I'm Something of a Fan of Science Fiction

February 04, 2010

And within science fiction, there is something peculiarly attractive to me about certain subgenres: steampunk is one of them.

Comments

Randy MurrayFebruary 4, 2010 at 8:53 AM
One of my first signs that the internet would change everything was when I read The Difference Engine, shared it with a friend, and we argued over some obscure point. It got to the point where they said, "I guess we'll never know unless we meet the authors" and something clicked. I spent a few minute searching and found Bruce Sterling's email address (this was the pre-web era) and sent him a question. He answered in a an hour. It was a stunning example of the connectedness that was to come.
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Steven RiddleFebruary 4, 2010 at 10:56 AM
Dear Randy,

I remember you showing this to us at one of our meetings--or at least sharing it as it happened. And it was significant. We are connected, at times, perhaps too much so. But so much good has come of it.

shalom,

Steven
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FredFebruary 6, 2010 at 1:19 AM
I've read several steampunk novels and found them OK. THE steampunk novel, which probably many would consider to be Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine, is not one of them, though. In fact, I lost interest about half way through and stopped reading.

I was surprised as both Gibson and Sterling are favorites of mine, having read many of their works. I am much happier with them when they are writing cyberpunk.

One author mentioned in the article was KW Jeter, who really doesn't fit into any category since he also writes cyberpunk and horror. One of his best, or at least, one that I like best is his _The Glass Hammer_, which is probably best classified as cyberpunk, if anything. I have also read his _Infernal Devices_ and enjoyed it. I didn't think of it as steampunk, but I could see that it could be labeled as such.
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