[“The Revolution Will Not Be Telegraphed” image by David Malki. You can buy the shirt here!]
Steampunk is here to stay. There’s no doubt about it. But as much as I am glad to see my favorite genre of speculative fiction get its due, I am a little disheartened by the lack of something present in today’s incarnation of the genre.
When I look back at the literature that got me interested in this style in the first place, I think of the classics such as Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Robur the Conqueror, Paris in the 20th Century, Around the World in 80 Days. Or Wells and his classics The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and War of the Worlds.