Jules Verne

What is steampunk and why does it exist?

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 10 Comments
Vintage German postcard shows a bustling cityscape with cars, trams, a suspension railway, a winged postman, and flying machines; caption reads “Berlin in the future"
Historic German postcard that imagines Berlin in the future, Bröhan Museum, Berlin.

I recently visited a city called Wuppertal in central Germany. It’s not your typical tourist destination, but I had my sights set on a particular, admittedly very nerdy, goal: I wanted to ride on the ‘Schwebebahn’, the oldest suspension railway in the world. This truly odd and unique structure was completed in 1901 and is still used today for local public transport… and from my first glimpse, I was charmed. Not only does the railway have an extremely historic “steampunk” vibe, it winds through a city that retains other remnants from that period – rustic old brick factories, billboards in archaic fonts, steel bridges, Art Deco stations.

The whole experience also made me reflect on the moment 6 years ago when I first heard about Wuppertal, which was also, not-so-coincidentally, the first time I fully grasped what steampunk is and why it exists.

Before then, I knew the basic definition of the genre, which Oxford Languages currently supplies as:

  1. a genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.
  2. a style of design and fashion that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features inspired by science fiction.

I also recognised the aesthetics and elements steampunk entails. What I didn’t really understand was why enough writers and artists had imagined this alternative steam-powered future for there to be a whole genre based on it.

Why were people writing these anachronistic fantastical futures filled with cogs and wheels, hot air balloons, zeppelins, and bronze machinery? Why revel in the ‘tech’ of the 1800s and early 1900s and imagine worlds that maintained it? Why focus on a turn-of-the-century aesthetic, as opposed to say, any other period in history?

Continue reading →

Idols, Friends and Mentors: Alexander von Humboldt’s Influence on Writing and Science

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 8 Comments

The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf

I actually wrote this post several weeks ago, before the corona virus crisis hit on a world scale… but given it’s about the importance of scientists and human beings connecting with and inspiring each other, be it in person or from afar, it actually feels somehow appropriate. So in case anyone’s looking for a positive break from reading about pandemics, here it is:

___________________

I don’t normally read a lot of non-fiction, but I recently picked up The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf. Aside from informing me about a brilliant scientist and author called Alexander von Humboldt – who I knew very little about – it got me thinking again about a topic I’ve found myself mulling over often in the past year: namely, how much writers are influenced by the work of other writers who’ve come before them, or even those who are writing at the same time.

In the past, I’ve tended to to look at famous historical figures in isolation, focusing on the unique feats they achieved and how different it was to everything that had come before. Last year, however, when researching for a blog series about popular fantasy books in different decades, I was repeatedly fascinated by how many writers had been inspired by, or even been good friends with, other writers on my lists. Continue reading →

Elements of Steampunk

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 8 Comments

Photo by Pierre-Alexandre Garneau (CC BY-NC-2.0)

This week I’m excited to bring you a guest post from steampunk writer Katherine McIntyre. Kathryn recently released the third book in her adventure-filled Take to the Skies series, and is stopping by to give a glimpse into the world of steampunk and its historical roots:

______________

When checking out a novel, movie, or some form of art termed ‘steampunk,’ certain elements have surfaced enough times to have become hallmarks of the genre.  Even folks who aren’t savvy with the trend have come to recognize the assortment of gears, the Victorian style gowns, and the many pairs of goggles as steampunk.

Where did these elements come from? Continue reading →