Steampunk

[jeffo621]

I'm relatively new to the Steampunk genre, but find it to be a rather enjoyable offshoot of scifi. I can't say that I've read a whole heckuva lot of it - a fair amount of short stories, and a couple of novels. I think that Alastair Reynolds "Terminal World" was absolutely brilliant and probably my favorite Steampunk reading. I love his world building skills, and the concept of Spearpoint was phenomenal.

So how about some other recommendations, and remember: The more zeppelins, the better!

- Jeff

[100423]

Blood In The Skies - G.D. Falksen
The first in a trilogy.

Steampunk Tales magazine isn't a bad way to go either. Most of the writers are
pretty good.
http://www.steampunktales.com/

[jeffo621]

Awesome - I just checked out Falksen, and he sounds really interesting. Maybe a bit of a larper, judging by his Wikipedia page, but that's okay by me. I'll probably check out Steampunk Tales, especially since Falksen is in every issue - in serial form, so I'll likely start with Issue #1

A few months ago, I read a very entertaining, albeit somewhat amateurishly written, steampunk novel by an author named Mark Whitney called Oracles of Aragret. I'm willing to overlook grammatical and syntactical errors in exchange for an exciting read.

[PeterG]

Jeff, in the Elsewhere series there are a few Batman graphic novels that are very steampunk & very enjoyable. Master of the Future immediately springs to mind. And Batman's gadget solutions in the Victorian era are really clever.


Batman and villain swashbuckling in an airship in Master of the Future
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/tharpold/images/800-899/883.jpg

[Jerjo]

Cherie Priest is the high priestess of steampunk and well worth reading. Plus, you get some zombies mixed in with your zeppelins.

[wideopenears]

How about China Mieville?

[jeffo621]

Zombies and Zeppelins?!?!? Sign me up :D

I tried reading Mieville's Kraken (not steampunk) and only made it about halfway through. Any suggestions of some of his other stuff that's worth trying?

[wideopenears]

The New Crobuzon/Bas Lag novels--Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council all contain Steampunk elements, though I'm not sure they're entirely Steampunk. Nevertheless, they're really cool.

[PeterG]

Wow! How atmospheric is this??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nAnO12BEM4&feature=fvwrel

[The Red Masque]

I've been reading the Cherie Priest novels. Highly entertaining..... I'll be very surprised if Hollywood doesn't turn these into a movie. The newest one in the series (fourth one) just came out this past month. I just finished it the other day. Definitely recommend it.

I did read Meiville's Kraken novel, after being excited about the premise, but was a bit underwhelmed by it.

[Jerjo]

I've been reading the Cherie Priest novels. Highly entertaining..... I'll be very surprised if Hollywood doesn't turn these into a movie. The newest one in the series (fourth one) just came out this past month. I just finished it the other day. Definitely recommend it.


She just got a deal for Boneshaker so cross your fingers.

http://www.cheriepriest.com/2011/11/30/boneshaker-coming-to-the-big-screen/

[markwoll]

The Difference Engine by Bruce Stirling and William Gibson is of that genre.
One of the early examples.

mark

[100423]

The Difference Engine by Bruce Stirling and William Gibson is of that genre.
One of the early examples.

mark
Yeah, that's a great book. Neil Stephenson's The Diamond Age is also Victorian based, though not necessarily steampunk.
You might also check out The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees.

[notallwhowander]

I'm not deep into it myself, but I can recommend James P. Blaylock's Langdon St. Ives stories. Those books include: Homunculus, Lord Kelvin’s Machine, The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, The Ebb Tide, The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs, Zeuglodon, and The Aylesford Skull.

I have yet to read the last four. The last one sees print in January, actually, and it looks like Homunculus will be reprinted in February. It appears that he's included in most Steampunk anthologies, anyway. I can also recommend his short story collection 13 Phantasms, which contains a couple of said Langdon St. Ives stories, and a bunch of delightful fantasy fiction as well.

[The Red Masque]

The Diamond Age was good. I don't know if it is considered Steampunk but it's a great book.
The Difference Engine is a classic must-read of the genre

[PeterG]

Lord Kelvin's Machine is about the only steampunk novel I've read.

[Corbie]

Cherie Priest is the high priestess of steampunk and well worth reading. Plus, you get some zombies mixed in with your zeppelins.

Agreed! Her "Clockwork Century" sequence of novels is very entertaining indeed.

[Corbie]

The New Crobuzon/Bas Lag novels--Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council all contain Steampunk elements, though I'm not sure they're entirely Steampunk. Nevertheless, they're really cool.
I love 'em but, like you, am unsure about their Steampunk credentials. "New Weird" seems to be the category they get pushed into by those that like to categorise.

Of course, Michael Moorcock is virtually a Steampunk pioneer with novels such as "War Lord of The Air" and the "Dancers at The End of Time" sequence. Well worth looking into.

[PeterG]

Love the genre, style and dress.

Looks great! I don't however see how it is steampunk, apart from the cargo pants. As I understand it the steampunk dresscode is full of anachronisms, Victorian/Edwardian clobber mixed with modern stuff metqal & leather bits vital, but in the way that we NOW think that people THEN might have thought what the future looked like, and of course a daring punky attitude is all important.

This for me is steampunk

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aa8EeeSlfMk/TqXezclA9VI/AAAAAAAAABQ/FPDlC0IrFmY/s1600/chi_steampunk2.jpg

[Jerjo]

Cherie Priest all gussied up

http://www.wildwildwestcon.com/images/cherie_priest.png

[Pangolin]

What about the great Albert Robida's Le Vingtième Siècle (1883), The Twentieth Century? 621 [Why is this so tiny?]

Available in English in the Wesleyan 'Early Classics of Science Fiction' series. From the Amazon blurb: 'This highly original futuristic fantasy is a cross between "The Jetsons" and the novels of Charles Dickens: it focuses on the daily life of a bourgeois family living in the technology-driven world of tomorrow--where trips to the market are made by aircar and where women argue politics with their husbands via videophone." Which doesn't do it justice, really.

All with Robida's fantastic art. The real deal. And now a song:


http://youtu.be/TFCuE5rHbPA

[PeterG]

What about the great Albert Robida's Le Vingtième Siècle (1883), The Twentieth Century? 621 [Why is this so tiny?]



Because you linked the thumbnail not the fullsize image from source, here ya go:

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=621&d=1354254748

[Rickenbacker]

Rush certainly took some cues from the genre on the latest album.

[Pangolin]

Because you linked the thumbnail not the fullsize image from source, here ya go:

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=621&d=1354254748

Thanks for that.

[Corbie]

This is my lot.....

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hastings-Steampunk-Society/248081875206684

[Sharp]

For an interesting look at the musical side of steampunk check out this article featuring Thomas Dolby.

http://www.steampunktribune.com/2011/02/mr-thomas-dolby-releases-oceania-his.html

[Progbear]

Relevant artwork (http://books.google.com/books?id=1mYxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PT217#v=onepage&q&f=false) by Frank Nankivell from 1907.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"That's my purse! I don't know you!" --Bobby Hill

N.P.:“Really Wanna Know You”-Gary Wright/The Right Place

[notallwhowander]

The Residents recorded a piece called "High Horses" where they use instruments and sounds from a carousel. It has a great "steampunk" vibe.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE62Ly0zJTo

Listen on headphones and it sounds like you're going around on the carousel.

[jeffo621]

About a week ago, I grabbed Cherie Priest's "Tanglefoot" for .99 and blew through it on my lunch hour (it was only thirty pages or so). I just started "Boneshaker" a couple days ago, and it is amazing - imaginative, very well-written, great characters, pacing, etc. This series is going to be a lot of fun to read.

[tom unbound]

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