If you’ve cleaned your goggles this morning, you may have noticed something a little different about Tor.com. Namely, there’s a shiny new logo and masthead at the top of this page. The fancy duds mark an exciting development for our little website: October 2009 is Steampunk Month on Tor.com.
I have a strong suspicion that this pronouncement has prompted some of our readers to sigh, “Steampunk! That’s so [1987/1990/2008]!” But there are just as certainly others who are saying, “Steampunk? What the heck is steampunk?” There’s no simple definition that works for everyone—at our staff meeting the other day, we wound up reverting to that old saw about pornography—but I usually start off with something along the lines of “a Victorian-influenced speculative fiction subgenre set in a world where steam power is still in common use; and the aesthetic derived thereof.” But for the full story, I strongly recommend you to Cherie Priest’s formidable “Steampunk FAQ.”
One thing that almost everyone can agree on is that steampunk is really damn cool. So cool, in fact, that a half-joking suggestion at a meeting several months ago has turned into one of the biggest events in Tor.com’s history, incorporating nearly a dozen new bloggers, original fiction, scads of giveaways, and So. Much. More.

Here’s a list of just some of the things in store during Steampunk Month:
- Musings on the genre from a host of esteemed guest bloggers, including G. D. Falksen, Stefania Forlini, Lev Grossman, Jah’Meia, Jay Lake, George Mann, Joe Monti, Cherie Priest, Ann VanderMeer, and Jeff VanderMeer, as well as steampunk posts from many of our regular bloggers.
- Original steampunk (and steampunk-esque) fiction from Eileen Gunn & Michael Swanwick and G. D. Falksen, plus a rarely-seen comic by Sydney Padua of “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage” fame.
- Coverage of the steampunk exhibit at Oxford’s Museum of the History of Science, Steamcon (Seattle’s first Steampunk convention), and the Brooklyn Indie Market Steampunk II event.
- Interviews with luminaries such as Tim Powers, Scott Westerfeld, and Keith Thompson.
- Process posts from steampunk writers, artists, designers, costumers, and tinkerers.
- Articles on and reviews of new, upcoming, and classic books/movies/etc., including Boilerplate, Candle Man, Dream of Perpetual Motion, Leviathan, and Tetsuo.
- Steampunk wallpapers!
- An absurd amount of giveaways, including books, posters, buttons, costume elements, and gadgets.
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• Steampunk wallpapers!
• An absurd amount of giveaways, including books, posters, buttons, costume elements, and gadgets.
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Here’s a running tab of what’s already been posted:
10/1: “Steampunk Month on Tor.com” (this post) by Liz Gorinsky |
10/1: “Interview with Steamcon Vice Chair Diana Vick” by Jason Henninger |
10/1: “Has Anybody Seen the Bridge? George Mann’s The Affinity Bridge“ by Lou Anders |
10/1: “How Stubby, the Tor.com rocket, became the H.M.S. Stubbington“ by Irene Gallo |
10/2: “Hello and Good Morning (Technically, Here in West Coast Time)” by Cherie Priest |
10/2: “The Post-Modernity of Steampunk” by Jaymee Goh |
10/3: “Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Steampunk Edition: ‘Jasper Morello,’ ‘The Aeronaut,’ and ‘The Gentleman’s Duel'” by Irene Gallo |
10/5: “The world is not enough…but it is such a perfect place to start” by G. D. Falksen |
10/5: “What’s the Soundtrack of Steampunk?” by Brian Slattery |
10/6: STORY: “Zeppelin City” by Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn, illustrated by Benjamin Carre |
10/6: “The art of Leviathan, part 1: An interview with Scott Westerfeld” by Irene Gallo |
10/6: “Steampunk as Subculture” by Jaymee Goh |
10/6: “Announcing Discounts on the Tor.com Store for Steampunk Month!” by Pablo Defendini |
10/7: “Prescription: Zombies” by Cherie Priest |
10/7: “Four Reasons to Watch League of Extraordinary Gentlemen“ by Genevive Valentine |
10/7: “Steampunk 101” by G. D. Falksen |
10/8: “The Past (and Future) of Steampunk Music” by Joshua Pfeiffer |
10/8: “Steampunk Gaming: Getting in the Mood” by David Pucik |
10/9: “No Elitism Please, We’re Steampunk” by Jaymee Goh |
10/11: “Steampunk Plot Bunnies for Adoption” by Jaymee Goh |
10/12: “In An Alternate World, I Could be ‘Cosmic Goddess'” by Jaymee Goh |
10/12: “The art of Leviathan, part two: Interview with Keith Thompson” by Irene Gallo |
10/12: “All this stuff totally happened (except for how it didn’t)” by Cherie Priest |
10/12: “A Few of My Favorite Things: Top Steampunk Media” by Joshua Pfeiffer |
10/13: “Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan“ by Megan Messinger |
10/13: “An Interview with James Ng” by Jaymee Goh |
10/13: “Get Your Steam On: Steampunk Events the World Over” by Liz Gorinsky |
10/13: “Tor.com’s Steampunk Meetup” by Management Services |
10/13: “Steampunk goes viral: Riese the Webseries” by John Ottinger III |
10/13: “Steampunk has taken over Oxford” by Evelyn kriete |
10/14: “The Steampunk Office” by G. D. Falksen |
10/14: “Living the Vita Steampunk: Whisper Merlot” by Jaymee Goh |
10/12: “How to steam up your old goth wardrobe” by Cherie Priest |
10/15: “Lovelace and Babbage at the Museum of the History of Science” by Management Services |
10/16: “An Ode to Lady Ada” by Jaymee Goh |
10/16: “Gears Good Enough to Eat” by Megan Messinger |
10/16: “The Revolution Will Not be Telegraphed: The Sociopolitical side of Steampunk” by Joshua Pfeiffer |
10/19: “There is Totally Punk in Steampunk” by Jaymee Goh |
10/19: “Cog Ex Machina” by Lou Anders |
10/20: STORY: “The Strange Case of Mr. Salad Monday” by G. D. Falksen, illustrated by David Malki |
10/20: “Wallpaper giveaway: Eric Freitas” by Irene Gallo |
10/21: “Steampunk Needs a Shot of—Wait for It—Romance” by Heather Massey |
10/21: “Catching Up With Steampunk Artist Dan Hillier” by Geoffrey H Goodwin |
10/21: “Everybody Line Up!: Berít New York” by Jaymee Goh |
10/22: “Wallpaper giveaway: Thom Tenery” by Irene Gallo |
10/23: “Tor.com Announces the Steampunk Month Photo Contest!” by Liz Gorinsky |
10/23: “Crafting the Continuum Bracelet: A DIY How-To” by Chrononaut Mercantile |
10/23: “New Lit! About Sir Thomas Riley” by Jaymee Goh |
10/25: “A New Car With Some Old-Fashioned Hardware” by Megan Messinger |
10/26: “Steampunk Wardrobe Customizations for the Lazy, the Poor, or the Crafty” by Cherie Priest |
10/26: “Speed Weed Comes Clean: Steampunk and NCIS: Los Angeles” by Jeff VanderMeer |
10/26: “Experiments in Comics with Sydney Padua” by Jaymee Goh |
10/26: “The Steampunk Bible Wants You!” by Pablo Defendini |
10/27: “The Roundtable of DOO- I mean, of Race and Steampunk” by Jaymee Goh |
10/27: “Wallpaper giveaway: Jon Foster and Boneshaker“ by Irene Gallo |
10/28: “Gogglicious: A Steamcon Report” by Jason Henninger |
10/28: “Steampunk Blogging, aka Tit-Tat” by G. D. Falksen |
10/28: “The Steampunk Cold War, Part One: The Pax Europaea, or, ‘Tommy’s got my bank account, Ivan’s got the bomb'” by G. D. Falksen |
10/28: “With this Steam-Powered Prosthetic Arm, I Could Be As Strong as…a Normal Person” by Jaymee Goh |
10/28: “Can Dirigibles Slouch Along? Can They Saunter?” by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer |
10/28: “The Brooklyn Indie Market goes Steampunk” by Genevive Valentine |
10/28: “Bioshock: Social Sci-Fi in a Steampunk Veneer?” by David Pucik |
10/29: “How to Convert an Ordinary Suit Coat into a Tail Coat” by Evelyn kriete |
10/29: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, And It’s Going to Eat You” by Megan Messinger |
10/29: “The Steampunk Cold War, Part Two: The Great Game, or ‘the British are still in Afghanistan'” by G. D. Falksen |
10/29: “Making the Tor.com Steampunk Month letterpress poster” by Irene Gallo |
10/29: “Wallpaper giveaway: Gregory Manchess” by Irene Gallo |
10/29: “A Moment for My DIY Peers” by Jaymee Goh |
10/19: “Was Poe Steampunk?” by S. J. Chambers |
10/30: “Wallpaper giveaway: H.M.S. Stubbington” by Irene Gallo |
10/30: “The Steampunk Cold War, Part Three: The Dreadnought Arms Race, or ‘Kaiser Wilhelm gets a boat'” by G. D. Falksen |
10/30: “Return to the Written Word” by Jaymee Goh |
10/30: “An Interview with Scott Westerfeld on Barking Spiders, Steampunk, and All Things Leviathan“ by Joe Monti |
10/31: “Steampunk anime: Steamboy” by Eugene Myers |
10/31: “The Steampunk Cold War, Part Four: Alliances of Convenience, or ‘Autocracy is like democracy if you say it in Russian'” by G. D. Falksen |
10/31: “Thanks To All At Once, and To Each One” by Management Services |

Giveaways

Finally, lest you think we’ve just caught on to this whole steampunk craze, here are some highlights from Tor.com’s existing steampunk coverage:

Happy Steampunk Month! Keep it brassy.
Liz Gorinsky is an editor at Tor Books. She is spending way too much time these days attempting to fine-tune her steampunk publisher costume before Steamcon.
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