(urth) Steampunk books
Steven Hall
sghall at comcast.net
Wed May 14 06:18:27 PDT 2008
To add to this, science fiction is well understood to be about the
present in which it was written, not the future.
Steampunk, then, is a combination of alternate history and science
fiction. It is what we imagine the science fiction of the Victoria era
might have been.
Or to put it another way: in the present, we go back to the past to
re-imagine the future.
Steve
James Crossley wrote:
> To be pedantic for a moment, that's not the whole story. True steampunk
> isn't just an extrapolation of Victorian-era science, but has to include an
> element of technology-induced anxiety. In other words, steampunk, like
> cyberpunk, from which it gets its name, shows the discomforts of rapid
> advancements in technology, and its mood is usually dystopic.
>
> If a story features atomic zeppelins or steam-powered robots without
> attendant tension, it's something else. Suggested terms include "gaslight
> romance" and "retrofuturism."
>
> James
>
> On 5/13/08 11:17 AM, "Kerry Benton" <k.benton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> It's basically a sort of homage to Jules Verne, et al in my mind.
>>
>> Steampunk fiction tends to anachronisms featuring steam power,
>> clockwork, and other Victorian-era technology (and frequently societal
>> elements) providing the impetus for machines and devices that are
>> firmly in the realm of science fiction (giant walking weapons
>> platforms, for example, as in the anime Steamboy).
>>
>> That's my quick 2 cent synopsis, anyway ;)
>>
>> -k
>>
>
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Steven Hall
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