Steampunk is an established science fiction subgenre that just might have broken into mainstream entertainment with the 2019 HBO series His Dark Materials. (Imagine the Monday morning water cooler conversations: “What’s with the blimps?” “Yeah, and that weird science-ish contraption?”) I recently interviewed steampunk author Brad R. Cook; today I’ll discuss this very cool genre in more depth.

Steampunk Roots

Speculative fiction author Cherie Priest cites nineteenth-century fantastic and adventure literature as the root of steampunk. Here we see expression of such themes as:

• Far-flung explorations (Jules Verne)
• Aliens and time travel (H.G. Wells)
• Science gone awry (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Early electricity experiments inspired Wollstonecraft Shelley to write Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. To Verne and Wells, steam power was the latest and greatest technology and would obviously (to Victorian-era people) continue to grow in influence, thus nineteenth-century writers’ speculative-future dreams were steam powered.  

Steaming through Midcentury Modern And Into The Twenty-First Century 

The 1950s and 60s saw popular culture revisit themes we now recognize as steampunk as well as dazzle consumers with the start of steampunk aesthetics. Of particular note, the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea visually presented that combination of Victorian elegance with the copper-plated technology we’ve come to know and love. Television’s Wild, Wild West placed adventure and weird science in a uniquely re-imagined American Old West. On a steam locomotive.

In the 1980s the term “steampunk” first appeared to describe “Victorian fantasies,” and the 1990s saw key novels of the genre appear:

• The Difference Engine (William Gibson and Bruce Sterling)
• Steampunk Trilogy (Paul Di Filippo)
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill)

In the twenty-first century, interest in steampunk has exploded. The costuming possibilities alone make it hard not to love. (You’re looking for an excuse to buy oversized goggles and a fascinator. Admit it.) Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker won the 2010 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Influential authors utilizing steampunk themes and aethestics include China Miéville, Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, and Stephen Hunt.

Beyond Steampunk

Stories structured like steampunk and with similar themes can tap technologies other than steam power or alternate-current electricity. They may take place in historical eras other than the Victorian and Edwardian time periods.

Stories set in a WWI to WWII sort of world with postmodern / retro-futuristic sensibilities and aesthetics are labelled “dieselpunk.” Technology-driven tales that reference an age before steam power and electricity were prevalent are sometimes called “clockwork” and feature intricate mechanical contraptions.

All these genre variations boil down to an iconic technology, pervasive and commonplace, yet presented in such a way to inspire a sense of wonder on the part of the story characters as well as the audience. And, of course, sometimes steampunk and clockwork all wind up in the same story. (Great Mouse Detective, anyone?)

Steampunk Can Cross Genres

Steampunk is a natural fit with alternative history, horror, weird, and fantasy. Many books and films use bits and pieces of steampunk themes and aesthetics to add interest and depth. I found Gabriel Squailia’s Viscera, while definitely a body horror tale, a bit “steamy” and very “punky,” indeed. 

Steam

Despite a commonly accepted literary origin story, consensus as to the definition of the steampunk genre is a bit hard to pin down. Yet most science fiction and fantasy fans know it when they see it. At a minimum, the following features generally appear in these tales:

• Steam. That is, steam-powered technology and other technology that really did co-exist with the heyday of steam power: locomotives, looms, blimps, scary Tesla coils.
• Imaginary or real-life impractical purposes and inventions for said steam power: Steam automobiles, steam communication devices, steam weapons, etc.
• A Victorian-era aesthetic. In the conventional, historical timeline, the age of steam power was the Victorian era. Steampunk stories tend to look and feel like they are set in the mid to late 1800s. 

Punk

What does “punk” have to do with all this technology?

The “punk” in any of the “punk genres” has to do with showcasing the genre’s rebel nature.  

Brad R. Cook

In addition to the exciting sensory experience of the technology, both historically accurate and totally made-up machines, the writer throws a subversive attitude into the mix—via character development, plot, and theme. For example, in Brad R. Cook’s The Iron Horsemen, a young student leaves his hated school to team up with air pirates aiming to save his father and world from a evil plot. 

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