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There have been a huge amount of steampunk releases in recent years, but it seems to me that there are quite a few mediocre books among them. I'd love to hear people's recommendations for really GOOD steampunk!

The Difference Engine (which I always think of as being by Bruce Sterling, not Gibson, as it's steampunk, not cyber-).

Railsea

Many of the other books I think are steampunkish are not really steampunk � they're just SF that doesn't rely on high-tech (Anathem, Angelmaker, for instance).

Ruby wrote: "There have been a huge amount of steampunk releases in recent years, but it seems to me that there are quite a few mediocre books among them. I'd love to hear people's recommendations for really GO..."

My thoughts also. This is why I haven't explored this genre yet. I'll be following this thread!

I haven't read that much steampunk, but I have enjoyed a couple. Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series (starts with Soulless -- my review here) is fun, light brain candy, though it can veer into a little too much romance for me sometimes.

I also really liked The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, which I thought was a unique take on the genre and had a fun time-travel twist (review here). It's actually the first book in a trilogy but I haven't picked up the others yet.

Derek wrote: "The Difference Engine (which I always think of as being by Bruce Sterling, not Gibson, as it's steampunk, not cyber-).

Railsea

Many of the other books I think are steampunkish are not really stea..."

I've been meaning to read The Difference Engine for ages. That and The Anubis Gates are the two books I always see listed as the first/definining steampunk books, but I haven't read either of them so I can't really say myself.

I'd second Soulless. It's a lot of fun, if a bit silly.

I've also enjoyed the Matt Cruse books by Kenneth Oppel starting with Airborn, which reads like a classic high seas adventure only on an airship.

Riona wrote: "That and The Anubis Gates are the two books I always see listed as the first/definining steampunk books,"

Really? I think I have a copy of The Anubis Gates, but I read it before I had ever heard of steampunk, so can't say I ever put it in the category. Now I have to go and look on the shelf...

I do like the Oppel books. But I was deliberately refusing to mention them because, like far too much Steampunk, they're Young Adult. I actually read quite a lot of YA, but I didn't want to encourage people to suggest YA steampunk, because _I'm_ looking for more mature stuff :-)

Derek wrote: "I do like the Oppel books. But I was deliberately refusing to mention them because, like far too much Steampunk, they're Young Adult. I actually read quite a lot of YA, but I didn't want to encourage people to suggest YA steampunk, because _I'm_ looking for more mature stuff :-)"

Yeah, I know, but I think that Airborn, while being YA, doesn't fall into a lot of the trappings of most YA. To me it reads like a classic adventure story, like something Robert Louis Stevenson might have written in an alternative steampunk universe. So forgive me this one series, please! And just for the record, Railsea is YA as well. ;)

Well, there's Agatha Heterodyne, whether you start with the graphic novels (Girl Genius Omnibus Volume One: Agatha Awakens) or the novel version (Agatha H and the Airship City), though the authors themselves think "gaslight romance" might be a better term.

Devon Monk's Dead Iron
Richard Ellis Preston Jr.'s Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders

For really odd-ball recommendations -- Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest does indeed have anachronistic steam technology.

Mary wrote: "For really odd-ball recommendations -- Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest does indeed have anachronistic steam technology. .."
I had the first book of that series TBR'd when we were doing the treasure hunt challenge. I thought it might be a good one to read for the category: "chaos" in the title.

I like the term, "gaslight romance" too.

Think "chivalric romance" not "Harlequin", BTW.

Ruby [Reviles Censorship] wrote: "I had the first book of that series TBR'd when we were doing the treasure hunt challenge. I thought it might be a good one to read for the category: "chaos" in the title."

That is a series in the loosest possible sense of the term. Operation Chaos is not steampunk however you stretch the term. Wonderful book, though. Like A Midsummer Tempest.