We all know Steampunkers party like it’s 1899. That it’s a steam-powered world of airships, cogs, clockwork, crazy inventions, and brass goggles with plenty of room for air pirates, brass robots, and corset-and-bustle-wearing vampire hunters.
But what’s beyond Steampunk?
Here are a few things I’ve found, though many seem to overlap. This is by no means a definitive or exhaustive list:
Biopunk— Features those who are a product of biological experimentation, usually against the backdrop of a totalitarian government or megacorproations who are abusing science for personal gain or social control.
Clockpunk—A world where steam technology has been replaced by intricate clockwork designs.
Cyberpunk—Near-future earth with super-high technology and the breakdown of social order, usually with dystopian/anarchist /rebellion themes featuring conflict between humans and robots/cyborgs/megacorporations.
Cyberprep-Cyberpunk featuring a leisure-driven, happy society instead of a gritty one where technology and body modifications are used for recreation and pleasure.
Dieselpunk—The world just beyond steampunk where gas has replaced steam, steal replaced brass, it’s a world of flappers, gangsters—the roaring twenties though noir/dystopian goggles (I’ve also seen it called Oilpunk).
Gasolinepunk—The 1960’s hotrod era taken to the max.
Monsterpunk—Mechanical and steampunk elements mixed together in a monster world (or one powered by monsters). Monster Commute is a good example: http://www.monstercommute.com
Oilpunk/Petrolpunk/Petropunk—An idealized version of an oil-based society. Think floating cities with giant rocket engines.
Sailpunk—Where new technologies take on a nautical aesthetic, such as in the movie Treasure Planet.
Do you have anything to add? Elfpunk (those great rock & roll and car-racing Elf stories that take place in our world.) Post-Cyberpunk(Cyberpunk minus the dystopia)…
Any of these genres spark any ideas (or new genres to explore)?
I’d love to hear your ideas. Unfortunately, I can’t find any more art deco tiaras, but I have found some cute tiny ones. So one lucky poster will win a baby tiara and a bag of productivity pixy dust.
Have a great week everyone. Check back on Friday for the winner!
Well I love the idea of shifters set in Victorian England along with a nice mix of technology.
However Shifterpunk doesn’t quite have a ring, does it?
I like it! I think Shifterpunk sounds cute.
The aparent difference between Elfpunk and Urban Fantasy is that Elfpunk stays with actual mythic characters of the Fae variety (and stays true to their mythic characteristics unless they actually explain the differences in the world mythos). Where Urban Fantasy invents all sorts of creatures, combines mythos, and often turns existing mythos on its ear. )
So maybe if you take existing shifter mythos and really develop it in context, and perhaps only have shifters as your world’s “creatures” (could be interesting as most mythological races could probably be explained that way) you could have a pretty cool (and trippy) genre. And set in Victorian England with some interesting technology (maybe a mix of steampunk, biopunk, and cyberpunk?)–yeah, way cool. I’d read it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hmm…just made me realize that Tanith Lee’s Biting the Sun stories could be called Cyberprep (awesome stories if you haven’t read them). My head is full of ideas now…wish I had more time to write!
I will check those out. They sound fab.
Yes! I bet you could take any one of those genres and come up with something amazing! But I hear you on the not enough time to write. (Gosh darn laundry, lol.) You can always add it to your TBW list…
Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne,
The 20 explanation yesterday (at LARA) hit the nail on the head! Thanks to you I’ve fallen madly in love with steampunk. And now have a stream of steampunk stories demanding to be added to my “stories in progress” list. [And I thought that I liked working on "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" just because of Sean:-))]
Carol
Well, you can take what Leigh taught us and write a steampunk novella, lol.
Hey, who doesn’t love Sean? LOL
I couldn’t resist your come-hither with the promise of a chance to win a tiara. So I’m suggesting a new subgenre: princesspunk. Kind of anime meets Animal from the Muppets. Flail… but be pretty
Princesspunk. Now I like that. I could see that translating well to a graphic novel, maybe manga…
Don’t forget the influence of steampunk on the music scene…perhaps that would be steamrock LOL My brother’s new album is almost entirely Steampunk conception…from the liner notes (which tells the tale of time travel) to the lyrics/themes/artwork for each track. Here are some links…check it out!
http://www.myspace.com/49065754
http://new.us.music.yahoo.com/marizane/tracks/pantheon-of-the-ocean-ages–207557871
I love steampunk music and I did check out your brother’s music. Very cool. Hmmm, a steampunk band full of elves?? LOL
Ok…where do you learn all this stuff? I’ve never heard of steampunk before this and you have gone way beyond that. How did you find out about this stuff?
I could tell you but…
I found out about oilpunk through a friend of mine and alot of this just through research.
Alot of people haven’t heard about steampunk…yet…but they will!
Oh yes, the more I talk about it, the more people I find– so far 5 of us right here in the library system building where I work. We’re creating our own secret society, and nobody can keep secrets like librarians.
Wow, I can actually post here? Cool, I was just surfing the Net and looking around for the various -punks that exist, seeing if anyone had yet spotted a tech style that I’ve kept seeing but remained unnamed.
I call it ‘Mysticpunk’:
Anyone who has played Chrono Trigger, think of the Kingdom of Zeal.
Anyone who has played Golden Sun, think of the Lighthouses.
Anyone who has played Runescape, think of the Mage Training Arena.
Anyone who has played Legend of Zelda TP, think of the Temple of Time.
I haven’t played it personally, but I think the High Elves in WoW correspond to Mysticpunk.
My vague memories of the movie version of Gulliver’s Travels suggest the floating island he visited.
And anyone who has never dealt with any of these at all, think of what is usually thought of in Atlantis.
Particularly the way AoM:TT thinks of the Atlanteans.
Some distinguishing features:
- Stone is usually the building material of choice, but very smooth and polished stone like marble or granite.
- Elaborate, gilt buildings and structures. This is everywhere, almost making me dub the genre “Chamberpunk”.
- Occasionally stone golems automated by magic, as in the Runescape and Legend of Zelda cases.
- Mist – lots and lots of mist.
- Technology is loosely based around Roman Age technologies, but magic is used to enhance them to a point in which work is usually unnecessary and people spend their time sleeping and studying.
- Architecture is usually based on Ancient Greek or Imperial Chinese styles.
- Cities might actually float above the ground, as in the case of Gulliver and Zeal.
Again, I didn’t “invent” this punk genre, so much as see it in so many settings and decide to give it a name and some general rules. What do you think?