Steampunk Reads discussion

Hello everyone.
I have been a fan of steampunk (and so many other genres) for a while now. I've started writing on my first project and have been scrounging up books everywhere I can find them.

What I'm looking for are non-Victorian (Edwardian, etc) streampunk stories.

Any recommendations?

I like the Victorian elements as well, but there are plenty of stories that don't go there. Westerfield's Leviathan trilogy takes place during an alternate WWI; the Girl Genius graphic novels may fall in a nebulous apocalyptic Victorean era, but with little in the way of teacups and propriety.

Boneshaker takes place in a zombie-filled Edwardian(?) San Francisco.

It's not that I don't like Victorian, but I would like to explore some of the aesthetics of other cultures in a steam-powered society. I know a few anime that would help with Oriental aesthetics, but I'm looking for more.

There's a book called Blightcross, by C. A. Lang that's just been released in the last few months, which is Dieselpunk, set in a secondary world. There's also His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman, which is secondary world, mostly. Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti is one that came was nominated for the Nebulas, and won the Crawford award, and it's set in a distant post apocalyptic future, though the steampunk elements border on magic realism - but it was an amazing book.

I get your looking for non-victorian - the teacups and propriety don't appeal to me either, and I'm very much disappointed by the trend to pigeon-hole steampunk into victorian alternate history. I read a good article on it today: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/towa...

Boneshaker takes place during the Civil War and is in Seattle while Dreadought take place from the Confederate States, to Louisiana then on a train to the west. Definitely not Victorian England but Steampunk. The problem is going into later periods (Edwardian) you start getting into Dieselpunk which isn't exactly the same.

Dieselpunk is the period after steam. Instead of steam, they burn gas/diesel. World War One is a Dieselpunk time period. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is also seen by some as a Dieselpunk style movie.

I suppose going by that definition, I would have to classify my novel Liberator's Ruin, as dieselpunk then? I've never been quite sure what genre/sub-genre to classify it.

My steampunk stories are set between 1907 and the lead up to the first World War. Technically they're Edwardian, though in this alternate history Queen Victoria is alive and well circa 1910.

Great topic, I'm working on a book that is a cross Steampunk Dieselpunk based on alternate history. It's a marriage of two genre's I love.

I'm seriously considering writing a steampunk set during the 1600s England. The Restoration was a time that I think steampunk could fit into really well. But first I'm going to finish my prospective mystery trilogy that is Victorian.

The Restoration? Sweet! Looking forward to see how you marry Restoration with Steampunk, sounds fantastic. I'm not familiar with 'prospective mystery'. Is that like 'alternative reality'?

Hazel wrote: "I'm seriously considering writing a steampunk set during the 1600s England. The Restoration was a time that I think steampunk could fit into really well. But first I'm going to finish my prospectiv..."

Your projects sound like you're really stretching the Steampunk boundaries, guys. Well done. If we're to keep it alive, we need to keep it fresh.

My own novel, Greaveburn, is set in a completely fictional world which is more like a gothic cityscape fairytale.

Craig

Greaveburn

I guess I'll have to write faster, since there does seem to be a demand for non-Victorian Steampunk. My current work-in-progress is set in an alternate future (2067 to be exact), based on Rudyard Kipling's early 1900's science fiction stories. There's no actual steam involved, but there are metal-hulled dirigibles!

If you're looking for something that's already written, ;-) the collection called simply Steampunk, does have quite a bit of non-Vic Steampunk stories.

@Noelle: Haha, no, I called them 'prospective' because for the most part they are still in my head ;) It's not a new genre, but I guess it does actually sound like alternate. My idea for setting steampunk during the 17th century was actually kind of inspired by the 2011 Three Musketeers movie. Even though it's kind of cheesy, I enjoyed it, and I loved how they gave it a steampunk flair. I had never thought about it before but it totally fits the time period.

@Hazzl, Ha! okay that's great, I love visuals, they totally spark the muse! If 'prospective' was a genre I think I'd be the front runner. There so many shorts, treatments, outlines in my computer and email and a million more in my head. Your idea sounds great. I love all sects of SciFi b/c of that level of freedom.

Hazel wrote: "@Noelle: Haha, no, I called them 'prospective' because for the most part they are still in my head ;) It's not a new genre, but I guess it does actually sound like alternate. My idea for setting st..."

I have started the first of my mystery series (I'm actually writing it for NaNoWriMO but I'm caught up finishing the other book I'm working on at the moment and my villain is giving me grief :P) If you go to my blog though, http://hazelwest.blogspot.com you can follow my character Anthony Maxwell on Facebook and read excerpts and stuff. He's really a fun character to write.

Hazel wrote: "@Noelle: Haha, no, I called them 'prospective' because for the most part they are still in my head ;) It's not a new genre, but I guess it does actually sound like alternate. My idea for setting st..."

That movie got a lot of abuse, but I thought it was a good laugh. Great visuals. I look forward to reading your 17C story!

For NANOWRIMO this year I've been working on a story with futuristic elements but set in a place & time much like Elizabethan England. On the Fantasy forum I asked if there's a name for this sub-sub-genre. One member said that if a steampunk-inspired story is set in Medieval or Renaissance times, it's sometimes called Dungeon Punk.

"Dungeon Punk"! I love it. :-)

I like the term "Clockpunk".

Dungeon-punk conjures up sone seriously dark images :) I think Clock-punk is usually renaissance or French revolution periods isn't it? So many genres, so little time! :D

French Revolution? Great idea. If only someone would do that...

I'be seen steampunk short stories ranging in settings from the Wild West to Ancient Rome. Try different anthologies of steampunk, you might find what you're looking for there.

For some good secondary-world dieselpunk fantasy, I recommend Ben Rovik's The Wizard That Wasn't. He manages to combine funny and suspenseful in one scene, which is hard to do. The sequel's good, too.

Also check out Etched in Soul and Skin. It's kind of Victorian but not really since it's set on a floating city on a strange planet.

Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure isn't Victorian. I'm four books into the series and I really like it.

Yep, it's set in early 20th-century Washington, D.C., if I remember correctly.

Megan Curd just put out a nice dystopian with Steel Lily and you might also like Shanghai Steam which is an anthology that has mainly Asian steampunk, including a piece by Laurel Anne Hill.

That's cool!

Just finished Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure. Liked it enough to get the second one and will start that in a few minutes. Glad to hear that up thru the fourth is worth reading.
The main character sure is full of spunk!

Scott wrote: "Also check out Etched in Soul and Skin. It's kind of Victorian but not really since it's set on a floating city on a strange planet."

Scott, were did you get a copy of Etched in Soul and Skin?

Alison wrote: "Just finished Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure. Liked it enough to get the second one and will start that in a few minutes. Glad to hear that up thru the fourth is worth reading...."

The fifth book is out as of a few days ago. I haven't started it yet because my to-be-read pile is alarming.

Alison wrote: "Scott wrote: "Also check out Etched in Soul and Skin. It's kind of Victorian but not really since it's set on a floating city on a strange planet."

Scott, were did you get a copy of Etched in Soul..."

http://www.amazon.com/Etched-Soul-Ski...

Thanks for the link, not sure why I couldn't find it.

Looks like this thread has been dormant for a while, but just wanted to toss my hat in the Non-Victorian Steampunk ring. My debut novel (first of a trilogy) takes place in an Art Deco metropolis that is attached to a world of living metal, which it is depleting - Decopunk meets Biopunk? Not quite sure how to label it, but here it is!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1423...

I have just published a dystopian steampunk adventure: floating cities, aitships, general mayhem. You can find it at http://amzn.to/1EsFR7n if you are interested.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve is post-apocalyptic steampunk with entire cities that move. Love this series.

Heather Albano's Keeping Time series (Timepiece and Timekeeper) are steampunk time-travel novels with some time spent in Victorian England, but most of the action taking place during the early nineteenth and late eighteenth centuries. Regency/Napoleonic steampunk!

I'm currently waiting for the arrival of Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, which is an airship oriented steampunker set in a world that Wooding has created, or so I understand.

Brian wrote: "Hello everyone.
I have been a fan of steampunk (and so many other genres) for a while now. I've started writing on my first project and have been scrounging up books everywhere I can find them.

Wh..."

My book, HAWTHORNE: Chronicles of the Brass Hand is set exactly during the time period you are looking for. You can find it here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JB1DU9C

You might also like to take a look at my website at www.thehawthornebooks.com

Hi all,

I write Romanpunk - steampunk history with an Alternate History Roman flair. Not quite victorian, not edwardian, but something to the side. I have seven books so far and my next is on preorder now!

The Last Gladiator is a fast-paced story set in my alternate history "Romanpunk" world, where Rome never fell. The fabled gladiators of yore are being replaced by mechanical versions of themselves - Mechagladiators. As one of the last human gladiators, Lucia Rhodanus Fortem must find a way to trust her companions while training for the biggest match of her life.

Smashwords - https://bit.ly/2yCaC2X
Nook - https://bit.ly/2VLQ67Z
Kindle - https://amzn.to/2RVAYDT

My novel "Fortitude" is set just after the Victorian era and in an alternate universe. It's a world in transition. Steam is still used but it is "clean steam".

Link to Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Links to purchase here:
http://www.karenbayly.com/fortitude

My novel "Odd Men Out" and the sequel Red Gear 9 (out in Jan. of 2021) are steampunk adventures that take place during the American Civil War. I wrote them, in part, because I wanted to explore the idea of steampunk in other eras.

https://amzn.to/3kmNjfQ

I'm three and a half novels into a series of steampunk humour (the Petticoat Katie series) set in an alternative early 20th century e.g. pre-WW1. I keep trying to move the action away from London, but my characters just aren't helping...

My Napoleonic steampunk novel The Game Called Revolution is currently on sale on Kindle.

A doomsday weapon threatens millions of lives—now two women must decide what’s worth fighting for…An alternate history of the late 1700s—young, noble knight, Jeanne de Fleur, is protecting the royal French family from assassinations as war looms across Europe.While Jeanne sails her airship to fight injustice...Austrian general, Farahilde Johanna, terrorizes her country’s enemies with new electricity technology. But a conspiracy leads the two women to battle each other just as the French Revolution ignites. With the entire European continent at risk of extinction, the women must decide which battles to fight.

https://www.amazon.com/Game-Called-Re...