For some reason, I get a very visceral reaction when I tell people that my books are steampunk. Either the person says, “Eh? or “Ooh!”
The genre has been typecast by its own recurring themes. Airships, of course, are the image that come to mind first. So are brass goggles, small hats, women in corsets, and lots of gears, of course.
Advertisement of corsets for men, 1893 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I prefer to move beyond these. Writers like SM Reine, in 19 Dragons, created new worlds and beautiful writing by pushing the edge of the envelope. And the women in corsets and airships seem to be appearing more and more in bad erotica. Not that there is anything WRONG with that, but I would hate for the genre to become something that is easily copied and just as readily lampooned.
I see it happening already. A game came out a few months ago that billed itself as “steampunk.” I tried it out and found that what made it “steampunk” was not good gameplay or creative writing but simply a faux-Victorian cast with loads of airships floating overhead. It came and went, waved on its way by a host of bad, jeering reviews.
We can do better than that. I’m excited by ideas of roaming automotons taking the place of zombies. Biotechnics leads to half-human, half-wind up sentients who develop their own personalities.
In Twitter discussions I’ve seen hosts of incredibly inventive ideas – laboratories that lie underwater and that can only be accessed by careful study of tide charts, trained cephalopods that are trained to wreak havoc or save lives… Imagine those in a game, and think how engaging that would be.
Steampunk desktop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Steampunk has led to Dieselpunk, to Sandalpunk, even Reeferpunk. I find these genres exciting as well, although I do think that they could also be symptomatic of a search for new ideas.
In order for a book to be true “punk,” then, let us agree that it must be well written. That is the bottom line. Airships and automotons cannot disguise poor grammar and bad editing, nor can they hide cardboard characters and wooden dialogue.
Diesel, Sandal, or Steam – the punk must be human. It must be witty. It must be well written. After that, by all means, release the airships and fire up the automotons.
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I think you're right–well-written, and above all, human, stories almost transcend genre. But the world and the details are there for people who want to be immersed in that time and place.
I would agree – it's the story that counts but for those who like this 'atmosphere' then so be it.
Point taken. It contains everything to make the readers feel the prospects of life. That's why I liked that.
This post shows that you feel strongly about the subject. I must agree with you. Tropes and plot devices don't define a genre. It's all about quality work and attention to detail. I think the downfall of this and many other sub genres of speculative fiction can be blamed on those whose only motivation to write is jumping on the bandwagon of something that seems popular or profitable.
well written article Alison ~I have always been a huge lover of steampunk :) so in my opinion totally COOL