Devon Monk’s Dead Iron, published in 2011, is yet another interesting example of the steampunk genre. Like most novels from the Era of Peak Steampunk, it’s of the historical kind, something we don’t see nearly enough of lately. It takes place in the 19th Century American West, featuring elements of the supernatural: witchcraft, spirits, and […]
The longer I explore steampunk, the more I discover new and interesting examples of the genre. I am always encountering new titles, some of which were written before the genre got its name. The late Ronald Clark’s novel Queen Victoria’s Bomb, published in 1969, is one of these. Though it lacks the stereotypical steampunk elements […]
Imagine if you will that clock towers were built not to tell time but to control it? That a stopped clock could render a city frozen in time and forever inaccessible? That the clock mechanic was the world’s most important occupation? These are the intriguing premises behind Tara Sim’s 2016 young adult fantasy steampunk novel […]
Here’s an interesting variation on an epic fantasy series: a world that transitions from primitive to steampunk as it progresses. Brandon Sanderson’s “Mistborn” novels take place on Scadrial, a world settled by humans with strange powers. Centuries after some cataclysm, people are rediscovering steam power and electricity. This is the setting of The Alloy of […]
Much recently-published steampunk fiction could be described period romance with airships. I was seeking something different, which is why the blurb for this novel caught my eye: “A steampunk adventure with snark and sass.” It had a great title as well. I expected something unique, and it most certainly was. First of all, the story […]
The Desperado is back on YouTube! Today we talk about the amazing #steampunk game Bioshock Infinite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-POpiyx4Pw
For my 100th online review as the Steampunk Desperado, I consider Philip Ligon’s young-adult steampunk novel “The King’s Regret,” published in 2019. It’s a “fantasy world” type steampunk which follows a pair of teenage siblings from the aristocratic Falconbone family. Once leaders of the mining city of Airendale, their family was betrayed by their country’s […]
