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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
For the last two years, I’ve made it my personal quest to discover and promote the most interesting specimens of steampunk fiction. Though there have been fewer published since the peak of the movement’s popularity around 2010, the demise of steampunk has been greatly exaggerated. One of the more interesting works I’ve encountered is Eric […]
Author Jon del Arroz is a newcomer to the steampunk scene. On 11/28/2017 I reviewed his first novel in the genre, “For Steam and Country”, which was published that same year. The sequel, “Blood of Giants” features the further adventures of teenage adventurer Zaira von Monocole. Whereas the first book was an enjoyable YA adventure, […]
I encountered this book entirely by accident. I was doing a web search for images to serve as inspiration for the cover design for one of our “Ione D.” steampunk novels. This cover appeared, an illustration of a young woman in a long dress and high boots running through a Chinese street scene. It looks […]
While attending a movie recently, I was astonished to see a trailer for an upcoming steampunk movie, Mortal Engines. I had heard of the 2001 book by Philip Reeve but hadn’t read it. The premise was very imaginative albeit somewhat silly: in a post-apocalyptic world, cities went mobile to survive. They became huge steam-powered edifices […]
