The Steampunk Bible

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature

By Jeff VanderMeer and S. J. Chambers

Abrams, May 2011

ISBN: 9780810989580

This richly illustrated book provides a comprehensive guide to all things Steampunk.

It covers pretty much everything: literature, comics, fashion and cosplay (dressing up), crafts, music, art and even lifestyle.  The term itself (clearly derived from Cyberpunk) was coined in the late ‘80s by the writer K.W. Jeter, whose novels Morlock Night and Infernal Devices were key in defining the genre.  As a literary genre, you could describe it as science-fiction that is set in the (or an imagined/alternative) Victorian Age, perhaps the Edwardian Age.  Curiously, then, it has the characteristic of being both retro and futuristic.  And you could see Steampunk literature as building on the work of such writers as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and, to a lesser extent, Poe and Conan Doyle.

Somehow the Steampunk aesthetic, whether it be a fondness for clockwork devices or an interest in dressing up in cravats and corsets, has extended to other areas of culture too - and the authors cover these also.  They even compare Steampunk to Surrealism at one point, which strikes me as absurd: Surrealism was much more radical, an hard-edged beast.  That Rimbaud/Marx conflation and all it implied.

A lot of the book reads like features journalism.  There are clichés – talk of ‘the major players’ and that other one, ‘the movers and shakers’ at one point - and it’s not overly critical, to put it mildly.  When reading one of a number of what seemed to be promotional pieces (e.g. the list of ten Steampunk bands that I really must check out), Robert Silverberg’s wise counsel came to mind: 80% of everything is crap.  There were, however, two contributions that I found to be especially thought-provioking.  Bruce Sterling, co-author with William Gibson of the seminal Steampunk (as we should now call it) novel The Difference Engine, made the cogent point that a focus on the past speaks of an unease with the present.  Our current way of life is unsustainable – economically, environmentally and in other ways too – according to Sterling.  And Catherynne M. Valente’s paean to punk and the quotidian grittiness of Victorian life was pretty fantastic too.  Here’s a sampler from her piece:

Get punk or go home – and think, for just a precious second, about what punk means, the rage and iconoclasm and desperation, the nihilism and unsentimental ecstasy of punk rock.  I’ve heard the punk suffix mocked soundly by everyone I know – but we should be so lucky as to live up to it.  (61)

If you’re intrigued by Steampunk, I would definitely recommend this book: it’s well designed and the illustrations are gorgeous to look at.  Where the book falls down, as indicated, is in its sometimes fan-boy style, its concern not to offend.  More attitude and opinion (as exhibited by Valente) would have been welcome.  Oh, and to mention John Ruskin in relation to arts and crafts but to omit all consideration of William Morris is not only ignorant, it’s virtually a criminal act.  That’s just not on.

 The Steampunk Bible has a website and the publisher’s description of the book can be read here.

Some Steampunk Splendors

Here, in no particular order, are some seven or eight Steampunk Splendors:

• The Great Elephant of the Machines de l’île
• Miss Emily Ladybird’s Jewellery
• Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop
• Miss Rosie Bitts, Burlesque Artiste
• Ramona Szczerba’s collages
• Vladimir Gvozdev’s Vengeance Weapons
• John Coulthart’s book covers and illustrations
• Keith Thompson’s artwork

I find Ramona Szczerba’s work in particular to be absolutely marvellous, and ridiculously cheap to purchase.

 

Tommy Steele’s Scrooge

Scrooge

By Leslie Bricusse

The Lowry, 13 December 2011

Tommy Steele as Scrooge

Tommy Steele delivers an immaculate performance.  Stainless, in fact.

He sings, he dances, he acts.  His sense of comic timing is well nigh perfect, raising copious laughter from children and adults alike.  When an audience enjoys a show this much, it is difficult to quibble or find fault with it.

James Head as the Ghost of Christmas Present also deserves a mention.  His ghost was a magnificent, multicoloured beast in very rude health indeed.

 The set evoked nineteenth century London, or a postcard view of it at any roads.  And the costumes – the top hats and frockcoats, wigs and waistcoats of the gentry in particular – got me thinking about how you might give Dickens’ famous story a steampunk revamp.

Imagine Scrooge as a mad scientist, not too far-fetched since his view of the world is skewered enough.  Perhaps he’s a fervent disciple of Malthus, intent on controlling the surplus population.  Usury would be one tool, naturally, and is present in the story as it stands.  But what he really needs is a robot army.  And instead of ghost and spirits, the forces of good could send around a clockwork mannequin or three to attempt to alter his point of view.  Dirigibles would need to be introduced, granted, and perhaps they could serve as a way of combating the robot army from the air.  Well, OK, it’s a work in progress.

Scrooge in its present form is perfectly fine.  A family-friendly Christmas show, it’s at The Lowry until 7 January, further details can be found here.

A Pocketful of Noses: Stories of One Ganelon or Another

A Pocketful of Noses: Stories of One Ganelon or Another

By James Powell

Cover art by Gail Cross

Crippen & Landru, 2009

ISBN: 9781932009378

These twelve tales are ingenious and fantastical, and possess just the right amount of whimsy.

Most mystery writers have just one series character, whereas James Powell has a series.  A quartet, in fact.  Ambrose Ganelon the first founded the family business, a detective agency, around the middle of the nineteenth century.  He used reason and logic alone to solve crimes, but his son and namesake placed his trust in science.  Perhaps you could call him a David Hume to his dad’s Rene Descartes.  Now Ambrose Ganelon the third often found himself moseying down mean streets late at night, where he had to use his fists to get out of trouble, so he abandoned empiricism for pragmatism.  ‘Whatever works’ became his motto.  As for the fourth and final Ambrose Ganelon, he lives hand to mouth since there’s now virtually no crime in Powell’s imagined principality of San Sebastiano.  He has a hard time because his predecessors have done such a good job.

All twelve are solid detective stories, the solutions often hingeing on a new understanding of the original situation, an inconspicuous fact being recognised as crucially significant.  However, it is the entertaining historical background that Powell provides for San Sebastiano which raises these tales above the rest.  And a further layer of enjoyment is added by the invention evident in various imaginary contraptions  and devices, vehicles and weapons especially.  You could well describe these devices as being steampunk in nature, although the term wasn’t in widespread use when the stories were first written.

If you love Conan Doyle and Chesterton, then I’d definitely recommend that you explore Powell’s work.  An exhilarating and entertaining collection.

The publisher’s description of the book can be read here.