I remember. Some great artwork
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Yep. I was just about to post the movie trailer
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Frazetta certainly … knew what he liked, and stuck to it, let’s just say.
Steampunk it a tricky genre to define because it’s always been so much about the aesthetic before the story element. In very general terms, I suppose classic steampunk is non-magical fantasy with near-magic tech in a late-1800s time period, very often using a Victorian English setting and having High Adventures, What Ho, Chaps - but any or all of those elements can vary. There can be a lot of crossover with similar genres - gaslamp fantasy and/or blackpowder fantasy, pulp adventure, or Lovecraftian horror.
As for recommendations, well, the whole genre is a spin-off of the stuff written by the 19th-century and early-20th century giants like Jules Verne and HG Wells, so those have to be on the list. From the Earth to the Moon, 20000 Leagues under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Time Machine, The War in the Air, even Frankenstein would count.
Probably the originator of the modern genre is The Difference Engine, by William Gibson. Definitely worth a read. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers is another seminal work. And I’d argue that (if you do graphic novels) then The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore is right up there with them in terms of influence (the movie is, of course, pants and has almost nothing to do with the vastly superior source material).
Of more modern stuff, the Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest (start with Boneshaker) are in my opinion the best out there, though they use an American setting rather than a British one and more grit than Tally Ho. In terms of sustained quality, the pickings can be thin. There’s the Jackelian series by Stephen Hunt, the Study In Silks books by Emma Holloway (a bit of a Holmes pastiche, and the final books doesn’t entirely stick the landing for mine), Jay Kristof has The Lotus War which does similar stuff in a quasi-samurai Japan. The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis isn’t bad, sort of Hornblower In Airships. The Age of Unreason by Greg Keyes is worth looking up, and the Alchemy Wars books by Ian Tregillis gives you enslaved clockwork robots and is one of the few books I’ve read where the bad guys are the all-powerful tyrannical … Dutch? Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lim touches on steampunk against the backdrop of the Opium Wars. And I have fond memories of All Men of Genius by Levi Rosen, set in a school for aspiring mad scientists, but it’s a looong time since I’ve read that one and it might not hold up too well.
Some of the best really pure steampunk stuff currently being written is the very long-running webcomic Girl Genius - you can find the entire decades-long archive online.
And then there’s the vaguely steampunk-adjacent fantasy stuff, like China Mieville’s Bas-Lag, Galen Beckett’s Mrs Quent, or Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn. Harm’s Way by Colin Greenland, Anno Dracula by Kim Newman.
To the best of my knowledge there’s never been a steampunk movie worth a damn. Wild Wild West, LXG, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, yes, I’m looking at you…
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Thanks for that great, comprehensive round-up HM. Some of those sound intriguing, I will put them on my reading list - I am always looking for exciting or interesting new reading material.
I fully concur. Let’s not mention Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Mortal Engines.
Although I actually didn’t mind the 2002 movie version (The Guy Pearce one) of The Time Machine
Although the consensus was it was a pile of garbage.
Yes, please do, Doggatron.
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Grab your pipe. Fill it with your favourite herb and sit back in your overstuffed armchair as we explore the Roots and Evolution of Steampunk
Who Put the “Punk” in Steampunk? The Roots and Evolution of Steampunk
Maybe???
Definitely, effinitely!
Frazetta was a great artist. His work usually captured a scene at the apex of action. His work also had a certain ambiguity: you have to look at it and discern which of multiple interpretations would be likely.
For those who don’t know him, this Frazetta painting sold for US$5.4 million:
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Didnt he have a stroke at one point in his life, and had to teach himself to paint/draw left handed and arguably became an even better artist? Or am I thinking of someone else?
I fully agree. Times have changed and the culture shifted. Change is the only constant but perhaps it is just a cycle which itself is constant and it will someday come full circle again. See: The hemline index
The Hemline Index – if skirt lengths could talk – FASHIONBLOGGA (wordpress.com)
Yes you are right.
Here is another famous cover he did:
(Completists may like to know that he got the idea for the composition from a drawing by Al Williamson, who pioneered the use of zippatone in the early '50s. Al went on to draw Buck Rogers strips for US newspapers in the '60s)
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A gem from 1979 - When TV tackled the big issues.
What is SCIENCE FICTION? | The Book Programme | Classic BBC interviews | BBC Archive
Battlestar Galactica Retrospective
Battlestar Galactica (2003) Retrospective/Review Part 2
Battlestar Galactica | Pegasus Vs Galactica
Battlestar Galactica | Galactica Tricks The Cylons
Battlestar Galactica | Pegasus’ Sacrifice
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Finished Wind & Truth this afternoon, ending the fist arc of Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive.
Really enjoyed it
Cosmere Spoilers Below:
very interested to see how the time dilation on Roshar ties in with Arc 2 and Era 3 of the Mistborn series
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@Nexta, you should repair that post. You might get more traction in this thread but people have to be able to actually see it.
I am interested if anyone has read and can recommend any of the books Nexta posted.
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