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 Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:37 pm
Now, it's not an oxymoron. Sometimes, steampunk is attempted, and it just never should have been. Have any movies made you cringe, despite an immense number of gears? Any books had you yawning despite skies filled with airships? Of course, taste is quite subjective, but as steampunk becomes more popular, it's inevitable that it will sometimes be applied to less-than-stellar works.
Personally, I'd warn against Stephen Hunt's Court of the Air. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't dreadful, but the entire time I was reading it, I had such thoughts as: Sentient clockwork robots? Mieville. Vast evil god-things from alternate dimensions? Lovecraft. Corrupting magical power that turns humans into fey types? MacLeod. &c. It seemed like a patchwork jumble of ideas which had been done better by other writers, and I really couldn't connect to the characters.
I'd also avoid Mainspring by Jay Lake. It started out with an intriguing premise, but it became less inventive, less cohesive, and more trite as it wound toward its end.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:22 pm
Oh, there was a certain series highly recommended by our guildmates that I ended up abandoning, but I can't seem to recall the name. It was about great roving cities, eating other cities... I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading.
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Quotable Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:40 pm
I understand what you are saying.I have seen many a Anime that tries to imitate Steampunk,For Example:Tsrugasa or something like that I can't recall the name tries (and if you ask me has failed at even trying to aquire the essence that is Steampunk)and it bothers me that when i go out in public to a any local book store,I see People trying to imitate this wonderful style
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:42 am
Iseult Afire Oh, there was a certain series highly recommended by our guildmates that I ended up abandoning, but I can't seem to recall the name. It was about great roving cities, eating other cities... I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading. the mortal engines quartet?
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:28 pm
fire - link Iseult Afire Oh, there was a certain series highly recommended by our guildmates that I ended up abandoning, but I can't seem to recall the name. It was about great roving cities, eating other cities... I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading. the mortal engines quartet? Thats the one! I agree it dissapoints when it comes to the Steampunk aspects. I found it quite good, though I did start it before I was really into the Steampunk culture. It you can survive Mortal Engines, which I think was a bit boring, then you'll find that the later books are more exciting. Though you have to have a certain mind set to really enjoy the books.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:02 am
XxXAlexAstroZombieXxX I understand what you are saying.I have seen many a Anime that tries to imitate Steampunk,For Example:Tsrugasa or something like that I can't recall the name tries (and if you ask me has failed at even trying to aquire the essence that is Steampunk)and it bothers me that when i go out in public to a any local book store,I see People trying to imitate this wonderful style I'd ask if you meant Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by CLAMP, but that doesn't sound right somehow--I don't recall much, if any, Steampunk in any of the worlds that the heroes visited, at least up to the last volume that I read...
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:49 am
You can't really fault Stephen Hunt for using conceptual elements from other writers. There really is no such thing as an original idea anymore - just original writing voices - and I think his voice was strong enough to separate himself from his sources. The plot did drag a little in a few places, but I thought it was otherwise enjoyable.
And I loved the Hungry City Chronicles. I think if you go into it expecting a full immersion of steampunk then you're bound to be disappointed, but standing on their own they were laid-back, interesting reads.
They were thorough, too, without being overbearing. I accidentally started the series with the third book (don't ask me how - I've got bubbles for brains, sometimes) and I didn't feel lost at all. I understood the premis and the environment just fine without the help of the preceding books.
If you've actually read this far, I salute you.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:07 pm
TractionEra fire - link Iseult Afire Oh, there was a certain series highly recommended by our guildmates that I ended up abandoning, but I can't seem to recall the name. It was about great roving cities, eating other cities... I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading. the mortal engines quartet? Thats the one! I agree it dissapoints when it comes to the Steampunk aspects. I found it quite good, though I did start it before I was really into the Steampunk culture. It you can survive Mortal Engines, which I think was a bit boring, then you'll find that the later books are more exciting. Though you have to have a certain mind set to really enjoy the books. Huh, I loved the Mortal Engines book (though I only read that one, not the rest of the series), I thought it was a very well-written piece of children's literature, but I didn't read it for the Steampunk aspect. Perhaps if I'd picked it up expect Steampunk, I'd not have been so impressed. But I can see why it won the prize it did, it's intelligent, fast-paced and has moral ambiguity that you can gets kids to discuss/think about. One book my dad recommended to me based on the fact that it was Steampunk was George Mann's Affinity Bridge. Pile. Of. s**t. Flat characters, no idea of smooth character development, bad grammar, overly-simplistic detective plot - it's just painful. The characters are meant to be top detectives and they're so moronically slow in figuring anything out that you get bored, since their revelations are constantly two or so behind what you yourself have already managed to figure out. *headdesk* Will not be reading the next one. -_-
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:35 am
i wouldn't say to stay away from it, but the ergo proxy anime is often classified as steampunk when there are hardly any steampunk elements in it.
maybe some steam-powered pieces to the towns and that's about it.
so if you're looking for something specifically steampunk, ergo proxy is not. it's much more... dystopian? industrial? cyberpunk, mostly.
but outside of that, it is an unbelievably excellent anime.
as for other things.... i don't think i've gotten into enough media to even find anything really awful, but i'll keep you posted if i do. ;3
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:44 am
I read Mortal Engines before I was really into steampunk. It's not exactly a steampunk work* but the entire series is one of my favourite reads. Unfortunately, due to their lack of vampires, they aren't very popular in my area and I was forced to order the new one from the internet.
As for steampunk to avoid, I have nothing in particular in mind that I have read but I do remember picking up a book at the local book store and thinking that it was silly that they had decided to write "Hey this is steampunk it's a phenomenon look airships and pirates" on the back. It seems less interesting when the summary can't speak for itself.
* It's got British people on giant mechanical things and airships in the dystopian future. However, there isn't much steam, no one talks about wearing goggles, the pirates are bad and it's set very, very far into the future from Victorian times.
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