Steampunk - what should I read.

[psionandy]

I really like the Steampunk look... but its more than just gluing gears to things and pretending to be a time traveler (sorry the cliche)

Can anyone recommend some steampunk that I should/could/would love to read?

Comic book, novel, short stories... however it comes?

 

[Hadron]

Steampunk isn't really my genre, but an obvious suggestion would be "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - cyberpunk pioneers who arguably kick-started the steampunk genre with this particular piece of alternate history.

Anti-Ice by Stephen Baxter should qualify too: a steam-powered Victorian world fuelled by an exotic antimatter-containing mineral rather than coal is pretty much the definition of steampunk.

 

[NightAngel79]

Not quite but close, Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn was first trilogy and while it wasn't streampunk, the second series, Wax and Wayne series: https://www.amazon.com/Mistborn-Wayne-Alloy-Shadows-Mourning-ebook/dp/B0786LGCNR
Can be considered Steampunk, *in a sense*.

 

[ocnbrze]

mortal engines by phillip reeve which was made into a movie by the same title. the movie was backed by peter jackson and was entertaining, but not great.

obviously the book is way better.....and is very steampunk!!!!!

 

[mikedt]

mortal engines by phillip reeve which was made into a movie by the same title. the movie was backed by peter jackson and was entertaining, but not great.

obviously the book is way better.....and is very steampunk!!!!!

I believe the movie bombed, made a huge loss, and any planned sequels were cancelled. It was OK, just way too much obvious CGI. But that's a common problem with movies in general now

One of my favourite steampunk themed movies is Wild Wild West.


If one hasn't done so already, read Jules Verne and H G Wells, the authors that basically defined the genre, long before it was even called steampunk.

 

[ocnbrze]

i thought the movie was entertaining. it was great on the big screen. i liked the story so much i bought the book and read it in a couple of sittings. its a very good story and even better book.

 

[JAy3001]

Oh... Steven Baxter, not read any of his books for years. Very good author, will check out Anti-ice.

One of the hotels we stay in during the summer has a band and singers all steam punked up in a very Jules Verne style setting with 3 storey steam punk hot air balloon/stage.

 

[JAy3001]

I believe the movie bombed, made a huge loss, and any planned sequels were cancelled. It was OK, just way too much obvious CGI. But that's a common problem with movies in general now

One of my favourite steampunk themed movies is Wild Wild West.


If one hasn't done so already, read Jules Verne and H G Wells, the authors that basically defined the genre, long before it was even called steampunk.

Oh it did indeed. Shame really as it could have been great, like you said way to much cgi. One of the most interesting bits of the film were those borrower types in the desert that tunnel underground. Great characters and interesting plot. If there was more elements like that I would have enjoyed the film more.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

snip
One of my favourite steampunk themed movies is Wild Wild West.


If one hasn't done so already, read Jules Verne and H G Wells, the authors that basically defined the genre, long before it was even called steampunk.

I was going to say that @mikedt.

 

[tube517]

mortal engines by phillip reeve which was made into a movie by the same title. the movie was backed by peter jackson and was entertaining, but not great.

obviously the book is way better.....and is very steampunk!!!!!

Short book at 293 pages.
I may have to check it out.

I really need to start reading again

 

[dontpanicbobby]

The thing about reading on these smartphones is you need a black background and white text.
There's an app for that!

 

[NightAngel79]

The thing about reading on these smartphones is you need a black background and white text.
There's an app for that!

Kindle or GTFO lol

 

[dontpanicbobby]

FBreader.

 

[Hadron]

Kindle or GTFO lol

I have an e-ink Kindle - rarely bother reading on a phone (where my current ereader app is Lithium, though I have Moon+ installed as well).

But I also sideload everything on it, after format conversion if needed and DRM removal on principle (that's legal in the UK as long as you don't redistribute). I never turn the WiFi on as I see no reason why amazon should know what I read and when.

 

[NightAngel79]

I have an e-ink Kindle - rarely bother reading on a phone (where my current ereader app is Lithium, though I have Moon+ installed as well).

But I also sideload everything on it, after format conversion if needed and DRM removal on principle (that's legal in the UK as long as you don't redistribute). I never turn the WiFi on as I see no reason why amazon should know what I read and when.

No clue why I leave wifi on for real, I like that it syncs between devices, but I NEVER read on anything else. I have TONS sideloaded, which Amazon syncs a lot of those across devices as well. I will say, with WiFi on my Oasis gets atrocious battery life.

 

[Hadron]

I'll bear that in mind. I was thinking that I'd buy an Oasis if they provided one important update, but they updated today and didn't include it.

(The update is USB-C rather than microUSB-A. May not be a big deal to many, but as I see it microUSB is a legacy port and I want to phase it out, so I don't want to buy any more microUSB devices).

 

[NightAngel79]

I'll bear that in mind. I was thinking that I'd buy an Oasis if they provided one important update, but they updated today and didn't include it.

(The update is USB-C rather than microUSB-A. May not be a big deal to many, but as I see it microUSB is a legacy port and I want to phase it out, so I don't want to buy any more microUSB devices).

I am SOOOOOOO with you there. It's a damn travesty that in 2019 my $250 Kindle is still using Micro. When I travel, that is the only reason I need to being my micro cable. So stupid.

That said, I read a bit last night and apparently others have had battery life issues, and Amazon have replaced their kindles, which helped. I may be reaching out to Amazon and see what's what.

 

[Davdi]

I'm still using an original keyboard kindle, battery lasts months still. The built in web browser is very sloowwww.

 

[NightAngel79]

I'm still using an original keyboard kindle, battery lasts months still. The built in web browser is very sloowwww.

Yea, unusable, lol. Wife *just* retired hers when I passed my Kindle Voyager down to her. I miss the battery life on even that. I need Voyager battery life with physical buttons of Oasis.