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Vintage Tomorrows: A Historian and a Futurist Journey Through Steampunk Into the Future of Technology
What would today's technology look like with Victorian-era design and materials? That's the world steampunk envisions: a mad-inventor collection of 21st century-inspired contraptions powered by steam and driven by gears. In this book, futurist Brian David Johnson and cultural historian James Carrott explore steampunk, a cultural movement that's captivated thousands of artists, designers, makers, hackers, and writers throughout the world.
Just like today, the late 19th century was an age of rapid technological change, and writers such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells commented on their time with fantastic stories that jumpstarted science fiction. Through interviews with experts such as William Gibson, Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, James Gleick, and Margaret Atwood, this book looks into steampunk's vision of old-world craftsmen making beautiful hand-tooled gadgets, and what it says about our age of disposable technology.
Steampunk is everywhere--as gadget prototypes at Maker Faire, novels and comic books, paintings and photography, sculptures, fashion design, and music. Discover how this elaborate view of a history that never existed can help us reimagine our future.
Just like today, the late 19th century was an age of rapid technological change, and writers such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells commented on their time with fantastic stories that jumpstarted science fiction. Through interviews with experts such as William Gibson, Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, James Gleick, and Margaret Atwood, this book looks into steampunk's vision of old-world craftsmen making beautiful hand-tooled gadgets, and what it says about our age of disposable technology.
Steampunk is everywhere--as gadget prototypes at Maker Faire, novels and comic books, paintings and photography, sculptures, fashion design, and music. Discover how this elaborate view of a history that never existed can help us reimagine our future.
397 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 19, 2013
To some people Steampunk is all about a bunch of people dressing up in Victorian clothes messing around with slightly odd-looking machinery - a manifestation of the world Jules Verne and H G Wells imagined.
To others, Steampunk is a fundamental backlash to the lack of excitement that most people feel about modern technology.
There is Steampunk literature, art, music but also politics and attitude. It also encompasses the aspects of the relatively new makers movement. Core to Steampunk appears to be old-world values of craftsmanship, tailoring and attention to detail.
This book is an autobiographical journey taken by Brian, a futurist, and James, a cultural historian. They come from very different backgrounds but share an interest in how the Steampunk phenomenon reflects society today and what it can tell us about tomorrow.
I found myself equally frustrated and engrossed in this book, making it challenging to review. There's a lot of navel-gazing, and possibly misplaced belief in the significance of Steampunk in today's world. But there are also lots of interesting insights and opinions provided by the wide range of people that Brian and James encounter on their journey.
I hadn't appreciated the relationship between Steampunk and Burning Man - the latter being an annual gathering of tens of thousands of participants in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, who create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance. I also had no idea that Justin Bieber had made a Steampunk-inspired music video - but then I'm not a Beliber so that's hardly surprising!
Having fun with technology is one of the main aspects of Steampunk. The reader gets to explore this towards the end of the book, with the authors investigating the third era of computing. In particular they look at technology that has a sense of humour!
I chose to read this book so that I could learn about Steampunk; I feel I now have a far deeper understanding into the subculture, genre, trend, or whatever it is. At over 300 pages this is quite a tome, so if you just want an overview of Steampunk then look elsewhere. But if you're interested in the author's journeys as well as what they discover then I feel you'll be well rewarded by reading this book.
Reviewed by Danny Williams MBCS CITP
To others, Steampunk is a fundamental backlash to the lack of excitement that most people feel about modern technology.
There is Steampunk literature, art, music but also politics and attitude. It also encompasses the aspects of the relatively new makers movement. Core to Steampunk appears to be old-world values of craftsmanship, tailoring and attention to detail.
This book is an autobiographical journey taken by Brian, a futurist, and James, a cultural historian. They come from very different backgrounds but share an interest in how the Steampunk phenomenon reflects society today and what it can tell us about tomorrow.
I found myself equally frustrated and engrossed in this book, making it challenging to review. There's a lot of navel-gazing, and possibly misplaced belief in the significance of Steampunk in today's world. But there are also lots of interesting insights and opinions provided by the wide range of people that Brian and James encounter on their journey.
I hadn't appreciated the relationship between Steampunk and Burning Man - the latter being an annual gathering of tens of thousands of participants in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, who create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance. I also had no idea that Justin Bieber had made a Steampunk-inspired music video - but then I'm not a Beliber so that's hardly surprising!
Having fun with technology is one of the main aspects of Steampunk. The reader gets to explore this towards the end of the book, with the authors investigating the third era of computing. In particular they look at technology that has a sense of humour!
I chose to read this book so that I could learn about Steampunk; I feel I now have a far deeper understanding into the subculture, genre, trend, or whatever it is. At over 300 pages this is quite a tome, so if you just want an overview of Steampunk then look elsewhere. But if you're interested in the author's journeys as well as what they discover then I feel you'll be well rewarded by reading this book.
Reviewed by Danny Williams MBCS CITP
November 23, 2013
I wanted this to be a better book.The subject matter is dear to my heart. I've met some of the folks interviewed for the book and they are very interesting people. The authors on the other hand seem to think themselves interesting and, to be honest, they're really not.
This is a series of interesting interviews smothered by the authors' apparent self-interest. I was hoping for better, but by the time I waded through the inept writing, the constant infusion of the authors' personal opinions which offer no insight at all, and worst of all, the intimation that the authors are aspiring to be like Hunter S. Thompson or Tom Wolfe at their gonzo finest. These writers can't hold a pen to Wolfe or Thompson.
I've never seen a book with so many self-referential asides. They undermine the rest of the book. If you interview China Miéville you don't need to inject your opinion into the interview when it isn't relevant. Miéville was making the point that no one espouses vapid consumption so it isn't a counter-culture unless there's a culture for it to counter and the author interpreted that as a call for socialism. Miéville is a socialist but that wasn't the point he was making. If you get a group of luminaries like Paul Guinan, Annina Bennett, Diana Vick and Martin Armstrong among others together in the same room why would you clutter it up with interpretations and personal observations, most of which seem to be tainted by confirmation bias toward the book's premise.
And conversations and drawings from your daughters that really have no bearing on the subject of Steampunk no matter how you try to spin it have no place in a book about a movement. The book was published by a subsidiary of Make magazine and that in itself is surprising. The authors state that makers seem to be demigods in the Steampunk world but spend very little time interviewing makers. There seems to be no recognition that a large part of the rebirth and rising presence of Steampunk is its adoption by artists, musicians, game companies, and films. A few small black and white photos don't do justice to the visionary works that Steampunk has inspired.
I get the feeling that the authors had opportunities through work or incidental contact to interview a number of people associated with Steampunk and decided to wrap a book around them. At one point, the authors say that their editors encouraged them to continue peppering the book with their personal anecdotes and insights--really? Were they shooting for a certain page count? This book is twice as long as it needs to be. The interviews are the meat--unfortunately they're smothered under the author's awful gravy.
This is a series of interesting interviews smothered by the authors' apparent self-interest. I was hoping for better, but by the time I waded through the inept writing, the constant infusion of the authors' personal opinions which offer no insight at all, and worst of all, the intimation that the authors are aspiring to be like Hunter S. Thompson or Tom Wolfe at their gonzo finest. These writers can't hold a pen to Wolfe or Thompson.
I've never seen a book with so many self-referential asides. They undermine the rest of the book. If you interview China Miéville you don't need to inject your opinion into the interview when it isn't relevant. Miéville was making the point that no one espouses vapid consumption so it isn't a counter-culture unless there's a culture for it to counter and the author interpreted that as a call for socialism. Miéville is a socialist but that wasn't the point he was making. If you get a group of luminaries like Paul Guinan, Annina Bennett, Diana Vick and Martin Armstrong among others together in the same room why would you clutter it up with interpretations and personal observations, most of which seem to be tainted by confirmation bias toward the book's premise.
And conversations and drawings from your daughters that really have no bearing on the subject of Steampunk no matter how you try to spin it have no place in a book about a movement. The book was published by a subsidiary of Make magazine and that in itself is surprising. The authors state that makers seem to be demigods in the Steampunk world but spend very little time interviewing makers. There seems to be no recognition that a large part of the rebirth and rising presence of Steampunk is its adoption by artists, musicians, game companies, and films. A few small black and white photos don't do justice to the visionary works that Steampunk has inspired.
I get the feeling that the authors had opportunities through work or incidental contact to interview a number of people associated with Steampunk and decided to wrap a book around them. At one point, the authors say that their editors encouraged them to continue peppering the book with their personal anecdotes and insights--really? Were they shooting for a certain page count? This book is twice as long as it needs to be. The interviews are the meat--unfortunately they're smothered under the author's awful gravy.
March 28, 2013
Ora, um futurista e um historiador encontram-se num bar e... e pronto. Essencialmente é isto. O livro arranca desta forma e não perde o tom de informalidade excessiva. Pretende analisar o steampunk enquanto fenómeno literário e estético inserido na história das contra-correntes artísticas e sociais com apontamentos para tendências de futuro. Um objectivo difícil numa corrente recente e em mutação, que ao longo do livro acaba por ser intuído mas não concluído.
O problema de Vintage Tomorrows é viver muito de informalismo e conhecimento anedótico, dispersando-se num conjunto alargado de vinhetas que por si são interessantes mas às quais falta um fio condutor intelectual. Sabemos que subjacente está a busca pela definição do que é Steampunk, mas os autores não se dão ao trabalho de colar o mosaico de relatos e entrevistas numa linha de pensamento coerente. É indubitável que ao leitor é fornecida uma quantidade enorme de material, essencialmente fontes primárias filtradas e resumidas. O grande ponto forte do livro é a recolha e partilha de um conjunto vasto de pontos de vista que abrangem desde os membros mais activos da comunidade a vozes críticas da ficção científica que incluem Margaret Atwood e Bruce Sterling, e até nomes que estão longe das disputas sobre géneros de futurismo ficcional como Bruce Mau. Infelizmente, raramente passa de um assentar de depoimentos com algumas considerações dos autores.
Através dos depoimentos conseguimos traçar uma certa visão do que é o Steampunk. Movimento consciente, alicerça-se numa estética muito própria que se reapropria da iconografia de fim de século, industrial e vitoriana. Recria conscientemente a realidade sob o prisma de uma fantasia que olha para futuros inverosímeis onde a tecnologia mecanicista do final do século XIX evoluiu para um patamar similar ao da tecnologia da nossa era contemporânea. Assumem-se como escapistas, estando conscientes que o revivalismo vitoriano tem uma forte carga de desigualdade, injustiça social, colonialismo e mentalidade anti-progressista que fica quase sempre de fora das narrativas do género.
Os autores vão interligando o gosto pelo Steampunk com a necessidade contemporânea de apropriação tecnológica, observada pelo prisma da evolução das contra-culturas. A páginas tantas, começa a notar-se que estes querem à viva força conotar o Steampunk com movimentos DIY, comparando directamente o espírito de recriação e apropriação da tecnologia sob temática vitoriana com os hackers polifacetados do movimento Maker. Num rasgo de entusiasmo, chegam a apontar que a mesma editora deste livro apoia o movimento através da publicação da revista Make e livros associados. Feliz coincidência, dizem, mas o leitor mais acisado chama a isto product placement. As similaridades entre quem pega no martelo e na tocha para criar elaborados objectos de inspiração vitoriana e aqueles que hackam em arduino para fazer de tudo um pouco existem, mas não são tão profundas como nos querem fazer crer. Se a vontade de modificar e recriar a tecnologia contemporânea é um elo comum, a divergência começa logo pelo lado estético e pelo carácter ficcional das fantasias vitorianas.
É curioso notar que o trabalho menos coerente é o do historiador James Carrott. Boa parte do que escreve são reminiscências pessoais e um relato da sua progressiva inserção em grupos completamente dedicados ao Steampunk e o sentimento de pertença a isso associado. Essencialmente, é o diário de um fanboy entusiasmado por ter sido aceite no clube, com uns pozinhos de devir histórico para tentar dar um ar mais intelectual à coisa. Já Brian Johnson é mais meticuloso, como seria de esperar do futurista residente da Intel que através do Tomorrow Project utiliza a imaginação dos autores de ficção científica como forma de analisar tendências futuras que poderão ser incorporadas na tecnologia de consumo. É deste autor que saem as análises mais coerentes e as entrevistas a pesos pesados do ecossistema de gurus tecnológicos do calibre de Bruce Sterling ou Bruce Mau.
Vintage Tomorrows desilude profundamente. Surpreende a quantidade de informação e diversidade de pontos de vista que disponibiliza ao leitor, dando a cada um bagagem para pensar e recriar mentalmente as questões levantadas. Falha na coerência, no tom excessivamente informal, na incapacidade de ao fim de dezenas de entrevistas tirar alguma conclusão. Por si só, seria um excelente livro de introdução ao Steampunk, retratado num panorama abrangente, e seria um excelente companheiro ao superlativo e profusamente ilustrado Steampunk Bible editado por Jeff Vandermeer. Infelizmente, os autores anunciam ruidosamente a pretensão de que este livro seja algo mais, seja um retrato profundo inserido na história das correntes culturais e na contemporaneidade, algo que falha redondamente pela preocupação excessiva na simplificação literária. Vintage Tomorrows é um bom mapa do Steampunk, mas pretende ser um guia, tarefa onde falha pela ausência de apontamentos de direcção.
O problema de Vintage Tomorrows é viver muito de informalismo e conhecimento anedótico, dispersando-se num conjunto alargado de vinhetas que por si são interessantes mas às quais falta um fio condutor intelectual. Sabemos que subjacente está a busca pela definição do que é Steampunk, mas os autores não se dão ao trabalho de colar o mosaico de relatos e entrevistas numa linha de pensamento coerente. É indubitável que ao leitor é fornecida uma quantidade enorme de material, essencialmente fontes primárias filtradas e resumidas. O grande ponto forte do livro é a recolha e partilha de um conjunto vasto de pontos de vista que abrangem desde os membros mais activos da comunidade a vozes críticas da ficção científica que incluem Margaret Atwood e Bruce Sterling, e até nomes que estão longe das disputas sobre géneros de futurismo ficcional como Bruce Mau. Infelizmente, raramente passa de um assentar de depoimentos com algumas considerações dos autores.
Através dos depoimentos conseguimos traçar uma certa visão do que é o Steampunk. Movimento consciente, alicerça-se numa estética muito própria que se reapropria da iconografia de fim de século, industrial e vitoriana. Recria conscientemente a realidade sob o prisma de uma fantasia que olha para futuros inverosímeis onde a tecnologia mecanicista do final do século XIX evoluiu para um patamar similar ao da tecnologia da nossa era contemporânea. Assumem-se como escapistas, estando conscientes que o revivalismo vitoriano tem uma forte carga de desigualdade, injustiça social, colonialismo e mentalidade anti-progressista que fica quase sempre de fora das narrativas do género.
Os autores vão interligando o gosto pelo Steampunk com a necessidade contemporânea de apropriação tecnológica, observada pelo prisma da evolução das contra-culturas. A páginas tantas, começa a notar-se que estes querem à viva força conotar o Steampunk com movimentos DIY, comparando directamente o espírito de recriação e apropriação da tecnologia sob temática vitoriana com os hackers polifacetados do movimento Maker. Num rasgo de entusiasmo, chegam a apontar que a mesma editora deste livro apoia o movimento através da publicação da revista Make e livros associados. Feliz coincidência, dizem, mas o leitor mais acisado chama a isto product placement. As similaridades entre quem pega no martelo e na tocha para criar elaborados objectos de inspiração vitoriana e aqueles que hackam em arduino para fazer de tudo um pouco existem, mas não são tão profundas como nos querem fazer crer. Se a vontade de modificar e recriar a tecnologia contemporânea é um elo comum, a divergência começa logo pelo lado estético e pelo carácter ficcional das fantasias vitorianas.
É curioso notar que o trabalho menos coerente é o do historiador James Carrott. Boa parte do que escreve são reminiscências pessoais e um relato da sua progressiva inserção em grupos completamente dedicados ao Steampunk e o sentimento de pertença a isso associado. Essencialmente, é o diário de um fanboy entusiasmado por ter sido aceite no clube, com uns pozinhos de devir histórico para tentar dar um ar mais intelectual à coisa. Já Brian Johnson é mais meticuloso, como seria de esperar do futurista residente da Intel que através do Tomorrow Project utiliza a imaginação dos autores de ficção científica como forma de analisar tendências futuras que poderão ser incorporadas na tecnologia de consumo. É deste autor que saem as análises mais coerentes e as entrevistas a pesos pesados do ecossistema de gurus tecnológicos do calibre de Bruce Sterling ou Bruce Mau.
Vintage Tomorrows desilude profundamente. Surpreende a quantidade de informação e diversidade de pontos de vista que disponibiliza ao leitor, dando a cada um bagagem para pensar e recriar mentalmente as questões levantadas. Falha na coerência, no tom excessivamente informal, na incapacidade de ao fim de dezenas de entrevistas tirar alguma conclusão. Por si só, seria um excelente livro de introdução ao Steampunk, retratado num panorama abrangente, e seria um excelente companheiro ao superlativo e profusamente ilustrado Steampunk Bible editado por Jeff Vandermeer. Infelizmente, os autores anunciam ruidosamente a pretensão de que este livro seja algo mais, seja um retrato profundo inserido na história das correntes culturais e na contemporaneidade, algo que falha redondamente pela preocupação excessiva na simplificação literária. Vintage Tomorrows é um bom mapa do Steampunk, mas pretende ser um guia, tarefa onde falha pela ausência de apontamentos de direcção.
November 1, 2018
Don't mistake this as a book about steampunk - it's more about the two authors than it is about the genre. Carrott is apparently a historian (he tells everybody he interviews, and he tells the reader at least once per chapter) and Johnson is a futurist (whose "job is to look 10 to 15 years out and come up with a vision as to how people will interact with computers."...he tells people that too, but not as often). They had great access to a lot of names in steampunk, which tempers their insistent desire to talk about themselves. Still, with all that access, they missed what steampunk is and is not.
A whole early chapter on steampunk as counterculture - it's not..."sub" culture, maybe, but the fans and players aren't generally countering anything - set the wrong tone. They rescued themselves somewhat by interviewing some of the authors (I've not found much in steampunk as a written medium that appeals to me), makers (this I like...creatives at work), and participants (I don't go to cons though the cosplay is fun to see). They also threw in stuff about a comedy club, Siri and an anthropologist, taking the temper out of the temper. And they threw in more of themselves.
They spent too much time arguing over whether steampunks long for a different world, and talking about some guy named Charles Stross who apparently took steampunk too seriously by criticizing it as not scientific enough (he write "hard science fiction", thus is an expert). And they really didn't address the subtitle of their book too well at all.
Steampunk is fun precisely because it's not possible and everyone knows it's not. There's no philosophical subtext. Just plain fun. I plan to come back to this again for what Mieville and a few other had to say, but I'll take the Thomas Jefferson bible approach and cut out all the irrelevant stuff about them and their bars and dinners and just re-read the meat.
A whole early chapter on steampunk as counterculture - it's not..."sub" culture, maybe, but the fans and players aren't generally countering anything - set the wrong tone. They rescued themselves somewhat by interviewing some of the authors (I've not found much in steampunk as a written medium that appeals to me), makers (this I like...creatives at work), and participants (I don't go to cons though the cosplay is fun to see). They also threw in stuff about a comedy club, Siri and an anthropologist, taking the temper out of the temper. And they threw in more of themselves.
They spent too much time arguing over whether steampunks long for a different world, and talking about some guy named Charles Stross who apparently took steampunk too seriously by criticizing it as not scientific enough (he write "hard science fiction", thus is an expert). And they really didn't address the subtitle of their book too well at all.
Steampunk is fun precisely because it's not possible and everyone knows it's not. There's no philosophical subtext. Just plain fun. I plan to come back to this again for what Mieville and a few other had to say, but I'll take the Thomas Jefferson bible approach and cut out all the irrelevant stuff about them and their bars and dinners and just re-read the meat.
January 18, 2013
A fascinating take on "steampunk" and coping with technological change. I particularly enjoy the rather compelling (if brief) argument that we're already living in an alternate reality.
July 17, 2020
Interesting though the format is a bit too focused on itself
December 17, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I'm giving it three stars because I feel like it's more of a ramble than a well done argument. It's a great ramble. Two very interesting people let you be a fly on the wall with the amazing people they drink and dine with. Along the way you do learn something of Steampunk culture and you become willing to buy the idea that Steampunk is one strand of a movement that wishes to change our relationship with technology. It also has a good index in the digital version.
Overall though, it feels like a series of great dinner parties and bar evenings. I'm not sure what more I was looking for other than a great tour, but I feel like the authors missed something. Maybe too much time on getting to their thesis that people want humor, history and humanity from their technology and too little time speculating on what that means. Or that computers with humor programmed by Silicon Valley types worries me? I'm not sure. But if you're looking for a tour of Steampunk luminaries and interesting discussion about the interaction between culture and technology, this book may be for you.
Overall though, it feels like a series of great dinner parties and bar evenings. I'm not sure what more I was looking for other than a great tour, but I feel like the authors missed something. Maybe too much time on getting to their thesis that people want humor, history and humanity from their technology and too little time speculating on what that means. Or that computers with humor programmed by Silicon Valley types worries me? I'm not sure. But if you're looking for a tour of Steampunk luminaries and interesting discussion about the interaction between culture and technology, this book may be for you.
March 4, 2019
Interesting subject matter but the book was put together in such an odd order with reference to interviews that hadn't happened yet.
September 19, 2013
This book is what I don't expected at all. I just read some good and some bad reviews of it, and I was a little bit overwhelm at the begin. I read before it some other books about Steampunk like The Steampunk Bible, the Steampunk Magazines, and some essays, and I am on Steampunk since 2007-2008, so I have some previous ideas about the topic previously to read it.
First at all, what I found was a little bit chaotic write, and I was not comfortable at all with some moments of monologue of the writters, reiterating sometimes some ideas. I like their efforts to create a more human book, maybe is a question to polish the stlye. Well, I am a not-English reader, I am catalan and spanish, so maybe I am not a good reader, too, of an english book.
This is not a book describing and telling you what steampunk is summarizing it on one to five phrases. It is not, in fact, a book about Steampunk. It is a book which departs from the big question "WHY steampunk is popular NOW?" and introspections in Steampunk in the first half of the book, but it begins to investigate in a broad sense at some insights and big moments of the contemporary culture.
Is a book made of interviews and feelings, very deepful, and, for me at least, doing the best questions that a researcher can do to dig on it deepfuly.
Another thing I found very interesting is the selection of the intervieweds and the order, and the pragmatism of the interviewers doing their work.
This book is a book that the reader have to work too, I mean that it is not a book telling you what do you have to think about what Steampunk or the cultural moment are, it is a kind of "ethnological" book where you, as a reader, have to think. They let you many keys to think, some open ideas and questions, and in this facet they do it "nice-to-great".
The Maker question, that I have read some bad criticisms appealing that the editors have some relation in the content, is that the editors didn't have any need. Steampunk and the cultural moment have a big relationship with Maker and DIY movements, you can discover it deliciously on the book, and being, if you are previously or you want, moving at Steampunk Communities.
My recommendation is that, if you didn't know anything about Steampunk, first read Steampunk Bible, and after you can read it to catch more ideas deepfuly.
My rating is a 4 to 5 stars with any doubt!
First at all, what I found was a little bit chaotic write, and I was not comfortable at all with some moments of monologue of the writters, reiterating sometimes some ideas. I like their efforts to create a more human book, maybe is a question to polish the stlye. Well, I am a not-English reader, I am catalan and spanish, so maybe I am not a good reader, too, of an english book.
This is not a book describing and telling you what steampunk is summarizing it on one to five phrases. It is not, in fact, a book about Steampunk. It is a book which departs from the big question "WHY steampunk is popular NOW?" and introspections in Steampunk in the first half of the book, but it begins to investigate in a broad sense at some insights and big moments of the contemporary culture.
Is a book made of interviews and feelings, very deepful, and, for me at least, doing the best questions that a researcher can do to dig on it deepfuly.
Another thing I found very interesting is the selection of the intervieweds and the order, and the pragmatism of the interviewers doing their work.
This book is a book that the reader have to work too, I mean that it is not a book telling you what do you have to think about what Steampunk or the cultural moment are, it is a kind of "ethnological" book where you, as a reader, have to think. They let you many keys to think, some open ideas and questions, and in this facet they do it "nice-to-great".
The Maker question, that I have read some bad criticisms appealing that the editors have some relation in the content, is that the editors didn't have any need. Steampunk and the cultural moment have a big relationship with Maker and DIY movements, you can discover it deliciously on the book, and being, if you are previously or you want, moving at Steampunk Communities.
My recommendation is that, if you didn't know anything about Steampunk, first read Steampunk Bible, and after you can read it to catch more ideas deepfuly.
My rating is a 4 to 5 stars with any doubt!
June 18, 2013
I had a hard time categorizing this book. Not too surprising, since the premise quite literally begins with "A historian and a futurist walk into a bar ..." and goes from there.
Ultimately, I concluded that it was just what I suspected: an ethnography of steampunk. I had the delight of meeting author James H. Carrott during Clockwork Alchemy 2013, and his premise was quite interesting: what can steampunk show us about how the past affects our future?
Carrot (and his co-author, Bryan David Johnson) explore maker culture, technology alterations and yes, even Justin Bieber's music as they look at the impact of the relatively small subculture of steampunk. Carrott sets the steampunks next to the Beatniks and Hippies as a movement poised to affect culture at large ... and goes about proving his hypothesis.
It would be very easy for a book like this to come across more arid than the Sahara. However, Carrott presents his subject matter with humor and humanity (important points in the book), interviewing figures as diverse as Cherie Priest,Margaret Atwood, and Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter, to make his points.
Overall, it's an interesting look at a subculture from both the inside and the outside. If you want to know why steampunk might just be more than slapping gears on something and wearing lots of brown, this is the book for you.
Ultimately, I concluded that it was just what I suspected: an ethnography of steampunk. I had the delight of meeting author James H. Carrott during Clockwork Alchemy 2013, and his premise was quite interesting: what can steampunk show us about how the past affects our future?
Carrot (and his co-author, Bryan David Johnson) explore maker culture, technology alterations and yes, even Justin Bieber's music as they look at the impact of the relatively small subculture of steampunk. Carrott sets the steampunks next to the Beatniks and Hippies as a movement poised to affect culture at large ... and goes about proving his hypothesis.
It would be very easy for a book like this to come across more arid than the Sahara. However, Carrott presents his subject matter with humor and humanity (important points in the book), interviewing figures as diverse as Cherie Priest,Margaret Atwood, and Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter, to make his points.
Overall, it's an interesting look at a subculture from both the inside and the outside. If you want to know why steampunk might just be more than slapping gears on something and wearing lots of brown, this is the book for you.
April 18, 2013
As is my habit, I like to flip to the back of a non-fiction book to look at the sources. I couldn’t help but get a chuckle over the the header Appendix A when image credits was the only item in the Appendix. Why have an Appendix A when there is no Appendix B? Having said that, there is a beefy eleven page Index that is extremely useful and I wish more non-fiction books had them.
The nineteen chapters of Vintage Tomorrows were a well-written exploration of Steampunk. While I am not sure that I agree with James H. Carrott that steampunk is a counterculture similar to hippies or beatniks, I can understand his argument.
Chapter 12′s “Pop Goes the Steampunk” began with Justin Bieber’s holiday music video “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The book begs the questions, “Is steampunk making its way into the mainstream? What is the relationship between music and technology? How is Justin Bieber like the Beatles?” Maybe it’s just me, but I am surprised that steampunk survived Justin Bieber.
The high point of the book had to be the interviews. I really enjoyed reading the various opinions from well-known authors. Vintage Tomorrows was a solid read and though I disagree with some of the opinions I enjoyed the book. I give it a solid 4 stars out of 5.
The nineteen chapters of Vintage Tomorrows were a well-written exploration of Steampunk. While I am not sure that I agree with James H. Carrott that steampunk is a counterculture similar to hippies or beatniks, I can understand his argument.
Chapter 12′s “Pop Goes the Steampunk” began with Justin Bieber’s holiday music video “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The book begs the questions, “Is steampunk making its way into the mainstream? What is the relationship between music and technology? How is Justin Bieber like the Beatles?” Maybe it’s just me, but I am surprised that steampunk survived Justin Bieber.
The high point of the book had to be the interviews. I really enjoyed reading the various opinions from well-known authors. Vintage Tomorrows was a solid read and though I disagree with some of the opinions I enjoyed the book. I give it a solid 4 stars out of 5.
November 13, 2014
I know very little about “steampunk,” other than I think it looks cool, but the more I explore this phenomenon, the more compelling it becomes. This seemingly incongruent amalgamation of fantasy/history and modern technology/ the Victorian Era has been embraced by a passionate fan base, with meticulous attention to the accuracy of the fantastical renderings. Obviously I’m confused, yet still intrigued, which is why I am grateful that I stumbled across Vintage Tomorrows: A Historian and a Futurist Journey Through Steampunk into the Future of Technology. If you’re already into Steampunk, or just want to learn more, check out Vintage Tomorrows, available at the Richardson Library, 303.483 C3198v2013.
--Geoff P.
(Originally posted in the DePaul University Library "The Full Text" blog:http://bit.ly/18vWazB)
--Geoff P.
(Originally posted in the DePaul University Library "The Full Text" blog:http://bit.ly/18vWazB)
June 15, 2013
An interesting, and thought-provoking book. I did come way with an impression that the authors are so entrenched in steampunk fandom that they see more in it than is necessarily there. But I like to look for possible patterns in things too, so I completely understand -- it's all part of the process of discovery. The enthusiasm of the writers for seeing possible connections, even though maybe farfetched in parts, is what kept me reading. (Not that the content isn't interesting -- I just appreciate that sort of thing.) I recommend the book to anyone interested in philosophical questions about technology and/or anyone interested in culture and history, and anyone just interested in a fun little journey.
August 13, 2015
Any book that starts of with 'A historian and a futurist walk into a bar...' Is going to be a good one. As I am involved in the steampunk subculture, this book was always going to be on my to buy list and it is one of the few books that I have preordered. And it didn't disappoint.
History is a huge part of our lives, whether we are aware of it or not, but the thing about steampunk, and other subcultures like it, is that it makes you aware of the past, and the 'what if' questions. That's one of the things that this book highlights. We need to look to the past, if we have any hope of having a better future but while we are doing that, we might as well have a bit of fun on the way.
History is a huge part of our lives, whether we are aware of it or not, but the thing about steampunk, and other subcultures like it, is that it makes you aware of the past, and the 'what if' questions. That's one of the things that this book highlights. We need to look to the past, if we have any hope of having a better future but while we are doing that, we might as well have a bit of fun on the way.
September 2, 2013
A fascinating guided tour by the authors as if they're your buddies through what Steampunk is all about, and what it might mean, why it's suddenly so popular, and how it is linked to previous sub-culture and counter culture movements, as well as technology and what people are struggling with about it. Includes interviews with various stars of the Steampunk world, both luminaries and those not as well known.
May 31, 2013
Well, it was really fun to write....
February 26, 2013
So many notes in kindle. The only reason why I can't give it 5 stars, is not related to the book. Which is awesome.
May 1, 2015
nice steampunk book!
May 25, 2014
I wish very much that steam punk were not violent weapons but an arty future past.
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October 10, 2013303.483 C3198 2013
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