Witches, Weres, and Vamps, Oh MY! discussion

While browsing around I found a new book by Katie MacAlister that will be released in Feb of 2010 sometime. Steamed - it's a Steampunk romance and looks intersting.

I've seen other books categorized as Steampunk and I'm not quite sure what it means.

What's your take on Steampunk? If you've read it - what were your favorite books or books you'd recommend?

Hi Shannon,

Think of movies like Wild Wild West and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Victorian era with steam-run machines that tend toward the fantastic.

Gail Dayton recently released New Blood. Do a search on steampunk and you'll find loads of fascinating sites with fantastic creations and costumes.

I have a steampunk shelf but it's little and mostly full of books that I would love to read but have been unable to find for a decent price.

I consider steampunk to be alternate historical fantasy, without the technologies that we take for granted. You will probably hear many different explanations of steampunk but "steam", or early technologies, are almost always involved. It's the opposite of cyberpunk, which usually takes place in the future and is more sci/fi than fantasy.

His Dark Materials is considered steampunk by some but I've noticed that many people dislike all of the subcategories of fantasy so they tend to not shelf books in a detailed manner. I have to force myself to not become more specific than my shelves already are.

The best steampunk, one of my top 20 books ever is Perdido Street Station, one of those books that really changed me. One of those books I want to shove in everyone's faces and force them to read :)

Stephanie wrote: "Gail Dayton recently released ..."

I read New Blood last month. Heavy on the romance and magic. Excellent idea, I would recommend it. The book felt more like a lighter steampunk novel but Ive been reading China Miéville and that's dark and heavy (more my style). But I hope Dayton comes out with another book in the series.

thanks for starting this thread as i had no idea of what *steampunk*is/was either::is there a listopia on the main GR site listing steampunk books?::i've never seen one::but::you never know::failing that i twould be nice if poeple could list books they've read or know are good::

Kathryn wrote: "The best steampunk, one of my top 20 books ever is Perdido Street Station, one of those books that really changed me. One of those books I want to shove in everyone's faces and force them to read :) "


HA! I never realized you felt that strongly about The Perdido Station. I have it waiting to be read. I’ll have to move it up, even if it means breaking my new “No New Series” rule. I’ll eventually catch up right???


ETA: GOODNESS It's a long book though! I'll read it sometime in June (after my new releases of course)

Adrienne wrote: "is there a listopia on the main GR site listing steampunk books?"

I could only find one - but that doesn't mean there isn't more, they just might not be tagged SteamPunk

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/61...

i'll take a peak::i'm always open minded when it comes to reading::see if theres anyhting that takes my fancy:)::

Shanon wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "The best steampunk, one of my top 20 books ever is Perdido Street Station..."

I've actually been wanting to reread the book and that tells me how much I loved it. And I wouldn't feel too guilty about breaking the series rule. The books, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council probably should be read in order but it's not completely necessary. The characters are different, only the setting is the same, though I guess the last book is 100s of years later in the same world. I still need to read the last book.

OK, I get the steam half of the term but what defines punk. I saw no one in LoEG or WWW with mohawks.

Some people cite 'The Difference Engine' by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling as the moment Steampunk broke. Other books I'd consider Steampunk would be the excellent 'Perdido Street Station' by China Mieville and 'Mortal Engines' by Philip Reeve, as well as its sequels, which I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet though they're in my stack. His ot

Steampunk is an off-shoot of cyberpunk, usually taking place in a hyper-industrial victorian setting.