The most recommended steampunk books

Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. A finishing school? Um, ye-ees. For spies. Spies? Uh-huh. On a dirigible. A—what? In a culture where vampires and werewolves are part of society. Wrapped in a huge steampunk bow. Etiquette and espionage. Curtsies and conspiracies. Waistcoats and weaponry. Manners and mutiny. What could possibly go wrong? (What can’t?) Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse is their entirely diabolically magical setting. Her writing is laugh-out-loud clever, witty as Noel Coward, deeply principled, and there are tons more. I started with the Alexia Tarabotti seven and read every single one. I’d do it again, too. Her heroines make my heart go pitter-pat. With glee.

How could I name such a list without going to Wonderland? This book is one of my favorite Alice in Wonderland adaptations.

The essence of Wonderland is this magical place where nothing makes sense, and everything is as it shouldn’t be. I love this book, though, because it talks about the technology of Wonderland. There are weapons and machines in this Wonderland, and when the two clash, all hell breaks loose.

Steampunk, in and of itself, lends itself well to the merging of magic and technology because the technology we are talking about is powered by a completely different source of energy than we are used to.

Two fantastic cities are even better than one.

At the center of the story is Spearpoint, the tallest skyscraping megabuilding that you could imagine. It is so enormous that it is divided into segments from bottom to top with different levels of technology (Horsetown and Steamville at the bottom, cybertowns, and then the fantastic Celestial Levels at the top). But wait, there’s more.

Roaming the rest of the planet is the Swarm, hundreds of giant aircraft that function together as the neighborhoods of a “distributed city” much like the fleet in Battlestar Galactica. The very different cities do not play well together, and you get to choose which one you’d rather live in. I like flying, myself.

A serious Welcome To The Nightvale-styled western, Golgotha is like any other mining town… except full of writhing demonic worms desperate to possess you. So many legends and religions rub elbows in this saloon-heavy godforsaken place that it feels like any re-imagined version of a dark fantasy americana world, warts and all, is possible. Each character threatened to whisk me on a new journey. I mean, there’s a doctor who can keep severed heads alive? A boy with a mysterious green eye? An unkillable gunslinger sheriff? An angel running a casino? An assassin queen? What is even happening? But all this allowed my imagination to flourish. Instead of spelling out the reasoning for the clashing magic and lore, it reminded me why I love speculative fiction in the first place: the possibilities. 

Barron is undeniably a genius and proficient. Pick whichever book of his and it’ll blow you away. With a superior command of language and an impressive understanding of what frightens us, the author pulls no punches and peels back the layers to reveal the vileness that prowls in the dark.

Most fantasies are set in a quasi-medieval landscape, but Hunt has chosen a deliciously different canvas: the Wild West. His hero is Ross, the estranged son of a famous fantasy author. When dear old dad is murdered, Ross grudgingly attends the funeral organized by the fantasy geeks and role-playing nerds who loved the old man's books. That much, he can handle. But being told that the fantastical world described in those books is real? No way! That disbelief is shattered, though, when Ross himself crosses over and is quickly drawn into the hunt for his father's killer in a nightmare world of gunslingers and monsters where the rules make no sense.

And to make matters worse: he hasn't read the books.

This is about a mathematics prodigy in a steampunk version of 19th century China, who wants to study at the Imperial Academy in Peking….except that she’s a young woman and not allowed to enroll in the all-male academy. Needless to say, this does not stop Anlei, who disguises herself as a man, scores top marks on the exam, and falls in love with one of her fellow students at the same time. Brilliantly lush writing, inventive world-building, and a mathematical romance to make my nerdy heart sing.

Mia Corvere – the protagonist of the Nevernight Chronicles – and her offsider Ashlinn Jarnheim are very close to being my absolute favourite female protagonists of all time. I adore their partnership, and I enjoy how ruthless and practical both of them can be—while also caring very much about those they love.

Mia wants revenge for the execution of her father when she was a small child, she trains under a mysterious mentor throughout her childhood so that she can attend a violent assassin school. There, she intends to learn everything she needs to be good enough to take down her father’s killers. Of course, it’s not quite as easy as all that, but Mia’s journey is a twisty, interesting, complex one that will leave you compulsively turning pages. This is a dark, moody, and sometimes gruesome read. If you prefer your fantasy a little lighter, be warned before starting… show more.

For me, cycling has meant freedom. This book celebrates the bicycle as a tool for women’s emancipation. Microcosm Publishing has a strong track record (pun intended) in celebrating feminism, cycling, and the intersection of the two, and this is a particularly good example.

Set in a universe that seems to be just a jump away from our own, about a century and a half ago, it’s insightful on matters of class and wealth, too. I particularly enjoyed all the little details of fashion. I found myself rooting hard for the heroine in her struggle to ride a bike, not just competitively, but at all. And I was charmed by a love story I wasn’t expecting.

This one had me laughing out loud just as much as swooning over the lovely story of Caroline and her transformation once her husband dumps her in the home where ‘difficult’ women are put when they cause too much trouble for those husbands. There are elements of steampunk, social commentary, twisted humor, and a cast of secondary characters that are as varied as they are interesting. The setting, while bleak to begin with, grows on you as you read, and once all the twists and turns finally click into place, it’s a romp of a ride to the end.