I need help with Steampunk!

[Jason]

Steampunk is one of those new sub-genres that I really want to check out, but don't know what's good versus what's crap.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where a good place to start would be?

[Jean]

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is wonderful.
The Peshawar Lancers by SR Stirling is quite different but also very good.
The Alchemy of Stone is darker, and takes steampunk in Russia.
Much lighter books, with more romance, are Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. First one is Soulless She adds in vampires and werewolves and makes great fun of the standard tropes.
Another really good book is by Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

Of course there are the old standbys like The Time Machine or Around the World in Eighty Days

Steampunk is mostly Victorian in outlook in that the world is exciting and modern inventions open the world to new possibilities. I'm having great fun writing one for NaNoWriMo.

[Jason]

Those all look great. Thanks Majkia!

[Laurel]

I have to recommend Boneshaker and the other books that are part of the same world: Dreadnought and Clementine.

Really enjoyed the characters, the world building, and the sense of adventure! Plus, Priest's novels have the same magic of Jaws in that the "monsters" or other big bad is often just out of sight or implied, making them that much cooler!

[Christine]

I recommend Boneshaker too!

[Jean]

I didn't like Boneshaker. But then I'm not a zombie fan either, and it was sort of the same thing. But mostly, I just didn't like the protagonist and wasn't rooting for her.

And I really really wanted to like that book, too. Sigh.

[Jason]

I read Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Priest and wasn't impressed much by it. I do keep hearing great things about Boneshaker, though. So I think I'll give her another go.

[Brainycat]

As I recall, The Difference Engine was one of the first books to define the genre. I leave it to persons who follow the genre closer than I do to properly put it in it's context.

I'm not a big fan of the genre, m'self. Technology develops as a function of the society that produces it, and in turn it changes that society. It's like a big happy dialectical clusterfuck. Cherry picking technologies and stuffing them into the age of western imperialism bothers me at both the practical and the moral end of the spectrum. But that's just my opinion.

[mark]

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - gordon dahlquist

The Affinity Bridge - george mann

[mark]

i remembered a few more:

The Digging Leviathan

The Native Star

The Dream of Perpetual Motion

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I'm reading The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, and this is excellent steampunk.

[Jason]

That does sound like it might be good. Thanks, Lady Danielle!

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

You're welcome. It's quite engrossing. I think even a typical non-romance fan might enjoy it.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I'm reading The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, and this is excellent steampunk."

Did you buy this as an ebook or bound? I want to get a copy but the only ones I can find are $9.99! The pb version is $9.98 and less.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I bought the paperback. I don't buy everything in trade paperback, but I think it's worth it.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I think I might just get the paperback. Question: I've read some reviews that speak of a rape scene in the book - is it something that will make me sell the book?

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

There is no rape scene in this book. Mina comes into the world as the resort of a mind rape, if you will. I'll PM because I have more to say about it, but I'm kind of blushy about talking about certain topics. :)

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "There is no rape scene in this book. Mina comes into the world as the resort of a mind rape, if you will. I'll PM because I have more to say about it, but I'm kind of blushy about talking about c..."

;)

I'm going to hold on the Iron Duke right now, I'll buy a paper copy instead.

I had a sample of The Voyage of the Minotaur and started it last night. It's pretty good! I haven't read any steampunk before this (the closest I've gotten was watching Wild, Wild West), so I can't compare it to anyone else.

I broke down and bought it and the sequel The Dark and Forbidding Land from smashwords. My TBR pile would boggle a mathematical genius...

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I'll have to check on The Voyage of the Minotaur. Thanks for the heads up!

[Legsoffury]

Neverwhere.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Check on Amazon, because they have quite a few steampunk classics on Kindle for pretty good prices right now.

Langdon St. Ives: http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Lang...

Infernal Devices: http://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Device...

New Amsterdam: http://www.amazon.com/New-Amsterdam-e...

For example.

[Jason]

Great! Thanks, Lady Danielle!

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

You're welcome, Jason!

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Somewhere in FA someone suggested Retribution Falls (I don't want to take credit for a great discovery here). I think it'd fall under steampunk and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot. Airships, gunfights, pirates, a golem, daemons... lots of fun ingredients but also fully developed characters. A little bit of the "shades of grey" protagonists. I'll likely be adding it to my own library, and I'm not adding books unless they are re-reads.

[[deleted user]]

Did you go on to Black Lung Captain, Carol?

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Ala--gees, I just finished last night--give me a couple hours ;) Actually, thanks for the title, now I have it on my TBR list. I stopped at B&N today and glutted myself on books... I looked for the next Wooding but didn't see it, alas! Now I'll have to wait. Sadness.
Ahoy, matey!

[[deleted user]]

I just like the second one as much if not more. Hell, I love the series so far and can't wait for the next.

[Scott]

I am fairly new to the genre myself but I really enjoy Lindsay Buroker's stuff. The Emperor's Edge and Flash Gold are great.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I've herd both good and bad things about Dead Iron.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I have downloaded those Lindsay Buroker books. They look good. I plan to get Dead Iron too.

[Danielle]

Well,

It is shameless of me, but I am the editor of In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk, which just released in July and there are some really great stories in there that give a wide sampling of the genre, plus some cool innovations. There is also a giveaway running for it right now through September 10th.

Some of the authors are David Sherman (Demontech, Star Wars, StarFist), Alma Alexander, Brenda Cooper, A.C. Wise, Bernie Mojzes, James Daniel Ross, and more.

We have golem stories, map-punk, old west, and quite a bit more. It was fun to do. It is available in print and ebook format.

Best,

Danielle

[Kara]

I liked The Native Star, and would highly recommend Phoenix Rising for a fun action filled foray into Steampunk.

[Janice]

I finished reading The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack and found it quite silly. It seemed ill contrived to make a case of the real life account of Spring Heeled Jack and fit it into a steampunk setting. I quite liked Burton and Swineburne and am tempted to read the next book in the series. Has anyone read the series, and is the second book better than the first?