Couldn’t be more excited! I think this is a first regarding an anthology devoted exclusively to steampunk romance.

Thanks for the link, Nutmeag–that was a fun piece.

FYI: “the new sense of slow seduction” is called steamplay.

Exactly.

Also, the mixing of genres reminds me of my reaction about a certain mix I hadn’t seen before. Couple of decades ago (feels like decades anyway), Babylon Five came up with these Technomages. I was always very intrigued by the concept of magic and science fiction. I mean just the name, Tek-no-mahhhhjj…*drool* Dude!

As for steampunk and any kind of punk, sure, the dystopia, the stick-it-to-the-man, is important. But I wouldn’t want to start dissecting it like that. If it has the shiny cool gadgets, the sense of grandiose adventure, and a funky revision of pseudohistory, I’m happy to call it steampunk.

I am likely to pick up a book just because it is steampunk- but I'm starting to worry a little about definitions. Maybe we need a TV Tropes sort of list of romance subgenres if we are going to have to slice the lemon so fine as to consider steampunk against gaslight fantasy.

Snort. Definitely. There is such a thing as getting carried away with subgenre-ing ourselves to death. Now tagging, i.e. indexing, on the other hand, is a good thing. Do not get me started. ;)

As for steampunk, I love it. I can’t wait to see more romances with it but then alternate histories have never bothered me, whenever they’re set. I do have a special fondness for steampunk, though.

Question, because this has been bugging me. The TV series on Sci-Fi, oh, excuse me, SyFy now, called Sanctuary. I tend to think it has elements of both steampunk and technopunk (cyberpunk? what’s the right term there?) due to the present setting coupled with the flashbacks to Helen’s and the rest of the Five’s past. Am I wrong in thinking this? I ask because I’m not exactly sure when and how technopunk kicks in but that series definitely has some stuff that might qualify. I said might. Like I said, I’m not sure. There’s a lot of stuff going on there so I’d be interested to hear what some of you think about it. It’s also one that mixes science and magic, too, into a blend that sometimes gets difficult to distinguish where one ends and the other begins.

Maybe we need a TV Tropes sort of list of romance subgenres if we are going to have to slice the lemon so fine as to consider steampunk against gaslight fantasy.

Ack. I forgot to list another reason why I see the difference between Gaslight fantasy and Steampunk. You actually pointed it out yourself:

I do want to note that while the steam part adds the decorative brass curlicues, the punk part is also important. Just adding dirigible travel and a steam powered typewriter to a regular romance is not going to get it.

Right. ‘Punk’ in Steampunk is important to consider/remember. To some old timers, the punk element is a focus on rebelling against authority, corporation, Big Brother syndrome, secret societies or whatever that controls people’s lives or their way of living.

It’s a riff on Cyberpunk that revolves around 20th-century-and-beyond technology and a rebellion against the corporation-like world. Hacking their way into a main system to cause chaos. Steampunk holds a similar attitude, but in Victorian setting along with its Victorian-but-still-anachronistic technology.

When a story doesn’t have this, then it can be just a fantasy with the steampunk element or flavour. (Or a Gaslight fantasy. :D) Not necessarily the case for all, though, as this is usually for the purists, so no one will cry if authors push this boundary. :D

I know it’s difficult to see the differences, but when one is familiar with these sub-genres, it’s really easy to see. Almost like people be able to recognise the difference between SF romance and Futuristic romance, or Urban Fantasy with a strong romantic element and Paranormal Romance.

I do want to note that while the steam part adds the decorative brass curlicues, the punk part is also important. Just adding dirigible travel and a steam powered typewriter to a regular romance is not going to get it.

I'm curious. What's the argument about?

Dru Pagliassotti sums it up nicely in Does Steampunk Have an Ideology?:

I conceive of steampunk as a quintessentially postmodern cultural movement. If modernism was a reaction to the Victorian period's industrialization, a rational movement that valued simplicity and function and cast itself as a revolutionary movement that threw off the traditional and embraced the avant-garde, then steampunk is squarely situated within the postmodern reaction to modernism. Postmodernism is a reaction to the problems that have arisen from constantly embracing the new; it explores the fault lines of structuralist approaches and master narratives and considers the ambiguities and challenges of new sciences that address complexity, ambiguity, and diversity. Aesthetically, postmodernism reclaims traditions shunned by modernism and has been characterized by its use of irony, intertextuality, pastiche, and bricolage -’ all of which are manifested within the steampunk movement.

Howl's Moving Castle rocks, though as much as I like the movie, the book (by Diana Wynne Jones) is 10 times better.

I love that book and wanted to love the movie, but was very disappointed in the plot changes. The movie is gorgeous though. I need to watch it again. Maybe if I’m not expecting a faithful retelling, I’ll like it more.

However, a core difference is that steampunk is “an argument with the science fiction of previous generations” (p.8, “The 19th-Century Roots of Steampunk.”).

I’m curious. What’s the argument about?

I have an e-copy of Clockwork Heart. I’ll have to break it out and give it a try. The steampunk description reminded me of Firefly. Inverted steampunk maybe? :)

I'm not positive that it falls into the Western Steampunk realm, but The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. had some elements. And it had Bruce Campbell, which makes it win-win. ;-)

OMG My most favourite TV show ever!! I so need to find that on DVD in Australia!

Bruce Campbell can do no wrong.

A-thefrick-MEN!! :D Love that man.

Also if you’re one of my fans on Facebook (hint hint lol) you’ll know I’ve been thinking about writing a book about a sexy sheikh but set on a different world kind of combining Persia with Arabia, basically to create my own flavor of the region. I’ve thought it wouldn’t be that big a stretch, with all their ornate mosaics and gilded palaces, to add some Steampunk into that desert-y setting. The Persians, during the Islamic Golden Age, made some pretty awesome leaps and bounds with medicine, science, poetry and would be awesome to delve into that with steam and brass and “magic carpets” and such.

True, it wouldn’t be an alternate history, but an alternate world, really. Not sure how advanced I would go into it, but just the romance and sexiness of the desert mixed with steampunk calls to me.

Moreso than Western steampunk if I’m perfectly honest.

Will I ever write it? **shrugs** Sheikh, probably someday. Sheikh steampunk? Who knows. I just love the exotic-ness about it.

~~Becka

Gimmick and trend-jumping: oh well, it comes with the territory. As Heather said, I prefer to have more choices, including the bad stuff, then be stuck re-reading the same old books.

Jane, thanks again for having me.

Mezza, I've only read Holly's Prince of Ice, and it didn't strike me as steampunk or as having steampunk elements. But I've seen a number of comments attesting to those books having steampunk flavor (including Angela James' below) so I could have missed something.

You're right in that “pure” steampunk would be technology/theme driven, but obviously all authors aren't bound to that. There are stories gravitating towards other expressions, such as the Edisonade or ones blended with other genres. I think it'd depend on how much steampunk was in the story. For example, you can have a fantasy that has a steampunk element, but if the steampunk doesn't play a predominant role, then the story is a fantasy at its heart.

Michelle, I watched Howl's Moving Castle last week and it was terrific. I agree, a must-see.

Nat, I'm glad to hear sales of MR are good. Nothing wrong with aesthetics, either, because they're so shiny!

Nutmeag, thanks for mentioning Girl Genius. It slipped my mind and I should have included it in the post. Haven't read Larklight yet, but I thought Reeve's Mortal Engines was loads of fun.

Thanks, Kimber An!

Steampunk is all about technology in the Victorian age

I think the Victorian age is the most popular time period and setting, but there are also steampunk stories (mainly in digital games and movies) set in fantasy worlds. Jay Lake's MAINSPRING is one book example. Steampunk is pretty versatile, and it'll be interesting to see how authors play with the possibilities.

The next few years are going to be fun.

Leslie, I couldn't agree more, lol!

Heather, I wonder why it's becoming so popular. Any thoughts?

I've noticed a few things. One is that there have been some buzz-worthy steampunk books released in the SF arena in recent years. Two, Alan Moore: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN is hugely popular (volume four came out in May 09). Three, there are hardcore fans who also love to create costumes and gadgets in the steampunk mold, and they've been very visible in conventions and online communities for some time now. Four, people like me who can't shut up about it, lol! But I'm only the latest in a long line of fans. I'm sure there are other reasons, but it's also possible that given how “young” of a genre it is, it was ripe for more exploration.

And it had Bruce Campbell, which makes it win-win. ;-)

Bruce Campbell can do no wrong.

Lou, glad to be of service.

I wonder if a book is still considered to be within the steampunk genre if one or two of these elements isn't in it.

Janine, I think it depends on who you talk to. But one only has to read a book like THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE or WHITECHAPEL GODS to understand the sharp differences between pure steampunk and stories that blend it with other genres or just use elements of it. For pure steampunk, yes, I'd wager all the elements need to be there. Regardless, authors will follow their muses and blend it with other things. Your comment points to how helpful it can be to breakdown a story's elements in order to help other readers make decisions about whether a book will interest them.

Kathryn, I enjoyed WHITECHAPEL GODS very much. I also really liked THE NARROWS by Alexander Irvine. Cool golem action, but surprisingly a big focus of the book was the protagonist's interactions with his wife and daughter, which gave the story a lot of warmth (and heartache at times).

Ann, thanks for the clarification about what Anne Sowards is looking for.

I feel that if you have to ask what steampunk is, what to incorporate in it, etc etc, it's really just trend-jumping.

I hope steampunk never becomes gimmicky, but my feeling is it's not any more immune than any other genre. Personally, I'd rather have a ton of reading choices even if there are a few gimmicks rather than not have any choices at all. Also, I think people are far more aware of steampunk than they realize-’sometimes they don't even have a name for it even as they enjoy it. And who knows-’the person who knew squat about it one year might do tons of research and come out with a quality, pure steampunk story five years later.

Dru, Angelia, my pleasure.

I've been asking for steampunk for five years. Does this mean I predicted a trend?

Yes! But you know, sometimes it takes a village…!

Thanks, Maili! And I agree with your take on New Blood. Wicked Gentleman is on my to-be-purchased list.

And, if you’ve made it to the end of my monster comment, I’d like to invite you to read an interview I posted today with Katie MacAlister (STEAMED).

I think we shouldn’t forget two similar sub-genres: Gaslight Fantasy (which is what I strongly associate magic and the paranormal with) and Alternate historical fantasy. I’d file New Blood and Wicked Gentlemen under Gaslight Fantasy, for example. But that’s just my view, though. :)

@Leslie

I am wondering, since I am still trying to figure this out, would the movie The Prestige (Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, David Bowie) fall into the steampunk category?

Somewhat, yes. I’ll try to make it spoiler-free: Yes to the electricity angle. Nikola Tesla’s technology, considering the time period, is the key element. But if I were to classify it, it’d be a Gaslight Fantasy.