personally I don't consider them steampunk since steampunk is more of a revisiting of those times, not actual first-hand accountings of the period - it would be like calling the ruins of the Parthenon 'Neo-Classical').

Exactly. They're source material and good to read to get an idea of where it all begins, but they don't precisely classify as steampunk.

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

>May I borrow it when you're done?

Of course! I'll send it along the usual routes if I haven't finished it by the 11th.

[silly-imp.livejournal.com]

And can I borrow it after that? I can get it from owldaughter by our usual routes...

[talyesin.livejournal.com]

Sure, no problem.

[foi-nefaste.livejournal.com]

There's a novel called Whitechapel Gods that's pretty good - I don't have it with me at the mo, so I can't check the author.

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

I have a copy of "Space: 1889" if you're interested. It isn't exactly steampunk, but it is a weird twist on the Victorian Era. There's Castle Falkenstein too, but I don't have a copy.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Tal's hit you with League graphic novel (the film does NOT exist in my world), and others have already mentioned Gibson/Sterling. I was recently pointed toward George Mann, and I'll be picking up The Affinity Bridge soonish. Tim Powers' Anubis Gates is another commonly recommended steampunk novel, as is Kim Newman's Anno Dracula. (Thank you, years spent listening to recommendations made by other staff members of the F/SF bookshop.)

I loved Elizabeth Bear's New Amsterdam (a collection of steampunk novellas with a vampiric private detective!).

oh and

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

For everyone who loves steampunk, one of my favourite home-decor blogs to pore over and sigh longingly about:

The Steampunk Home.

Re: oh and

[pasley.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. Thank you.

Re: oh and

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Isn't it spectacular? I want a house just so I can steampunkianize it. Maps on the walls everywhere and claw-foot tubs, oh yes.

[sirena73]

I echo the recommendation of "Perdido Street Station" and "The Scar" by China Mieville, as well as "Whitechapel Gods" by S.M Peters. Also good is the collection of short stories, "Steampunk", edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
As for comics, check out "Cathedral Child" by Lea Hernandez, and the aforementioned League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

more

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh -- I read Larklight by Philip Reeve last year and it was lots of fun. There's a sequel which I have not yet read, too. I tried to read Ian MacLeod's The Light Ages and couldn't finish it; great world, slow book.

[cpirate.livejournal.com]

It's not really steampunk as such, it's more just regular old cyberpunk with some Victorian sensibilities, but "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson is a fun read.