Steampunk Rampant

These are not the people I work with - honest!
I "borrowed" this pic off the Internet

I spend a lot of time in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the local bookstore. Ter can visit the magazine rack, the cooking section, the new releases section, the biography and history sections and the kids’ section, and return to find that I’ve reached the authors whose surnames start with the letter H. I pick up a lot of books, scan the back covers, study the artwork, maybe read the first few paragraphs, and then return them to the shelf. I’m not sure what prompts me to start reading in earnest. It’s one of the great mysteries in my life.

Apparently steampunk has been around for years, but has only recently become popular in the mainstream – or at least in the sci-fi/fantasy section. I don’t get it. I wish that I did. I think that I should, given that it’s usually set in the Victorian era and features magic, otherworldly critters and the ubiquitous star-crossed romance. Back in the day, I was deeply inspired by the Victorian age. My vampires flourished in that setting, as did just about everyone else’s. I love the clothes, the culture, the trappings and even, to some degree, the science. It was, after all, the time of great industrial advancement and of literature, come to that. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne were probably the original steampunk authors. Not that I read either of them, because I didn’t. But I saw The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau at the movies and thought they were pretty cool.

So now works of steampunk fiction are sprouting on the shelves beside urban fantasy, high fantasy and science fiction. There’s a whole fashion industry based on the genre, and there’s a steampunk convention held somewhere in Victoria every year. I guess that’s only proper, given that the city is named for the applicable Queen. Last year, a gang from my office attended an absinthe tasting party at the Union Club and I might have gone, except that you had to wear steampunk duds and are you kidding? I have problems pulling together business casual. Corsets, bustles, goggles and ray guns are not in my repertoire – and if they were, it would be for private entertainment only. I saw the photographs, though, and the group looked absolutely authentic. They were having a ball into the bargain—and the pics were taken before the tasting.

Eventually, I’ll succumb and read a steampunk novel, just to see if I’ve gaffed and may be missing out on something ultra-fabulous. I doubt I will ever write one, though, and that may be my first hint. If the best writers write what they want to read, then I’m unlikely to go there … but I’ve also learned never to say “never”.