Sunday, October 10, 2010

Steampunk

I am not sure what to make of the steampunk genre. It hits a lot of my Do Not Want buttons, and I've never really had to explore why until I started reading Boneshaker. I, personally, hate the Victorian era. It is the second most boring era of history for me, and I wish people would let it rest a while. I also don't really like the aesthetic of the technology. The whole genre feels really regressive in a lot of ways and I just can't get into it.
That being said, Boneshaker manages to largely avoid a lot of my buttons, which is fortunate. I like the main plot enough that I can fudge some of the setting details, and I've been glossing over the tech descriptions because those give me stigmata of the eye.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I should mention that I don't think the technological descriptions are poorly written at all, but things aren't described quite the way I want them to look.

John Harris said...

I don't know if I really agree here. I mean, the technology is certainly crude, impractical, and sometimes ridiculous, but it has a certain elegance and beauty in spite of all of that. The power and ability takes some of the fun out of it, you know? You can't watch a computer work the same way you can watch something like a piece of steam-driven machinery go. Plus black, brass, and wood is an awesome color combo.

And if the Victorian era places second, then what, if I may ask, do you consider the most boring era?

Anonymous said...

There's a period of Egyptian history between the 23rd and...25th-ish dynasties (its the third intermediate period) that makes me drowsy. There are a lot of important things happening but none of the personalities click for me.

Caleb Weeks said...

I'm a pretty big fan of the steampunk genre but I agree that this genre is very hit-or-miss. A great steampunk novel I have read is called "The Affinity Bridge." Check it out if you want to.