Back to the Start

So we have been through several different areas in our attempt to learn about and understand SteamPunk. We have looked at the beginnings of SteamPunk in literature thanks to the genius of H.G. Wells. We have looked at the underground phenomenon of the Con, and the way in which SteamPunk has become the post popular genre to Con goers lately. We looked at costuming and gadget making, as well as some very famous fashion designers that have taken some ideas from SteamPunky styles.

Today I want to go back to the start and take another look at literature. I want to suggest a book that everyone should check out if they are interested in SteamPunk and continuing to feed their interest on their own. It is call The Steampunk Anthology and it is edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It contains literary essays on the genre and works written in the genre, as well as short stories and excerpts from novels. Some of the contributors are: James Paul Blaylock, Stephen Chapman, Mary Gentle, and Michael Moorcock, just to name a few. (Just as a side note: Michael Moorcock is the author of an amazing series called the The Elric Saga, that I would recommend to anyone who is into fantasy fiction.)

This is an excellent introduction to the genre because a few of the essays in it give a very through and detailed history of hoe the genre has come to be what it is now. One of the first essays in the book even traces the origins of the genre back farther than H.G. Wells who is thought of today as the forerunner of the genre. So, if this blog has piqued your interested and you want to learn more about SteamPunk, or want to just read more of this type of fiction I would definitely start with this book. Even if you are only interested in the fiction and not so much the history, you can sample several authors’ works in one place and decide who you like and who you don’t.