Steampunk

A sub-genre of fiction that I have always been intrigued by, but have never read, is steampunk. It is a fictional 19th Century world driven by steam-power. I suppose I should qualify my first sentence in that I have read - and have always enjoyed - Jules Verne, whose works have been a primary inspiration to modern steampunk fiction.

I recently purchased the 80 Days app on my iPhone and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes Verne's novel, Around the World in 80 Days and put an extra steampunk layer of fiction on top of it.

Below is a list of steampunk ideas that I will look into. I would like to read at least one *good* steampunk novel sometime soon!

Wikipedia cites these works as precursors to steampunk:

• The Aerial Burgler by Percival Leigh - A short story written in 1844.
• Metropolis - A 1927 film by Fritz Lang. I have seen this film several times as a kid. It is a very nice work and you can clearly see how the robot that is featured in it inspired the design of C-3PO
• A Nomad of the Time Streams Trilogy by Michael Moorcock - Novels written in the 1970s.

The term itself was coined by author K. W. Jeter as an attempt to describe the style of fiction written by himself and his peers in recent years:

• The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers (1983)
• Homunculus by James Blaylock (1986)
• Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter (1979)
• Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter (1987)

However, other fictional works preceded the use of the steampunk neologism:

• Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer (1962)
• Queen Victoria's Bomb by Ronald W. Clark (1967)
• A Transatlantic Tunnerl, Hurrah! by Harry Harrison (1973)

Here are other interesting steampunk-type books:

• The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826) - Apocalyptic
• The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (1990) - Victorian
• The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld - Victorian