Steampunk Suggestions?

[Wombat]

I have been reading a lot of Jules Verne of late and got through a mediocre anthology of steampunk short stories. I have been generally bitten by the bug, but have hit a bit of a wall on what to read in this regard.

Can anyone suggest some steampunk-esque titles that do not include vampires, werewolves, zombies, magic, or time travel?

I am much obliged to the collective knowledge of ENWorld in this regard!

 

[Hand of Evil]

The Translated Man by Chris Braak, just got it for my Kindle and enjoying it.

 

[Wombat]

Cool! I'll look into it.

 

[Umbran]

Hm.

The modern iconic steampunk book is still probably "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It is the man for the term "cyberpunk" was coined tossing his hat into the ring.

"Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt has some powers that are... unexplained. Indistinguishable from magic and occasionally... extraplanar in origin, but is fun.

I have heard a lot of buzz about "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest. Haven't read it myself, so I don't know if it fits your criteria.

 

[Crothian]

I have not read it yet but I have a collection of short stories that is labeled as "The Definitive Steampunk Anthology" it is called Extraordinary Engines and edited bt Nick Gevers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another vote for "The Difference Engine"- pretty much the breakthrough novel of the subgenre.

You'll get a surprisingly decent amount of info in the Wiki.

In comics, you have the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (yes, the one that was made into the film) as well as several "Gotham by Gaslight" storylines.

 

[Wombat]

Must admit that I read both The Difference Engine (which didn't impress me too much -- sorta flew in one eye and out the other) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which had passing moments and that was about it -- I put it on par with the movie, just on a different level of **meh**).

I'll certainly check out the other suggestions and, of course, re-read my Verne. Thanks to all for the help!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You can find some interesting distillations of steampunk in the form of games like Space: 1889 and Etherscope as well. The former is one of my favorite settings of all time- very much in tune with Verne's & Wells' works.

 

[Relique du Madde]

As far as anime is concerned, Steamboy is alright once you ignore "annoying rich brat" some of the anime's "magical steam*".




* The story's MacGruffin is a cast iron ball that contains a rare element gas that has the qualities of water, but can undergo insane amounts of pressure. Imagine compressing an entire Olympic sized swimming pool into a thimble. That's the amount of pressure we're talking about.

 

[Deset Gled]

I read Leviathan recently and found it pretty enjoyable. Definetally needs the rest of the series to be written, though.