For those of you who don’t know, I’m taking part in a new collaborative writing project where myself and some other fantastic genre writers are writing Choose Your Own Adventures that you can do in real life! Not only will you actually get to stand where the story is happening but you can dictate what happens next, while you explore the weird and wonderful features of a new (or old!) city.

But we need your help to get this project off the ground. To do this we have set up a crowdfunding page for our project http://pozible.com/chooseadventure. If you don’t know what crowdfunding is, it’s all explained on the page. But one thing to keep in mind is it involves rewards and they are amazing, including everything from signed books to Skype conversations with the authors. If you could pledge to this project I would be greatly appreciative. Even if the only thing you can afford is to pass the word onto your friends, family, and colleges or just pledge $5, every bit counts!

We’ve launched meaning you can pledge right now!

Before signing off I thought I’d let you know some of the stellar writers who will also be writing a choose your own adventure for this project:

Isobelle Carmody, Marianne De Pierres, Sean Williams, Mindy Klasky, Mark Leslie, Sophie Masson, Michael Pryor, Tansy Rayer Roberts, Kim Wilkins, Angela Slatter, Lee Battersby, David B. Coe, Jennifer St George, and ME! Yes – I will be writing a horror story set inside Callan Park Asylum in Rozelle Sydney if we can make our amount!!!

So if this sort of thing makes you excited or just very, very nostalgic, please help me out today. Every little bit helps!

To your adventure! http://pozible.com/chooseadventure

1. The Time Machine by H G Wells

Though this story is not steampunk per se, it was books such as this, 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Centre of the Earth which influenced the scope of the genre. If you wanted to try another precursor type, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde is very famous.

2. The Mortal Engines quartet by Philip Reeve

A post apocalyptic story which involves airships aplenty.

3. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

A time travel fantasy novel involving dangerous Ancient Egyptian magic! There’s something for everyone in this book. Incidentally, Tim Powers wrote On Stranger Tides, which Disney optioned to use for ideas in the fourth Pirates of the Carribean film.

4. Northern Lights (Book 1 of His Dark Materials) by Philip Pullman

Pullman’s alternative Oxford was plenty steampunk in this first book which sees Lyra off to find out the mystery of Dust.

5. Soulless by Gail Carriger

I have reviewed this novel previously on InkAshlings. A comedy of manners crossed with the paranormal crossed with romance crossed with steam punk might seem a bit much. Surprisingly, it works and is a heck of a lot of fun!

6. Perdido Street Station by China Mielville

This book has won a lot of literary awards for its writing style and originality. A parallel fantasy universe with steampunk technology, Mielville depicts an industrial police state tackling Victorian values along the way.

7. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

A young adult novel which explores an altenate World War One using the steampunk genre.

8. Worldshaker/Liberater by Richard Harland

Another young adult author from Australia, Harland explores an alternate Imperial era marked by different choices made during the Napoleonic Wars. Harland explores leftover British values of class, gender and status in these two juggernaut steampunk novels.

8. The Extraudinaires by Micheal Pryor

Yet another YA Australian author, Pryor loves the steampunk genre and writes about it often at his website. This particular series sees old school magic, adventure and steampunk settings combined to generate a whole lot of exciting reading.

9. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Steampunk combined with zombies in New York. Exciting stuff!

10. Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter

A steampunkian Victorian fantasy which has recently been reprinted by Angry Robots Books. This older book features clockwork creations which were to become a mainstay of the genre.

Do you read steampunk? What are your favourites?

So what is steampunk?

Steampunk.com handily gives us a definition:

“To me, Steampunk has always been first and foremost a literary genre, or least a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy that includes social or technological aspects of the 19th century (the steam) usually with some deconstruction of, reimagining of, or rebellion against parts of it (the punk).”

The writer goes on to say that steampunk has expanded out as a genre to include fashion, music, film, tv and even house design. They also point to an issue within the steampunk genre- that sometimes the ‘philosophy’ of steampunk can praise empire and gloss over its bad aspects in writing an alternative history. In other words, by rewriting history, even in fiction, silences around things such as slavery, child labour, gender inequality and imperialism are created.

The rest of the article is quite good and you can read it here:

http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-steampunk/

But let’s have another definition for good measure- this time from urban dictionary. For them steampunk is;

“A subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan “What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner.” It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes.”

Source: Urban Dictionary

A much less illuminating definition but still helpful!

So what are some contemporary examples of steampunk? Well the Robert Downy Jr. Sherlock Holmes films for starters, Emilie Autumn’s entire ‘brand’ but especially her music in both Opheliac and Fight Like a Girl (she describes her music as Victorian Industrial), her book, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls in the Emily sections and her fashion approach, the bestselling Protectorate books by Gail Carriger (which combine paranormal happenings with steampunk and romance), in Australia books by Richard Harland and Michael Pryor, and if you wanted to get really close to home, a lot of the fashion of the British thespian actress, Helena Bonham Carter, are also steampunk inspired.

Steampunk is everywhere these days! It is fun and inspired and fresh. It isn’t without its pitfalls but it is definitely a genre to watch!

Next post: Steampunk fashion