So, this is one of those best of lists that is strangely particular. However, it is possible that you are also looking for a list like this one. Perhaps you, too, are suddenly curious about steampunk. A sort of mashup of fantasy and science fiction (though really science fiction), it’s not the world’s largest subgenre, but it is out there and I all of a sudden want to read more of it. Okay, any of it.
For me, it began as a conversation with my son. It was a fun conversation, where we talked about what steampunk is (a parallel universe where humanity sorta stayed in Victorian times and did not change to the modern age or modern technology and definitely not computers, usually historical fiction and using steam-powered engines) and then we wondered about different ways this subgenre could be taken, or what other subgenres could have arisen (or are yet to arise) from this same grain of an idea: what if technology (and to an extent, culture) had stalled in a certain era but advanced within itself? I was intrigued, starry-eyed with wonder and daydreams. Plus, I was like, steampunk is fun as a style, a fashion, and perhaps after I create my next four, planned cosplay outfits, I should go the ol’ steampunk way. And, inevitably for me, I felt an itch in my brain to make a steampunk book list.
In the end, I think this list will be helpful. Why? Well, the thing is, I have spent some time during the past couple years planning out a fan fiction series based on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There are many pieces there. However, I have been conflicted on writing this as fan fic because, even though I am a huge fan and I love to immerse myself in this world, I am also a working writing. So, money. I can not make money off of HP fan fic (though Rowling generously (I think) lets you publish it on certain platforms). I have been wondering, for a while, if there was a different world in which I could set my story. Nothing seemed even remotely doable, until this. Steampunk. I will have to do some more thinking and research (and reading, duh), but I really think that the story, the plot, and the characters I have (with some modifications) could be transferred to and written in a steampunk universe instead of magic. I am intrigued. And I will have this list here when I am ready to tackle a new series.
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
The Scar, China Mieville
Iron Council, China Mieville
The Fall of Babel, Josiah Bancroft
The Aylseford Skull, James P. Blaylock
Fever Crumb, Philip Reeve
The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
Ack-Ack Macaque, Gareth L. Powell
The Hod King, Josiah Bancroft
Godsgrave, Jay Kristoff
The Difference Engine, Gibson and Sterling
Captain Nemo, Kevin J. Anderson
In Dark Service, Stephen Hunt
Larklight, Philip Reeve
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest
Soulless, Gail Carriger
Leviathan, Scott Westerfield
Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare
The Diamond Age, Neil Stephenson
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
Lady of Devices, Shelly Adina
The Greyfriar, The Griffiths
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore
The Affinity Bridge, George Mann
Airborn, Kenneth Oppel
The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia
The Half-Made World, Felix Gilman
Clockwork Heart, Dru Pagliosotti
Mainspring, Jay Lake
Phoenix Rising, Pip Ballentine
Dearly, Departed, Lia Habel
Airman, Eoin Colfer
Etiquette and Espionage, Gail Carriger
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
The Warlord of the Air, Michael Moorcock
The Time Machine, H. G. Wells
Morlock Night, K. W. Jeter
Queen Victoria’s Bomb, Ronald W. Clark
The Rose of Versailles, Ryoko Ikeda
Homunculus, James P. Baylock
Infernal Devices, K. W. Jeter
Gotham by Gaslight, Brian Augustyn
Anno Dracula, Kim Newman
Anti-Ice, Stephen Baxter
Naausica of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyasaki
Soulless, Gail Carriger
Wolrdshaker, Richard Harland
The Dream of Perpetual Motion, Dexter Palmer
The Bookman, Lavie Tidhar
Dreadnought, Cherie Priest
The Manual of Detection, Jedidiah Berry
Hour of the Wolf, Andrius Tapinas
The Aeronauts Windlass, Jim Butcher
The Emporer’s Edge, Lindsay Buroker
His Dark Materials, Philip Pulman
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznik
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia
Retribution Falls, Chris Wooding
Agatha H. and the Airship City, Kaja FoglioThe Iron Duke, Maljean Brook
Worldshaker, Richard Harland
Heart of Veridon, Tim Akers
The Steampunk Trilogy, Paul di Filippo
Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon
Storming, K. M. Weiland
Girl Genius Omnibus Volume One, Agatha Awakens
Blameless, Gail Carriger
Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynn Jones
The Little Ships, J. A. Sutherland
Changeless, Gail Carriger
Beneath London, James P. Blaylock
Cold Magic, Kate Elliott
The Clockwork Scarab, Colleen Gleason
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley *
Steampunk, Jeff Vandermeer
The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter
the starving artist 