Anyone know anything about Steampunk?

[BabeRuthless]

Fancy dipping my toe in. I've got a kindle & there's so much stuff on the amazon store I really want to avoid getting anything which is a bit rubbish.

Who are the best authors? Are there any good anthologies to get me started? What are the Steampunk "classics"? I really like anything set in a dystopian future and I love, love, love the game Fallout 3 if that's any guide.

Cheers in advance for any help.

Steampunk? Think that's passed me by. What is it?

I thought steampunk was like sci-fi with a Victorian setting, if that makes any sense? Lots of futuristic machines, but a period sensibility.

Babe - I can't advise personally, but I do know that Waterstones and Foyles have steampunk sections, and their booksellers would probably be able to advise.

Try The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. That's what got me interested. Also, here for fun.

There is a set of books by Philip Reeve that is fantastic and quite steampunk IMO

Mortal Engines.

Great characters and a brilliant plot!

China Mieville; Perdito St Station, The Scar.

Oh, I've just found DD's list on my laptop, she's not here so I haven't a clue about which ones are fantastic.

o The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling
o The Age of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes (a series of four novels)
o The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
o The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
o Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
o Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter
o The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
o Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti

Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore
Steampunk: anthology, ed. by A. VanderMeer & J. VanderMeer
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Extraordinary Engines: the Definitive Steampunk Anthology
Souless by Gail Carriger
Leviathan by Scott Westerfields
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo
Homunculus by James Blaylock

Waterstones are very good at informed recommendations.

There's a mammoth book of steampunk on kindle atm for 99p. Might be a good place to start.

One thing to watch out for is the trend for "steampunk romance", turning a sci fi genre into twilight...

From that list, The Diamond Age is a brilliant book but it is not steampunk. It is cyberpunk or speculative fiction as that sort of book is increasingly called these days.

Cheers for all the answers. The "Steampunk romance" thing is precisely the kind of pothole I want to avoid so thanks for that tip

Plenty to be getting on with there though! This is why i love this forum. No matter how obscure the subject, you always get an informed answer. Now if anyone needs me I'll be with my kindle. Is it wrong to want to stroke it?

oooh, Tim Powers, I forgot. He is brilliant in general.

Thanks to this thread I've just downloaded a free novella by
Lindsay Buroker to see how I get on with the genre.

Isn't it the Mammoth Book of Steampunk Romance though? (or SP Erotica even!) Do be careful with the titles, so you get the right one
You might like P S Power's "Gwen Farriss" books, there are two so far, carrying straight on from each other - the first one is Abominations, followed by Monster (or maybe Monsters) and they are cheapo on Kindle just now.

I really enjoyed the Gail carriger series, never really read steampunk before that!

I recently read 'The Japanese Devil Fish Woman' by Robert Rankin. Quite frivolous and silly, but an entertaining combination of fantasy/sci-fi and steampunk.
I did also read his other steampunk novel 'The Mechanical Messiah and other marvels of the modern age' but didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much.

Boneshaker was FANTASTIC highly recommended

good radio 4 programme on recently by that fat bloke from radio 1.