The Fascination of Steampunk
This was originally posted on the 6th of August on Once Upon A Time for Clockwork Carnival
Have you ever wondered what Steampunk is exactly?

Steampunk is up and coming not only in the YA genre but all over the place. Since 2009 many great Steampunk series such as Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate novels (Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless), Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy (Leviathan, Behemoth, Goliath) and Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess) were published and since 2003 with the release of the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the film industry produced many Steampunky movies such as Van Helsing (2004), The Golden Compass (2007) and both Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (2009 and 2011 with a third film that should come out in 2015).
Everywhere you look Steampunk is a thing right now and everyone knows the term. Many can name certain books or movies that deal with this theme and almost everyone knows that Jules Verne’s works could be classified as Steampunk although he lived from 1828 to 1905.
In my family Steampunk is well known, not only because I read a lot and there are a fair amount of Steampunk novels on my shelves but also because my uncle and my cousin’s long-term girlfriend are huge Steampunk fans. Whenever I see my uncle we start talking about Steampunk and last year he decided to transform my aunt’s office into a Steampunky one. It matches their house perfectly and in June I finally had a chance to look at it and I have to tell you it is fabulous. My cousin’s girlfriend got Steampunk jewelry for Christmas and when I was talking to Hannah about her Clockwork Carnival I immediately had an idea for a blog post.

Here are their answers:
My uncle, who is so not a reader at all, told me that he is fascinated by the huge variety of things that can be seen as Steampunk. The small machines that consist of so many components and are all built with love and devotion, the different takes on Steampunk films, that Jules Verne experimented with this genre over a hundred years ago and that he is seen as the “Godfather of Steampunk”.
My cousin’s girlfriend sees Steampunk as something special and unique. For her those little hidden gems of Steampunk are those things that fascinates her the most. There are so many different ways of expressing your love of Steampunk and so many different people loving this genre.

experiencing Steampunk.
When I asked Hannah she wrote the following:
”Ooh good question.. Steampunk is unlike any genre out there. You find it as a setting for fantasy novels, a world in urban fantasy, and the stories in Science Fiction. It can be subtle and flamboyant and it is fascinating to see how different authors use it. However, it is also so much more. For many Steampunkians it is a culture and a way to express themselves. There are so many aspects to Steampunk and I love to explore them all.”

And with this wonderful declaration of love to Steampunk I will leave you now but not without asking you why you are fascinated with this genre and what is your number one book or film you can recommend me reading/watching?
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