Steampunk and related books

[Beq Janus]

I don't think we have ever had a discussion to collect people book lists together.
I have just changed my commute from driving to coach and gained two hours of sleeping/reading time per day. So what should I do with this time?

I had thought of simply listing the books I liek but perhaps a collection of reviews would be a better way to go.

I, for one, would love to hear the thoughts of others perhaps not only those books to hunt down but those to avoid.

For now I will ignore the classics, Conan Doyle, Verne, Wells need no further commendation.

I'll start with a couple and perhaps build on it as time allows, feel free to agree disagree and add your own books.

[Canolli Capalini]

Repaired umbrellas, Master Yifu.. Repaired umbrellas.

[DreddPirateBob]

Repaired doesnt mean tamed i reckon.

Burn em up! waste of good rain anyway...

[DreddPirateBob]

I believe one worthy ofmention is "Anno Dracula", in which our good Queen becomes enthraled to the evil count himself. Its not the best i have ever read but fun none the less. Oh and anything by China Mieville, though they may not be utterly correct in time period they are still amazing and inspiring.

[Edward Pearse, Duke of Argylle]

I tried reading Miéville and just couldn't get into him. Anno Dracula on the other hand is one of my favourite series (three novels and several additional short stories) . Mainly because of the "spot the reference" game that is played throughout, but some of the twists and character appearances are very nicely done.

[DreddPirateBob]

ah i wasn't aware there was more than the tome i got a few years ago. i shall look into this further, thank you sir :)

[Edward Pearse, Duke of Argylle]

The second was The Bloody Red Baron followed by Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha (or Judgement of Tears in the US). Complete list including the short stories here.

[DreddPirateBob]

Thank you Sir, theres a lot to catch up on..

oh how terrible, more summer reading :)

[Rafael Fabre]

My reading has begun leaning more towards the RL version of the era, away from "classic" steampunk (either modern or from the turn of the century). The book I'm currently reading is the aformenteioned "Sin in the Second City", and to better explain it, here is the publisher's blurb...

Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history and a catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago's notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club's proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literary icons into their stately double mansion, where thirty stunning Everleigh "butterflies" awaited their arrival. "How is my boy?" Madam Minna always asked, and it wasn't long before her boy was quite well, indeed. Courtesans named Doll, Diamond Bertha, and Brick Top devoured raw meat to the delight of Prince Henry of Prussia and recited poetry for Theodore Dreiser. Whereas lesser madams pocketed most of a harlot's earnings and kept a "whipper" on staff to mete out discipline, the Everleighs made sure their girls dined on gourmet food, were examined by an honest physician, and even tutored in the philosophy of Balzac.

Additionally, the "Devil in the White City" is a must read about the Chicago's 1893 World's fair. Both books are NY Times best sellers, and are out in paperback.

Finally, a beautiful steampunk site that is no longer supported, the Steampunkopedia has an amazing listing of all Steampunk media (literature, TV, Movies, games, ect...), along with possibly one of the best splash pages I've ever seen for Steampunk. Parts are in Polish, so remember to choose the Union Jack!

http://steampunk.republika.pl/index.html

[Beq Janus]

A week of wind and rain on the top of Bodmin moor was made slightly less frustrating by reading a book that in hind sight I really ought to have read earlier. The book in quetion is the glass books of the Deam Eaters by GW Dahlquist. Why should I have read it earlier? Well it was published at the tail end of 2006 as a series of 10 chapters, mailed to subscribers by Penguin (the UK publisher). It is set in a Victoiran-esque European city and the serialisation would have really added not only to the impact of the tale but to the enigma of the project itself. As a bound single volume it is a good read, but if you did not know that it was serialised in its original form then its style might seem rather obtuse. Each chapter is quite lengthy, a 700 page book in 10 chapters, and is written from the perspective of one of the three main characters. This allows the author to play games with the scenery by having one character relate their encounter with a room or group in a certain "state" a chapter or two before you actually find out how it came to be in such a state in the first place. A nice enough trick and luckily not too overused.
The plot is appropriately steam punk I think, and without giving things away too much, our heroes encounter evil group(s) bent against the established order supported by nefarious science all wrapped up in a nicely documented victorian society.

I took a brief look at some reviews around when I bought this book and I must say that I do find them rather curious. Some found the book too long a drawn out, the language overly flowery and in need of a good editor, I cannot see this, the book is a relatively long book, but eachg chapter rattles along at a decent enough pace and leaves you wanting more, a gift of the episodic structure, this same structure and the manner in which it is used defines the way that the story emerges which some perceive as laboured due to the parallel accounts. Linguistically, I am in no position to cast stones anyhow but the only "offense" the book seems to be guilty of is the slight overuse of certain phrases, and once again if read over the course of many weeks that would seem much less obvious and perhaps even a deliberate key for the chapters to hang together; I'm no linguist, no author so I'll leave the pedants to their moans while I enjoy the tale.

One of the things I have found with books in recent years is that I am disappointed by the end, a 500 page book the builds to a crescendo which is unravelled in a page or two at the end leaving me feeling abandoned. I am not sure if that is because I have, unwiitingly, become too "hollywood" about my tales, expecting a ending befitting on the tale, I don't think so, I certainly don't "need" a happy ending, heaven forbid, just a climax worth the foreplay (so to speak). Well, GW Dahlquist gave me a run for my money with action right up to the last, and of course the book ends with what is clearly lined up to be the start of the next book (in my Amazon basket as I type), a gripping finale.

I, once again, find myself recommending a book whole heartedly, and I would love to hear others' thoughts on this same book as it is quite clear from some of the web reviews that my view is not universal, indeed far from it.

My next target.....The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt, the "follow up" to the Court of the Air which I reviewed earlier in this thread. Another longish book which I hope to start in the next day or so.