Do you prefer your Steampunk Fantasy or SF

millymollymo · Apr 18, 2013

As SF relies on the Tech, and Fantasy goes with the Magic,
which style do you prefer. Which do you write?
Or are you a "All Steampunk belongs in Fantasy." sort?

(Punk prefix alterable of course. Steam, Diesel, Cyber, etc)

victoriakmartin · Apr 18, 2013

I've always viewed steampunk as being closer to scifi than fantasy, though certainly I don't feel like it has to be. But given that steampunk relies on technology as well, that relationship just seems a bit stronger.

Brightdreamer · Apr 18, 2013

As a reader, I prefer whichever gives me a good read. I like the shiny-object ideas of sci-fi-leaning steampunk every bit as much as the exotic spice of magic in fantasy-leaning steampunk. Give me a good enough plot to go with it, and I'll swallow just about any flavor of story you care to slop onto my plate.

As a writer, while I haven't written fill-in-the-subgenre-punk myself (yet), I lean more towards fantasy. Because I'm an imbecile when it comes to machinery more complicated than a tin can telephone, and I'm sure it would show if I attempted to create a whole mechanical universe.

Liosse de Velishaf · Apr 18, 2013

Whichever the authors does a good job of.

AshleyEpidemic · Apr 18, 2013

The steampunk story I'm editing is certainly fantasy. I think I depends on the story though.

rmkrisby · Apr 18, 2013

This is one of the reasons I have really fallen in love with steampunk. Growing up, I loved Fantasy. Went through my discovering Sci-Fi "nerd" phase, and have since found myself loving both. Steampunk, I feel, perfectly brings them in harmony. I can fill myself in the joy of technology and sci-fi goodness, and have the thrill and mystery of magic and other fantasy elements. Both fantastical in their own rights of course. Sometimes it leans a little more one way or the other, but if it's well written Steampunk is simply great.

Not sure if that even answered the question.

Pthom · Apr 18, 2013

For me, Steam Punk demands an application of technology (SF) that was never used when that technology was extant in our world (Fantasy). Steam-driven difference engines, steam-powered lighter-than-air craft, clockwork toasters, and so on, set in a time that is our past, is pure fantasy. But the way the technology is applied can be very SF indeed.

I'm with those who say: "It depends on whether the story is well written, with compelling characters, and an enthralling plot." Of course, that pretty much applies to any story written in any genre. Just because there aren't tentacle-waving aliens eating up the crew of an interstellar delivery truck, or vampires beating up gargoyles, or faeries riding in the baggage compartment, doesn't diminish my enjoyment. Actually, I pretty much dislike any of those tropes, so pure Victorian age Steam Punk works for me, regardless where it's shelved.

maxtt · Apr 18, 2013

Love em both, as long as it's written well.

sunandshadow · Apr 19, 2013

I prefer the fantasy side. I adore floating sailing ships and floating cities and islands in space with air conveniently between them, and magic mechas and crystal 'technology' that looks like something the elves in WoW would have, or something from Stargate like the Egyptian animal helmets. I'm not very keen on clockwork and actual steam engines. Here's a concept art I drew for a steampunk setting once:
http://home.comcast.net/~wickeddelite/flatearthisland.jpg

But as far as various punks go, I like biopunk more than steampunk. My favorite kinds of settings probably don't qualify as any variety of punk: an alien culture with magic at one of three technology levels: tribal, regency/clan scotland, or star trek.

Urnathok · Apr 19, 2013

I'm never quite sure what to do with steampunk, because it is more often than not married to the theme of Victorian England without a single chance for divorce, and I'm not wholly sold on that particular nook of the world and time.

That said, I might take a look at a steampunk piece set in the Indian Raj.

AshleyEpidemic · Apr 19, 2013

Urnathok said:
I'm never quite sure what to do with steampunk, because it is more often than not married to the theme of Victorian England without a single chance for divorce, and I'm not wholly sold on that particular nook of the world and time.

That said, I might take a look at a steampunk piece set in the Indian Raj.

I'm not a fan of steampunk of the Victorian era either.

Xagarath · Apr 20, 2013

I actually prefer a historical approach: If you're going to do Victorian England, why pass up the chance to look at the social themes of the time along with your steampunk? It's the most interesting thing about the century anyway.

millymollymo · Apr 20, 2013

Interesting. - And yes, I agree, Steampunk doesn't 'just' belong to Victorian England, and the social complexities there. I like that I am not alone in that.

Thank you people!

pcw27 · Apr 20, 2013

I think a Victorian style Steampunk setting is a perfect place for magic and science to collide.

Just as the story can feature technology utilized in a different manner and scale it can feature now discredited sciences like Parapsychology as legitimate fields of study.

Urnathok said:
I'm never quite sure what to do with steampunk, because it is more often than not married to the theme of Victorian England without a single chance for divorce, and I'm not wholly sold on that particular nook of the world and time.

That said, I might take a look at a steampunk piece set in the Indian Raj.

I once created a DnD campaign which had a mixture of renaissance and steampunk technology. There were a variety of cultures which used steam power to different degrees. This included several Hellenistic states, including one based on Plato's ideal state, a huge Empire based on Persian and Arabian cultures, and a country which made all its political decisions using a giant clockwork difference engine.

Steam Punk Wild West is growing in popularity.

sarahdalton · Apr 20, 2013

I just can't get into steampunk, I just don't know why. I love books set in Victorian Englad and I love SF/F. I like the creative ideas and the machines... It's just the literature leaves me cold...

But I did quite like Scott Westerfeld's Ya series with the Darwinians and their big floating whale, that was cool. Still, I only read the first in the series, which is odd because I usually really like his books.

Introversion · Apr 21, 2013

I read all of Westerfeld's steampunk trilogy. I don't prefer steampunk as a genre, but if it's well-written and consistent, I enjoy it as much as any other. I thought the Westerfeld trilogy became a bit of a Godzilla movie by the end, but it certainly kept my interest, and I thought the characters were consistent throughout. The "biopunk" aspects of the Darwinians' technology was a nice spin on things.

I do most prefer SF, which is probably why I'm writing SF now. Personally, I wish there were more SF in the vein of Iain M. Banks' "Culture" series; set far in the future, with some good speculation about the effects of advanced technology on societies.

I suppose when I'm reading any genre, what I want most is to be transported into another world. If it's Japanese historical samurai, or Victorian England, or post-Apocalyptic zombie-infested North America, or a million years hence with galaxy-spanning societies, I don't really care so much exactly what it's "about". I want to go somewhere new, or at least somewhere not mundane that I've seen many times before.

Laer Carroll · Apr 21, 2013

I have to agree with several others in this thread who said it doesn't matter to me whether a steampunk book is fantasy, SF, or some combination.

What does matter to me is how likable (or at least interesting) the people are. How interesting are the events and how the writer plots them out. And if the style is enjoyable. (Not necessarily very atmospheric, or journalistic, or whatever, but engaging in some way.)

rwm4768 · Apr 21, 2013

I don't really care whether it's fantasy or science fiction. I just think airships are cool.

Laer Carroll · Apr 22, 2013

rwm4768 said:
I don't really care whether it's fantasy or science fiction. I just think airships are cool.

Hah! Me too. Except to may taste they're being over-used.

So in the last book in my trilogy, Shapechanger's Destiny, I do something about it. I have a company that creates military biplanes. And my heroine flies one and blasts a hi-jacked airship out of the sky, leaving a huge burning ball of hydrogen visible for a hundred miles around.

Die, zep, die!

MeanMachine · May 2, 2013

rwm4768 said:
I don't really care whether it's fantasy or science fiction. I just think airships are cool.

As good a reason as any to read a story, I guess. One of the guys I went to High School with devoured (literary speaking) a ton of D&D novels on the basis that dragons are "bloody awsome!".

I also think Airships are damn cool, but I personally have a soft spot for the "Magically Floating" kind, like in Final Fantasy 12, Escaflowne, or even Last Exile, to an extent.

So yeah, I tend to lean more towards the Fantasy kind of Steampunk. Nothing wrong with some magic thrown in there, if you ask me. I'm currently brainstorming an old story idea that has magitech/steampunk/dieselpunk hybid setting.

Amongst other thigns, I'm trying to hammer out the details on how the people deal with the fact that the power source for the magitech is the same stuff that the mages draw their power from.

Dagrami · May 2, 2013

I always thought steampunk was more sf, and gaslamp fantasy was its magical equivalent. But that's probably me getting bogged down in obscure subgenres :tongue

I love the idea of the steampunk, but I'm yet to really enjoy a book in the genre... To be fair, I haven't really tried many. Wasn't a fan of Scott Westerfeld's series. But I did enjoy the HG Wells classics, if you count them as steampunk.

NinjaFingers · May 2, 2013

Steampunk is steampunk.

It can be either.

It can be both.

I consider it as a separate genre, not a subgenre, simply because it so often weds the two.

JustSarah · May 2, 2013

I prefer it a little bit of both. One of my favorite JRPG's is actually a steampunk fantasy.

veinglory · May 2, 2013

I have always assumed all steampunk is sci fi, it is speculative and sometimes highly implausible but it is still somewhere between speculative technology and alternative history--both of which are generally considered sci fi.

WriterTrek · May 2, 2013

I prefer Fantasy, and personally Steampunk doesn't make me think Fantasy or SciFi -- it's just its own version of speculative fiction to me. Now if you combine it with magic or advanced tech of some kind then I'll associate it with Fantasy or SciFi, but it's not an automatic thing.

I tend to associate Cyberpunk with SciFi even when its not technically SciFi.

Do you prefer your Steampunk Fantasy or SF

millymollymo

victoriakmartin

Brightdreamer

Benign Lurker, Doomed Lardlump

Liosse de Velishaf

AshleyEpidemic

Did you see my bag?

rmkrisby

Party & Write til I Die

Pthom

Word butcher

maxtt

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Urnathok

Boojum Tamer

AshleyEpidemic

Did you see my bag?

Xagarath

millymollymo

pcw27

sarahdalton

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer

MeanMachine

Newbie; Hangin' around.

Dagrami

stuck in the middle

NinjaFingers

JustSarah

veinglory

volitare nequeo

WriterTrek