Sci-Fi Genres: Steampunk

Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine, a tale in which the analog computer was invented in Charles Babbage's time for real (and not just posited), is a prime example of the genre. Victoria is Queen, gaslights illuminate the streets of London, and the insertion of computational ability into the social structure has unintended consequences.

Steampunk versus Cyberpunk

Both punks evoke particular moods or eras. Cyberpunk is '40s noir films, jaded cynicism and nihilism. Steampunk is Victorian or Edwardian, great era of exploration. Some steampunk exudes Victorian optimism. Some later steampunk loses much of it in favor of a more cyberpunk bleakness.

Jules Verne, although he didn't know it, wrote steampunk. Captain Nemo and the Nautilus are supreme steam.

Darwinia

This novel is set in an alternate world to ours, in which a strange event took place. In 1912, the entire continent of Europe and Great Britain vanished, to be replaced by a strange different continent, which is dubbed Darwinia. The new continent appears to be from an Earth that took a slightly different path, and is populated with unknown species of animals. Darwinia reminds one of Conan Doyle's Lost World, another candidate for ex post facto elevation to Steamhood.

China Mieville and the novels of New Corbuzon

Although China Mieville's novels aren't set on an alternate Earth, they just feel like steampunk to me. Mechanicals are run on hydraulics, railroads control the land and steamships the sea. Non-human races mingle with humankind, and a corrupt government tries to maintain control over all. Sorcery and science mix but the overall feel is Dickensian, without the good guys.

Martha Wells' ile-Rein

Even Martha Wells dips into steampunk territory with her novels set in the nation of ile-Rein, particularly in her earlier Death of the Necromancer. There are Dickensian slums and crime gangs, gaslit streets, a police inspector that recalls Doyle's Inspector Lestrade, and railroads. Oh, and sorcerers, hedge witches and necromancers (those who draw their sorcerous powers from the dead and dying).

So when is it 'steampunk'?

Do the 'gentlemen' in the story 'dress for dinner', even in the jungle, desert or at sea? Are there dirigibles? Hydraulics? Railroads? Gaslights? Polished brass? These are key indicators.

The story may not employ any of these indicators and still smell like steam. Is the class structure rigid and unbending? Does the upperclass live frivolous lives involving many changes of clothing and elaborate social engagements, with conventions that one contravenes at one's peril? Is there a devoted servant class? Manufacturies and a burgeoning middle class? Getting kind of steamy in here...

I admit, steampunk is just about my favorite of the sci-fi genres. Show me some steam and I'm there.