I've been puttering around the internet doing "research" on steampunk for my new book, ENIGMA, and it's sort of like trying to get your arms around a cloud nebula. It seems that steampunk is a very loosely defined genre that appears to be ever-evolving, not unlike the technology that is employed in these stories. It's quite fascinating to read about the different worlds that have been created and identified as steampunk: Some are futuristic, some anachronistic, some Victorian, others set in a completely different landscape. I found a fabulous article over on io9 that has pictures of steampunk projects. Take a look here. And there's another article that discusses steampunk novels and gives us a review of several current and upcoming works.
To give you a hint at just how popular steampunk is becoming, there's several pictures floating around the internet right now of a dystopian Disneyverse, which rumor has it, are from a game in development for Disney-owned Junction Point Studios. And yes, that appears to be the remains of Epcot Center...
Interesting stuff and certainly leaves the door open for new ideas. What are your thoughts on what makes a steampunk novel? Goggles and Gears? The future? The past? The future in the past?
This is our view from the boat taking us to Alcatraz.
