steampunk is science fiction after a few strokes of absinthe jelly at LSD; It can include alternative stories, vampires, time travel , magic and romance. As long as you have a technology evoking the steam , you can go as crazy as you want, and that's exactly what several authors on this list have done . For any reason, a large number of steampunk authors seem to live in Portland, Oregon.
unique among the genres of science fiction, the steampunk is also a Distinctive mode, with costumes of yesteryear, corsets , Glasses brass protection, the famous Gousset watch and dangerous electrical devices.
background
by Thomas Pynchon - 2006
Against The Day is not an easy reading. The complexity of this novel and its distribution of more than a hundred characters will challenge even the most fervent fans of Pynchon.
It all started in 1893 at the Chicago Universal Exhibition, with an intrepid team of young hot air balloons whose adventures in The books of stories end, interrupt themselves and sometimes even are read by dozens of characters a little more realistic over the next 30 years.
Against the Day is convoluted, winding and has more than 1 000 pages, then if you immerse it, go slowly and regularly.
heterodyne and the airship city
by Phil & amp; Kaja Foglio - 2011
Phil & amp; Kaja Foglio are the creators of the award -winning comic strip Girl Genius. Kaja even found a different name for this whole sub-genre (and we agree with her):
The industrial revolution degenerated in total war. Eighteen years have passed since the disappearance, in mysterious circumstances, heterodyne boys, adventurers and benevolent inventors. Today, Europe is governed by sparks: dynasties of crazy scholars govern and terrorize the unfortunate population with their bizarre inventions and uncontrolled powers, while the oppressed dream of the return of the Hetrodynes.
The Polygnostic University of Transylvania, a pretty and young student named Agatha Clay seems to have little luck. Unable to build anything that works, but devoted to her studies, Agatha seems intended for a minor career and unlveraging of laboratory assistant. But when the university is overturned by the ruthless tyrant baron Klaus Wulfenbach, Agatha finds herself a prisoner aboard her enormous airship, the Wulfenbach castle, and it seems that she can wear a spark of crazy science in this adventure. < >
boneshaker
by Cherie Priest - 2009
Boneshaker combines steampunk with zombies in an alternative version of Seattle's history, Washington. He was nominated for the 2009 nebula and Hugo, and won the Locus Prize in 2010.
at the start of the civil war, rumors on the presence of gold in the frozen klondike brought hordes of new arrivals to the northwest Pacific. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors asked the inventor Leviticus Blue to create a large machine that could extract this gold through Alaska ice. This is thus born the incredible drilling engine of Dr Blue.
but during its first try, the Boneshaker behaved terribly badly, destroying several houses in downtown SEATTLE AND DRESS AN UNDERRAINE VEIN OF NOCIF GAS which transformed anyone who instills it into death living.
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley - 1818 Strong>
We claimed that Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is the first science fiction novel. Shelley published it anonymously in 1818, and 500 copies were printed.
It was not until 1831 that the "popular" version was sold (which is probably the one you read). Shelley edited the book significantly, bowing in front of pressure to make the book more conservative. Many scholars prefer the 1818 version, saying that it is faithful to the original spirit of Shelley.
Frankenstein deserves its inclusion in the Steampunk universe because in virtue of its character as a science fiction novel which takes place in Victorian England (and Shelley did not even have to pretend).
homunculus
by James P. Blaylock - 1986
winner of the Philip K. Dick Prize, Homunculus is the author of the Attempt by Blaylock (one of the founding fathers of the modern steampunk movement) to integrate Edgar Allen Poe, H. G. Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson in Only one, then exceed them all in their own game. Without laughing, he does a good job.
p>
An airship with a dead pilot goes over Victorian London in a dilapidated orbit for a few years, arousing the interest of the Royal Society, as well as that of the scientific explorer Langdon St. Ives and The evangelist/counterfeitor Shiloh.
Shiloh is convinced that the airship carries his father, a tiny extraterrestrial space, but he hides this knowledge from Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, vivisectionist, which he pays to revive the dead mother of Shiloh.
It's getting crazier and more crazy, we let you discover the novel from there.
the lady with artifices
by Shelley Adina - 2011
The independent author Shelley Adina has acquired a Faithful public for its steampunk adventures around intelligent and courageous heroines, and the Magnifice Devices series (of which Lady of Devices is book #1) is the most popular.
When her father plays the succession on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself in the streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intelligence, she reverses luck. Shortly after, a new chef rises in the underground world, known only as the lady with artifices. When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes that her talents can go beyond the invention of explosive devices. They can help him realize their dreams to both of them. This only if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the nearest friendships can trigger the biggest betrayals ...
leviathan < BR> by Scott Westerfeld - 2009
p>
In this first book of trilogy, another world war is waged by steampunk machines and biopunk monsters (that is to say genetically fabricated).
"enhanced by the Illustrations in black and white complex of Thompson, the brilliantly constructed imaginary world of Westerfeld will capture the readers from the first page. Full of uninterrupted action, this Steampunk adventure will become a classic. "
-journal of the library of the School (Star Review)
Mortal engines
by Philip Reeve - 2001
If you have never read Steampunk before, Mortal Engines is a good starting point. It starts like that:
"It was a dark and noisy afternoon in the spring, and the city of London was pursuing a small mining town on the dry bed of the ancient North Sea." < >
Mortal Engines is in a post-apocalyptic world, ravaged in the past by the nuclear war, which has caused enormous geological upheavals. To escape earthquakes, volcanoes and other instabilities, an engineer has designed a system where entire cities have become immense, moving vehicles known as Cities traction, and must be consumed each in order to Maintain in a world deprived of natural resources.
by China Miéville - 2000
In the dark world of Bas-Lag, New Crobuzon, a sordid city where humans and dark races live in the perpetual fear of Parliament and its brutal militia. Air and rivers are thickened with the pollutants of factories and strange scents of alchemy, and ghettos contain a vast mixture of workers, artists, spies, junkies and prostitutes.
< BR> Falls remote
by Chris Wooding - 2009
The hacking of the sky is a bit out of the reach of Darian Frey. Fate was not favorable to the captain of the Airship Ketty Jay, nor to its heterogeneous crew. They all flee something. Crake is a hidden demonstration, traveling with an armored golem and responsible for guilt. Jez is the new navigator, desperate to steal his secret to the rest of the crew. Malvery is a dishonored doctor, who drinks until satiety. Thus, when an opportunity arises to steal a trunk of precious stones from a vulnerable airship, Frey cannot let it pass. It is an easy socket and the reward will finally make him a rich man.
but when the attack turns horribly badly, Frey suddenly finds himself the most sought after man of Vardia, dragged by the hunters of Premiums, the elite of knights of the century and the formidable queen of the sky, Trinica Dracken. Frey realizes that they were trapped to fall, but he does not know the end of the scenario. The ultimate solution for the captain and the crew may be found in the legendary hidden pirate city of Removement Falls. Finally, if they can get there without being blown in the sky.
"a beautifully worked prose and remarkably imaginative scenes ... and the sprawling and varied universe of Wooding and its rough and tumultuous action will delight fans of steampunk. "
-Publishers Weekly
soulless
by Gail Carriger - 2009
Alexia Tarabotti works under the weight of a trio of mental and social charges. First, it has no soul. Second, she is an old girl whose father is Italian and dead. Third, she was brutally attacked by a vampire, violating all the norms of the social label.
What to do from there? Going from bad to it apparently, because Alexia accidentally kills the vampire, then the dreadful Lord Maccon (noisy, disorderly, and magnificent werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
Everyone seems to believe that Alexia is responsible for the disorder due to the appearance of unexpected vampires and the disappearance of expected vampires. Can she understand what really happens to London high society? Will her ability to be soulless and denying his supernatural powers prove useful or simply embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy?
steampunk
published under the direction of Ann and Jeff Vandermeer - 2008
This anthology does an excellent job by giving a general overview of the genus Steampunk and everything possible to find there. A special mention to "Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang.
stone alchemy
by Ekaterina Sedia - 2008
Mattie, a skilful intelligent automaton in the use of alchemy, is taken in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, mechanics and alchemists. The old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets, secrets that can completely modify the balance of power in the city of Ayona. It is not going very well with Loharri, the mechanic who created Mattie and who always has the key to his heart, literally.
Anubis ways
by Tim Powers - 1983
Anubis Gates is a classic of steampunk that seems to be more fantastic than science fiction, but he traveled in time (and won the Philip K. Dick Prize in 1984).
< BR> The book features an old Egyptian sorcerer, a modern millionaire, a werewolf that changes bodies, a hideously distorted clown, a young woman disguised as a boy, a lord byron who has undergone brain washing, and finally Professor Brendan Doyle, protagonist who in no way wanted to find himself in this situation.
The age of diamond
by Neal Stephenson - 1995
Located in the Shanghai of the 21st century, where nanotechnology affects all aspects of life, The Diamond Age is the history of what is happening when a point interactive apparatus falls in the hands of A kid on the street named Nell. His life - the whole future of humanity - is about to be decoded and re -programmed.
The age of diamond is a different flavor because he presents a certain group of people have re -Dopté Victorian values and morality, with high -shaped hats, airships and velocipèdes.
This long novel, which presents its sometimes difficult technical concepts in an accessible way, should seduce others Readers that usual users of SF.
-weekly editors
The difference machine
by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - 1990
The difference machine is largely considered to have contributed to establishing the genre conventions of steampunk.
we are in 1855, and the computer arrived a century in advance thanks to Charles Babbage who realized his dream of creating both the difference in differences and the more advanced analytical engine.
both detective novel and historical thriller, adventure in The Difference Engine begins with the discovery of 'A box of original Engine and unknown destination cards. Cards for which someone really wants to kill.
The Bousson d'Or - At the crossroads of worlds
by Philip Pullman - 1995
known as Northern Lights outside the United States, The Golden Compass is a fantastic book: intelligent, inventive and difficult to install. This is the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, they are all highly recommended to you.
Lyra Belacqua is content to run among the scholars of the Jodan college, with his familiar demonstration always at his side. But the arrival of his formidable uncle, Lord Asriel, leads him to the heart of a terrible struggle; A fight born of gobblers and stolen children, witch and armor bear clans. While she rushes towards the danger in the cold of the far north, Lyra does not suspect the shocking truth in any way: she alone is intended to win, or to lose, this battle more than deadly.
"Pullman is a master in the art of combining impeccable characterizations and flawless intrigues, maintaining a frantic rhythm to create scene after scene almost unbearable tensions. "
-weekly editors
< /p>
The Half -Made World
by Felix Gilman - 2010
< /p>
The Half-Made World has enough steampunk influence to be known as Steam Western, but it could also be classified in the New Weird category.
The world is not Although half done. Between the wild banks of the increation and the ancient lands of the East is the vast expanse of the west - young, chaotic, magnificent and torn by the war.
thirty years ago, the Red Republic fought to redo the West with glory and failed. The world that exists today has been cut in the middle of a war between two rival factions: the line, which reduces the world to industrial slavery, and the firearm, a cult of terror and violence . The Republic is now part of the story, even if the last of its generals is forgotten and without name in a crazy asylum on the edge of creation.
"" Living and precise prose, a captivating story And imaginative, a terribly inventive decor, an indestructible hero and an intelligent and adult heroine; it's been a long time since we have seen a science fiction novel like this.
-ursula K. Guin, author From The Farthest Shore and The Left Hand of Darkness, winner of the National Book Prize.
The Iron Duke
by Meljean Brook - 2012
The Iron Duke is a romance, it's essential, but it's also a very fun steampunk adventure.
It has been nine years since the horde , an Oppressive Empire of Asia, was driven from England. However, the detective inspector Lady Wilhelmina Wentworth can never escape their cruelty: his mother was raped during the invasion, and born of this rape, Mina is half "horde". Mina crosses the Chemin du Vénéré Duke of Fer Rhys Trahaearn, a former pirate captain who played a decisive role in the fight against the horde, when a corpse is thrown on her domain.
The Avows, the Zombies, the Nanotechnology , the strange secondary characters and a complicated heroine ... make this novel a complex and striking reading.
The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson - 1886
Stevenson's stepfall wrote: "I don't think there has never been a literary feat like that of Dr Jekyll. I remember the first of the first time I I saw sick, as if it was yesterday. Louis went downstairs with a fever; he read almost half of the book aloud; and then, while we were still breaking, he was still Leaving and was busy writing. I doubt that the first draft took up to three days. "
The rumor runs after a few criticisms of his wife, Stevenson burned this first draft, then rewrite History in three to six days.
bonus: 3 classics
the time explore the time
by H. G. Wells - 1895
a great classic who invented the expression "time machine".
do not watch the modern film, because it ends with a fight for any reason. Just take the time to read this classic science fiction literature.
Time vessels
by Stephen Baxter (1995)
The Time Ships is the official continuation of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. He was authorized by the succession Wells to mark the centenary of the publication of the original, and, in the general opinion, he is in fact very good.
The Time Traveler, pushed by his failure To save Morlocks Weena, leaves for the future. But this time, the future has changed, modified by the very narrative of the previous trip of the traveler.
twenty -one leagues under the seas
by Jules Vernes - 1870
Twenty-one leagues under the seas is considered one of the first novels of adventure in literature and one of the greatest works of Verne, with the world tour in eighty days and Travel to the center of the earth, as soon as it is released today today. Verne himself is the second most translated author in the world since 1979, between English writers Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare.
Do not forget to take a look at our shop to equip yourself with a pocket watch in the style steampunk !
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