During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, steampunk – postmodernistic fantasy, SF, and/or alternate history stories set largely in the 19th century that fuse scientific romanticism with Victorian aesthetics – was at its height. I remember reading books like K.W. Jeter’s Infernal Devices (1987) and The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (1990) and just being blown away at the potential of this fascinating new fictional category. And not just in literature but art, music, fashion, and pop culture as well...
…but the phenomenon didn’t expand and evolve like I thought it would. In fact, for several years, steampunk was off of my radar altogether. However, while the subgenre may have lost some of its, ahem, steam over the last decade, there has been a sporadic stream of stellar releases: Paul Di Filippo's The Steampunk Trilogy (1997), China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station (2000), J. Gregory Keyes’ Age of Unreason saga (Newton's Cannon, et. al.), and Theodore Judson’s Fitzpatrick's War (2004), to name a few…
Well, don’t look now but steampunk seems to be making a phoenix-like comeback. What is the reason for this steampunk renaissance, you may ask? Simply put, it's wildly entertaining, highly intelligent, innovative and stylish speculative fiction. In the preface of the recent Steampunk anthology, editors extraordinaire Ann and Jeff VanderMeer fittingly describe steampunk as “dark pseudo-Victorian fun.”
Here are two noteworthy titles out of literally dozens of novels with undeniable steampunk elements that have either recently been released or will be in the months to come:
The Affinity Bridge by George Mann (July, 2009) – a steampunk detective tale featuring steam-powered taxicabs and cyborg piloted zeppelins described by sfsignal.com as a “hugely entertaining read.”
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (October, 2009) – Set in an alternate 1880’s Seattle replete with steam-powered machines and zombies, Publishers Weekly is calling Priest’s much-anticipated steampunk debut “a must-read for the discerning steampunk fan.”
So, if you’re a longtime fan of steampunk stories or relatively new to the subgenre, be aware that in the next year, we’re all going to be seeing a lot more Victorian fantasies featuring airships, steam-powered economies, handcrafted mechanical artifacts, etc. Gentlemen, Start Your Dirigibles!
Hey guys, here is another upcoming steampunk release that I just stumbled across – coming out in February, 2010, Steamed from Katie MacAlister, a steampunk romance! Here's the teaser:
Jack Fletcher's heart is about to get punked. Computer technician Jack Fletcher is no hero, despite his unwelcome reputation as one. In fact, he's just been the victim of bizarre circumstances. Like now. His sister happens to disturb one of his nanoelectromechanical system experiments, and now they aren't where they're supposed to be. In fact, they're not sure where they are when…
…they wake up to see a woman with the reddest hair Jack has ever seen-and a gun. Octavia Pye is an Aerocorps captain with a whole lot of secrets, and she's not about to see her maiden voyage ruined by stowaways. But the sparks flying between her and Jack just may cause her airship to combust and ignite a passion that will forever change the world as she knows it…
![[Steamed.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_n0dOFJIg_vw/SocxbBMDfLI/AAAAAAAABIM/_K4kJA_p7uY/s1600/Steamed.jpg)
