Who Put the "Punk" in Steampunk? The Roots and Evolution of Steampunk

Has steampunk lost its edge? What began as a kind of protest against the constraints and conventions of Victorian and Golden Age science fiction has evolved into a wide-ranging category that's difficult to define. Is it a discrete literary genre? Is it an ideology? Is it a counterculture movement? Or is it simply an aesthetic or style?
In this video, I discuss the origins of steampunk and how it has morphed and adapted throughout its history.
1:11 What Is Steampunk?
3:21 Steampunk as a Protest Movement
7:45 Cautionary SF Becomes the Exception
10:35 Early Steampunk Rebels
12:20 Mervyn Peake
13:24 Keith Laumer
14:46 Keith Roberts
17:24 Ronald Clark
19:06 Jack Finney
20:06 Michael Moorcock
26:07 Japan's Steampunk Tradition
28:40 Cyberpunk Influences
31:48 Has Steampunk Lost Its Edge?
34:12 Or Is Steampunk Inherently Transgressive?
Links to some of my other videos about SFF history:
A History of Gnome Press - • Modern Science Fiction...
A History of Arkham House - • Arkham House: The Grea...
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series - • The Ballantine Adult F...
A Tribute to Lord Dunsany - • The 20th Century Renai...
A History of Science Fiction Anthologies - • Why Short Story Anthol...
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Library ladder merchandise is available at thelibraryladder.creator-spri...
I also have a Ko-Fi.com page if you enjoy my videos and would like to buy me a cup of coffee: ko-fi.com/thelibraryladder
Art Credits:
Giovani
Didier Graffet
Rodney Matthews
Mike Savad
Sheer Madness
Varvara Snegiriov
Stijn Windig
#steampunk #scifi #sfalliance #fantasy #booktubesff #booktube

[@thelibraryladder]

Due to other commitments, I've neglected the care and feeding of my channel lately. I'm _very_ happy to get back to uploading content. There's plenty more to come. Thanks for your patience, everyone!

[@wileyschmitt]

We're very lucky to have you and your videos :) Thank you!

[@valdavis5361]

Yes, thank you, and for this subject as well!

[@lewispaulmarrow]

So glad to have you back mate!

[@MichaelRSchultheiss]

Glad to see you back!

[@dana7340]

I love your channel and have been dutifully checking back every week. So glad to see you again! 📚✌🏼

[@keithhealing1115]

At a Steampunk event a couple of years ago I witnessed a little old lady approach a huge, fully-bedecked Steampunk and ask "so, what is Steampunk?" He leant forward, looked around conspiratorially, and said, "As far as I can tell, it is an excuse for adults to dress up and be very nice to each other."

[@thelibraryladder]

That's hilarious! Thanks for sharing it! :D

[@roryobrien6655]

How does this man manage to stay in the intro voice and music the whole way through 30mins and make it so good?

[@eazypeazy33]

It’s like a 30 sec clip for 30 min Just going! Going! He must produce a lot of shows for discovery ID

[@paulcooper3611]

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling was my first introduction to Steampunk. One of the unremembered side effects of the novel was bringing Lady Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, to the attention of the public. She was a mathematician and champion of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine and is quite possibly the first computer programmer. She certainly is in the book. So, when the government decided in the 1990s that they needed a unified computer language that all government code would be written in, they naturally named it Ada in her honor. I remember, when I was working for a NASA contractor, being sent to a course on the language, since all of NASA's code was to be written in it in the future. Alas, Ada was supposed to be all things to all people and, therefore, was nothing to anybody. It still exists, but you don't see any adds for Ada programmers. It sounds very much like the plot of a Steampunk novel. Lady Ada deserved better. The book was fun, though.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing that NASA anecdote! I was aware of the existence of the Ada language, but I didn't know of its origins.

[@paulcooper3611]

In the late 80s/Early 90s the government realized that they had millions of lines of code running all their computer systems, written in P/LC ladder code, to C, to FORTRAN, to Pascal, to COBAL. All this code had to be maintained, which meant that they had to hire programmers familiar with all these languages to maintain and upgrade the code. Hence, the decision to implement the Ada language, which was supposed to cover everything from real-time low level machine code to database management of relational databases. And it was designed by a committee of specialists in each area, without even a base set of code to build upon. And, it was supposed to be Object Oriented, which was the big thing at the time. A language designed by people working for the government - what could go wrong? @@thelibraryladder

[@ilFanEditore]

So good to have the most relaxing and interesting book-related channel back!

[@thelibraryladder]

It feels very good to be back!

[@rickkearn7100]

Loved that antithesis-type comparison of intellectuals of the Victorian era being revered for their speaking prowess vs current era manufactured celebrities famous only for their ability to attract attention. Priceless, and quintessential TLL. I'm relieved you posted again, I was beginning to think the worst! Great subject to expound on. Cheers.

[@bpblitz]

Oh there were plenty of the "attention getters," too.

[@jerrycornelius2261]

​@@bpblitz HARLAN ELLISON was a great reader of his own work as is Moorcock. Look on YT for some examples Though it's a poor example of the tour itself (FREDDIE EARLLE was distracted by too many cameras) but it is an example of how carefully MM worked out the whole thing to show how the narrrator was an anti-semite but not the author. I saw the Leeds performance and both MOORCOCK and EARLLE were brilliant. The third book in the _Pyat set THE LAUGH9TER OO0F CARTHAGE. Solved the idea of MM being antusemitic since FE was a perfect Pyat.nMM could read gentle short stories and rich fantasy fiction and do characters as can also be seen on YT.

[@blackraptor311]

I have always pictured the city in Titus Alone in a futuristic Art Deco sort of world. That's just me.

[@thelibraryladder]

I've never had a clear picture in my mind of that city. I don't know if it's an older city with a stable core of buildings going back hundreds of years (like many smaller cities in mid-20th century Europe) or if it's a relatively young city that's seen a lot of modern development (which would be consistent with your art deco imagining of it).

[@MoeOuan666]

Just a small message from Europe to congratulate you for your channel, and encourage you to keep the great work. Your content is very interesting and well presented, and your soothing tone is both original and very easy to understand for a native french speaker who sometimes struggle with some accents (Hollywood movies, I look at you 😂). Thanks for the content you create 👍

[@thelibraryladder]

Merci! Vous êtes très gentille. (My written French accent is better than my spoken one. It has been more than 30 years since I last had much practice speaking it.)

[@phillipcarson2544]

So glad to have you back! Been missing these new videos!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I've been missing them as well.

[@Exnem]

Love your stuff, I know it's only been 2 months but I am looking forward to your next video. 😄

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm working on it (it's another long and wide-ranging one, which multiplies the amount of work involved). I'm frustrated that I haven't been able to finish it yet. A combination of larger than expected work obligations, unexpected family matters, and unfortunately-timed travel has made it hard for me to find significant blocks of time to devote to it. I'll have it finished this month, though.

[@MonkeyBars1]

Absolutely love your roundup of the genre, thanks!

[@samuelleask1132]

Your videos are always such a joy to watch. Thanks for all the work you do!

[@TheWaggishAmerican]

Wonderful to see a new video!

[@andreasboe4509]

A great essay as usual, but I believe the background music loop did something abominable with my brain. Looking forward to the next one. I can warmly recomment the Japanese animated movie "Steamboy".

[@pattheplanter]

Steamboy was great fun, as far as I remember. Apparently it came out almost 20 years ago. It was a surprise to see Manchester depicted, in an idealised, less slummy form.

[@waldo8791]

I thought the other day that I may have forgotten to subscribe because I haven’t gotten anything in my notifications but thankfully I had. Happy to see you uploaded

[@jakecarlstad6192]

Return of the king!! Love your videos. I have had A Nomad of the Time Streams on my shelf for a while now that I am hoping to read soon.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm very happy to be back!

[@curtjarrell9710]

Bridger, thanks so much for this vid. One of my favorite books from my early school days was The 21 Balloons. It tickles me to see it included here on this list of young reader steampunk. Thanks for all you do to bring attention to all kinds of books.

[@thelibraryladder]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I don't talk about children's books as much as I'd like to, so I love finding ways to squeeze classic kid books into my videos.

[@secretsauceofstorycraft]

What a wonderful resource ans video essay! I enjoyed all the info and the fantastic editing elements… thank you for all your intriguing video ideas.. keep em coming!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Whitney! This video followed a tortuous path to get made. It started out simply as the next installment in my overview of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion saga, but as I worked on it I found myself discussing the historical significance of the Oswald Bastable trilogy more than the books themselves, so I decided to broaden the video's scope to provide more historical context about the evolution of steampunk.

[@vdpfamily512]

I'm so glad you're back, I've been looking forward to it so much. I hope you can continue with the channel and know that I always support you 😊🎉

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! It feels great to be back!

[@LiamsLyceum]

Look at that young Michael Moorcock photo!

[@thelibraryladder]

It's not easy finding an early photo of the man. :)

[@sandyhausler5290]

Glad to have you back. It seems like I’ve been waiting for years for a new video!

[@thelibraryladder]

You and me both!

[@kristinmarra7005]

Thanks for this. Glad you’re back.

[@TheQuantumOxymoron]

Beautifully explained, magical! Thank You!

[@amalathisdreaming]

So glad to see you back!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I've been away a while, and it feels great to get back to work making videos.

[@harrysumption430]

Just wanted to say this is an amazing video. Your work beautifully walks, the line between high production value and rigourous research all while bombarding the view with fantastic future reads.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I had so much fun making this video. KZbin is a visual medium, so one of my favorite aspects of making videos is trying to match the visuals in them with the story I'm telling in the narrative portion.

[@kimboosan]

Another wonderful deep dive which has given me so many more "TBR" books to my (sadly extensive) TBR pile! Thank you so much! You taught me a lot about a subject I thought I knew something about. ;)

[@thelibraryladder]

You're so welcome! I learn new things every time I make a video.

[@GarlandCoulson]

Great deep dive into the origins of Steampunk. I loved the vintage book covers you showed.

[@nyarparablepsis872]

What a wonderful video! I rarely learn so much in such a relaxing way. 👌 Thank you. It's good to hear you again.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

[@Edog1337]

Thanks for high quality content. Always learn something, and you make videos that will last for years. If you want to make a monthly TBR list like everyone else, I'd watch that too, lol. Also wondering if the green on your clothbound Twenty Thousand Leagues is authentic arsenic-based dye.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the kind words (and for your concern for my health)! :D I've never had the cloth tested, and it's certainly the right color for copper arsenic compounds, but according to the University of Chicago, it's unlikely to be arsenic-based (most green books from that era didn't use the chemical, although some did). It's one of the rarest books I own, so I don't handle it much (and I definitely don't spend much time licking it, which is what UC says poses the greatest hazard).

[@chucklitka2503]

Thanks for this wonderfully entertaining and informative video. I really appreciate all the work you put into it to provide the historical background for the genre.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed it. One of the main goals of my channel is to provide more background and context for the evolution of various genres.

[@samhoward8573]

Love this channel!! It is so good! Every video is a masterpiece and keeps my attention throughout. I've added so many books to my reading list because of this channel!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy them and that you find my reading suggestions helpful.

[@wanderingpoet9999]

A truly fascinating in-depth exploration about a subject I knew nothing about, thanks so much 🤠

[@fightronin3753]

Outstanding and well made video!!!!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun making it.

[@sgriffin9960]

Wow! This is one of the most satisfying videos I’ve ever seen on BookTube! Well done! Thank you for visiting steampunk, one of my favorite aesthetics.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

[@thewatchfemme4051]

I was so happy to see you had uploaded, Bridger! I always love your videos and usually watch with my eBay app open. Really looking forward to your Tim Powers video, thanks!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I had to put the channel on the back burner for a couple of months, and it feels great to be back.

[@AStrang3r]

Thanks for another great video! As usual, it was really informative, opening up new avenues of reading joy. Timely too, as I had recently picked up Cherie Priest's Boneshaker and wanted to understand more about the genre. I also picked up Jeff Vandermeer's Steampunk anthologies. Now lots more books to source now :-)

[@Fia-kz6sf]

I was waiting for your next video 😢. Thankfully your looking healthy and well. Another fantastic video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you for your concern! I'm doing fine. I've just had a lot going in recent months that limited my ability to work on new videos (they're time-intensive to produce). I'll be getting back to more frequent video uploads soon. :)

[@Henri79]

Thank you, this was very interesting and educational. I cannot wait for your video on Tim Powers. He deserves so much more recognition. Really looking forward to your take on his works.

[@pattheplanter]

Apparently I have forgotten to look for his books since 2016. Off to to the bookshop on Monday.

[@_kmCarter]

I love, love, loooove your channel! 💕 So glad to see another video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I loooove your comment and enthusiasm for the channel. :D

[@jbrichardson8891]

Another excellent and informative video many thanks and many more to come I hope

[@oxhine]

Hey, Bridger! I've been waiting for this one! This was an extraordinary essay! The research that goes into these boggles my mind. I was hooked from the moment you deconstructed steampunk into four basic tenets each with their own sub-categories right at the outset. I never knew about Babbage's Difference Engine! That was fascinating. I had always thought that computers started with Alan Turing. I was aware of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells being proto-steampunk but I had never known about any of the other literary forerunners to Moorcock like Laumer's "Imperium", Robert's "Pavane" and Clark's "Queen Victoria's Bomb"! I also was shocked to learn that it was Ian Fleming who wrote "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"! Lol. As thorough as you were, I wanted even more depth into Moorcock's Oswald Bastable books because that was the main event for me! I was hoping for more plot breakdowns of the next two books in the trilogy like you did with the Von Bek, John Daker and Dorian Hawkmoon Cycles. The first half of the Elric Cycle is up next! I'm looking forward to it. The current incarnation of Hammer Studios was considering optioning one of the books you featured called "Boneshaker" for film adaptation but the project fell through apparently. It was a zombie-steampunk mash-up. I was thrilled that you included Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"! "When Goths discover the color brown." I'll never forget that! Lol. I said it before and I'll say it again: this channel should be featured on PBS! You're like a fusion of David Hartman of "Good Morning America" and Alistair Cooke of "Masterpiece Theater". Please insure those velvety pipes.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm sorry I didn't go into much depth about Oswald Bastable. This video started out focused entirely on the Bastable trilogy, but as I worked on it, I found myself wanting to talk about Moorcock's significance to the development of steampunk, which led me to talk about other early influences on steampunk, which led me to reconsider my overall approach to the video and to give it a different framing and hook. I ended up scaling back my discussion of Moorcock in order to provide more balance with other parts of the video. The first part of Elric's story is up next in my Eternal Champion series. I'm going to try to get to it by late winter/early spring.

[@personmcpersonperson2893]

Fantastic video 🥰

[@MargaretPinard]

What a brilliant video!! 😊

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun making it.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

Fantastic video! Now I have a ton of books to search for at my local used bookstore.

[@nichoudha]

Great video, just finished watching it. Very informative. I was wracking my brain trying to understand the essence of the genre. Thank you!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm so glad you found it helpful.

[@user-tr3kz3sg3h]

I was thinking about this subject for months, thank God for your existence

[@studiophantomanimation]

I think "re-imagining the past" sums it up best for me

[@rasmus7493]

I just looked at your channel waiting for this video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Great timing! I hope you enjoyed the video.

[@demilembias2527]

amazing video, I learned so much! you have a broad historical perspective on literature that few others on this platform can hope to match. I also really appreciate that you acknowledged the history of Japanese steampunk, even if you didnt go into great detail, because of how thoroughly early industrial motifs tend to have been integrated into the default fantasy tropes of that country. so many media critics and historians, especially those who mostly focus on anglophone novels, seem to think the world of modern popular art is just the US and Europe, completely ignoring some of the richest media-producing cultures on the planet. you're so cool :)

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you for your very kind words! I'm not as knowledgeable about Japanese and other Asian literary traditions as I'd like to be, but I'm trying to remedy that. The histories of the various genres fascinates me.

[@user-ss3sz7lv5b]

Ohhh nice looking channel. The combination of function and hand crafted beauty is a good point that I think often goes understated.

[@ogremark5]

Anything to boost the profile of Mr. Michael Moorcock. So much of modern gamer culture, Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, video games, etc. is based directly or indirectly on his work and yet he's hardly read by those gamers.

[@BookishChas]

Wow Bridger this was an excellent video! Makes me want to check out the Warlord of the Time Streams. I hadn’t heard of it.

[@spunkyboyo]

Just bought the Pavane Ebook really looking forward to reading it!

[@VoodoChile89]

When you click a video on your frontpage, listen for a minute, look at the titles of other videos of the channel and you realize you just found an absolute treasure of YT-Channel. Thank you!!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks and welcome aboard!

[@funpolice4416]

Glad to you see you and your exceptionally cozy channel back, I had my cup of coffee ready. Thank you for the great video, I will most certainly be checking out Warlord of the Air, it seems like a lot of fun. I'm a little younger than most viewers I would think, but my intro to the steam/dieselpunk genre was the YA Mortal Engines series back in junior high, along with a visit to USS Texas of all things. Late era WW1 dreadnought battleships are some of the most IRL steampunk feeling things ever built. I love China Miéville's Bas-lag, it certainly seems to have that social commentary, low-life, grimy Victorian feel to it. Not a book, but the role playing game Arcanum also has a similar kind of feel to it. Also, the brief mention of Peake and Titus alone, has got me wondering, is there going to eventually be a Gene Wolfe video?

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! It's great to be back. I gave Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines a brief callout in the children's book montage at the end of the video (in a blink and you'll miss it moment). It's hard to believe it's been more than 20 years since it was published (I remember all the fanfare and hype around it at the time -- it wasn't at a J.K. Rowling level, but it was still substantial). I'd give it a lot of credit for sparking the YA steampunk boom a few years later. Gene Wolfe is very much on my list of future videos. He's tentatively penciled in for sometime next year, if I can get back to a more regular video production schedule.

[@philbrowning2779]

This guy’s the Goat.🐐 loved the one on Gnome press. And all the lesser known deep cuts he sheds light on is always a bonus. Very good taste. Keep rocking 🤘🏼

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! My kids think I'm a sheep whenever I wear the fleece sweater I have on in this video. I'm greeted with a chorus of "Baaa!! Baaa!!" from them. :D

[@avantgardenovelist]

excellent work, as always, Bridger. your in-depth analyses and formidable command of the english language never disappoint. some unsolicited editing advice, though, if I may, from a place of respect for your work rather than ego: after cutting in for emphasis (which you do very well, many overuse it), maybe try fading back to the original distance rather than cutting again (e.g., 03:32-03-38; 13:52-13:55). that way only the first cut is emphasized, which is the point. minor point but since it occurred to me I thought I'd mention it. thank you for your wonderful channel.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion! I'm a complete amateur at video production and entirely self-taught, so I'm learning as I go along, experimenting with different techniques to tell stories in my videos and trying to improve with each one. I welcome ideas to improve my approach. :D

[@avantgardenovelist]

@@thelibraryladder thank you so much for taking it the way I intended. your production values are top-rate, imo. this is just one particular trick I think you might employ on occasion with positive results. thanks again for your exquisite channel.

[@jseger9000]

Hey! Welcome back!

[@nocturne3008]

Lovely video. It wonderful to hear about "Warlord of Air" and many of the early titles you mentioned. I found the video to be respectful yet still raised interesting critical questions about the subject.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you for your kind comment! I try to approach genre discussions in a circumspect way, recognizing that genres tend to have very fluid and subjective definitions that serve the needs of the persons defining them. They don't really fit within a binary, 'right-or-wrong' framework.

[@jerrycornelius2261]

@@thelibraryladder Worth noting that MM claims to be very well-versed in late Victorian and Edwardian literature -- I believe he gives 1895 as the 'birth' of the one volume novel -- Almayer's Folly, Time Machine etc -- and I suspect with full irony gives us two 3 volume novels as a demonstration! WARLORD/DANCERS. THE STEEL TSAR has an extra 20,000 words, by the way, written in Oxford in 1989,

[@AnotherBrownAjah]

OoooOoo one of my favorite and so hard to find sub genre. Can't wait to watch this

[@MHep-qy9yv]

Excited for your Tim Powers video! I have a one-of-a-kind copy of Declare I would love to show off to you, if I could share pictures that is! Always enjoying your content, thanks!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'd love to see it that copy of Declare. I participate in a few Discord servers (e.g., The Grimoire) that have dedicated channels for users to post their book collection shelfies.

[@anthonyvictor3034]

Looking forward to the Powers video. Loved Anubis Gates and Declare, the latter because of my fascination with the Cambridge Spies and history of the Cold War.

[@pe003]

Although it's not a book, oddly the legend of Kora is probably one of the better examples of modern steampunk, it begins to examine questions of law and social responsibility in Transitioning from a traditional to an industrial society, where the role of spiritually is in a post traditional society and what it means to be born powerless in a world dominated by the privilege of power and how technology shifts the balance of power but, because it is a kids cartoon, it never really develops the ideas to full fill a resolution

[@thelibraryladder]

I just conferred with my daughter, and she agrees with you. (I haven’t watched the show.) Thanks!

[@Morraak]

Yay! I've been missing these videos! Very insightful, I might have to pick up The Warlord of the Air! Just curious, but have you ever narrated any audiobooks? I think you'd be good at it!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I've missed making these videos. As to audiobooks, I've recorded a few classic short stories, some of which can be found in a playlist here on my channel. I might do more in the future.

[@samcostello2861]

I love the artwork that you include in your videos.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! It's always a challenge trying to find images that convey the tone or substance of what I'm saying in my videos. The words come first; the images get filled in after.

[@sjtrixter1241]

Beautiful video. It's such a delight listening to you, Bridger! I have a question: how do you manage to never break the eye contact with the camera while talking? It's very impressive and professional!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I try to maintain eye contact so that it feels like I'm talking directly to viewers rather than simply engaging in a monologue with the camera running. It helps that I've had a lot of experience with public speaking over the course of my life and career, but the reality is that I do break eye contact with the camera frequently. I've taught myself how to hide those breaks in the video editing process, though.

[@grahamguy4656]

Very educational thanks nice to learn

[@apebblemaster4570]

Interesting! I never knew there was so much behind Steampunk! Also, I'm even more interested in reading Michael Moorcock!

[@RollingCalf]

Go do it. Nothing like reading foundational writers. So much of modern fantasy will make so much more sense when you read him.

[@jerrycornelius2261]

@@RollingCalf In a way DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME (3 vols +1novellas) is a precursor, so much of it being a kind of tribute to the fin de siecle). It's also VERY funny!!

[@RollingCalf]

@@jerrycornelius2261 please remind me. I haven't read moorcock since 2008.

[@user-tz9gy2fu2o]

Thank you for this lively, detailed survey. I particularly appreciate how far back you went into the fictional and social precursors of steampunk, and brought the ideas forward, adding tropes and traits along the way. I'm delighted that you included both Japanese steampunk and a nod to the YA and middle-grade authors who are telling great stories that often retain the moral spine of the earlier years of steampunk. Every time I watch one of your surveys I go back to my bookshelves and reconsider titles that I read long ago. Another item that pleased me was your mention of Zenna Henderson, whose work few people today have read. Her work had a core of compassion and kindness [though she could also do creepy] seldom matched. I have taken to sending links to your videos to my writing students who enjoy learning more about the context of their genres and the origins of their tropes.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! Your comment has made my day (week? month?). For many of my videos, it's my hope that they'll find a useful role in a classroom or other instructional setting as a kind of high-level survey of a topic. I like to think of those videos as edutainment. It's gratifying to learn that some of the videos are performing that role.

[@user-tz9gy2fu2o]

You are a superb teacher. Your presentations are clear, logically organized so that the ideas and concepts accumulate to support your observations and lead to not only insights along the way but an overarching understanding of the topics you present. I have been a teacher of adults since 1995, and did seven years with younger students in the public schools. I have been blessed in my life with a handful of excellent teachers, and your presentations include so many of those qualities. Never doubt the pedagogical value of this work that you are doing. I am also enjoying your channel because I inherited a huge collection of pulp magazines and paperbacks from my father. They are primarily SF/F, with some horror and thrillers. I am preparing to send the majority of them to my friend James Artemis Owen, an author/illustrator who runs Coppervale Studio/Press and is the master of the Library of the Fantastical Arts. His collection presently weighs heavily on the history of comics and illustration, as those are his forte. The collection I am sending him will provide foundational F/SF texts, including nearly all of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy paperbacks you surveyed. I will be including links to your relevant videos in my curation statements with each box of books. James and I are hoping to create a research collection for writers, librarians, and historians of American fiction. Your channel has allowed me to add considerable value to the materials I am donating, and my late father and I are both grateful. @@thelibraryladder

[@thelibraryladder]

That's quite the treasure trove you inherited, and you and Mr. Owen are very fortunate indeed. A research collection sounds like a terrific idea. I'm a preservationist at heart, and it has motivated much of my book collecting and my desire to talk about semi-forgotten books on my channel. As an aside, is he the author of the Imaginarium Geographica series about dragons? I enjoyed reading the first few books in the series about 15 years ago (I must admit I didn't finish the series, because he hadn't completed it at the time, and I have yet to return to it). Thank you again!

[@user-tz9gy2fu2o]

Yes, this is the James Owen of the Imaginarium Geographica series. It is now nine books long. James has had an interesting ride with the traditional publishing industry, and has managed to reclaim control of much of his intellectual property. He runs Coppervale International -- their new website is under construction -- and produces books of beauty and quality. His big compendium of his illustration work has just finished a Kickstarter campaign and is in the last stages of production. His Library for the Fantastical Arts is housed in a huge refurbished church in Arizona. He has enough space to include illustrations, books, paintings, and even Harlan Ellison's classic Studebaker. He was a friend of Mr. Ellison's, and his widow reached out to James with this gift when she had to downsize her household. As James' career started when he was very young he had the opportunity to meet so many of that generation now gone: Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and so many of the pioneers of American comic books. My writing community recently lost Eric Flint, the grand master of alternative history and a generous mentor and teacher. My background as both an historian of science and an artist/writer means that I value research collections highly. I have been studying the evolution of the genres I read. We are in the midst of a sea change in American publishing with the perilous situation in traditional houses and the rise of independent authors and hybrid authors. I fear that much that is superb will be lost for lack of a traditional imprint on the spine, but on the other hand, that same superb work coming from a debut author cannot break into the corporate, profit-driven traditional channels which are at a choke point. New, small publishers are germinating, dedicated to particular slices of the genre market, and they are doing a great service to readers and authors though their budgets are small. These authors sell well but will never appear on the traditional bestseller lists. They are, however, starting to nudge their way into the major awards. In particular, the short fiction published in the e-zines [pro and semi-pro] are getting critical attention. Uncanny, Apex, Pulp Literature, and Lightspeed are introducing readers to marvelous new voices, for instance. As readers, we choose from a buffet of delicious offerings, including stories from voices previously missing from the lists. What a time to be a reader! What a time to be a writer! And what a time to be a collector ;-) @@thelibraryladder

[@bookmarkswithjason9445]

Thank you for another fascinating and informative video. The value you bring to booktube is priceless.

[@MichaelRSchultheiss]

What a great video! I can see my TBR needs to grow until it is visible from a steam-powered airship! Also, great to see some Marc Hodder in there--Burton and Swinburne!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! When I first encountered Hodder's Burton & Swinburne series, I was intrigued, but more than a little skeptical. I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Spring-Heeled Jack.

[@veronicaclarke7499]

I always loved Moorcock's Bastable trilogy. I have the original paperbacks, so I was interested to hear they'd been revised. I will need to check that out.

[@thelibraryladder]

Your preference might end up simply being a matter of which version you read first. I read the revised versions first, which I think made it easier for me to spot the changes in the original books when I read them. Moorcock also prefers the later versions (which is why he wrote them).

[@JimmyDaKoik]

@@thelibraryladder I've never read the revised editions, how much difference is there between the two? All my copies of the Champion Eternal books are from the 60's-late 80's, including the Bastable books (DAW editions and a Lancer I think), so I've never bothered to read any of the more recent editions from the 90's onwards.

[@BarNuun]

Sensationally good review, with so many rare early volumes and new titles I haven't even seen around here (and probably never would have seen). Life in Canada these last four years played out like something dystopian from the worst of these novels, almost. And not over yet either. They are just getting started. I hope that you will show us some older material. Carry on Bridger!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I plan to explore more of the roots of speculative fiction in future videos. I hope things improve up north where you are!

[@quitefranklyjosh]

By far my FAVORITE video of yours to date! I definitely have a new genre to discover 😊. Now, off to read some classic steam punk! 🧐 🎩 🕰️

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. I hope you enjoy the books at least as much as I do.

[@crbranca06]

Neil Gaiman's A Study in Green is a good example of steampunk mixing with other genres, in this case, lovecraftnian horror. Great video as usual. P.s. I still dont know what The Difference Engine was about 😅

[@TomVCunningham]

Do you mean "A Study In Emerald" ?

[@RollingCalf]

That was his Sherlock Holmes story, right?

[@TomVCunningham]

@@RollingCalf yes.

[@harbl99]

_The Difference Engine_ is about a bunch of Victorian real and fictional characters accidentally causing The Singularity.

[@ronaldwilliams2456]

Excellent overview! Glad you brought up Jeter, Blaylock, and Powers. On another topic, will you be posting more of your Lord Dunsany readings? Really enjoyed the first two!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed my Dunsany efforts. I'll post a couple more of his short stories on my channel in the next few days. They won't be posted as public videos (because they confuse YT's algorithm), so you'll have to go to my channel's Audiobooks playlist to access them.

[@ronaldwilliams2456]

@@thelibraryladder Groovy.

[@evanmcclellan7267]

The Anubis Gates rules! I am really looking forward to your Tim Powers video.

[@groofay]

Thanks for this video! I'll definitely be checking some of these books out; Pavane in particular sounded very interesting, and Warlord of the Air has been on my list to check out for a while. The section about media that bore no resemblance to steampunk apart from the aesthetic made me both laugh and groan. I might not be able to pin down exactly what steampunk _is,_ but I don't think slapping a stovepipe hat and goggles on the cover art quite does it.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I had to catch myself at one point while editing the video. As I was compiling the montage of steampunk books for kids & YA near the end of the video, I included the first book in Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series in the bunch. Its cover art has Enola decked out in Victorian garb while pedaling a bicycle furiously, which fits the steampunk aesthetic. However, as I thought about it, I realized I was making the same mistake others do by ascribing a steampunk theme to a book that merely happens to be set in the late Victorian era. It's a historical mystery, not steampunk.

[@jerrycornelius2261]

THE Bastable books are still in print from Titan Books.

[@pe003]

Don't surpose you would consider providing a complete list of all these amazing books referenced here?

[@samphonique]

Greetings from the Netherlands, Bridger! An excellent overview of one my favourite literary "things" haha. Given the current circumstances in the world, it seems that steampunk (or any sort of punk) has more fertile soil than ever for aspiring authors.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. As you said, it seems likely that future literary punks will have plenty to rebel against.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

Just got Pavane. That sounds really interesting. Now if I can just get around to reading it. Great video. Being an avid tabletop RPG player, particularly in the late 80s and 90s, I saw several Steampunk inspired games released. The first big one was Space 1889 (Published in 1989, though apparently originally proposed in a magazine article back in 1983), which presented a solar system spanning battle of colonial powers fighting over the canals of Mars, the jungles of Venus, etc., all with a very British Empire bent. Apparently a later edition from a different publisher took a German perspective on things. I don't know if either version really dug into the ethical quandaries of colonialism, though, or if it was primarily for aesthetic & spectacle.

[@HEAVYDIAPER]

Yeah, dude. You've earned a sub.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@richardgifu]

Thanks for the (as usual) terrific video. I think I saw a cover of one of the Mark Hodder books featuring the unlikely pairing of Richard Burton and Algernon Swinburne in their series of fantastical adventures set in an alternative Victorian age. Certainly a blending of genres, but very enjoyable and remaining faithful to the central ethos of steampunk - whatever that is! And thank you for your praise of Pavane, one of my favourite novels in any genre.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack really surprised me (in a good way) when I read it several years ago. Pavane is outstanding and deserves to be better known.

[@jerrycornelius2261]

Recently read on The Many Worlds of Michael Moorcock fb page that Moorcock and Hodder are COLLABORATING ON A STEAMPUNK novel featuring an avatar of Elric, THE ALBINO'S SECRET! They are planning more Metatemporal Detective novels and have already published a prewar SEXTON BLAKE book CARIBBEAN CRISIS/VOODOO ISLAND set in the 1930s. They have more steampunk/Elric adventures in the works!

[@jerrycornelius2261]

Rebellion published the SEXTON BLAKE and SIMON & SCHUSTER will do THE ALBINO'S SECRET!

[@jerrycornelius2261]

MOORCOCK complains that KABUL (only in French at present) is considered steamunk because it has an airship on the cover. THERE is only a MENTION of an airship in one chapter! The book is about the politic and personal relationships leading to WW3.

[@HellBoy-id6ss]

Damn... I feel like I just had a college semester compressed into 37 minutes...Thank you for that..🎓🙏

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! My goal is to make videos that are both educational and entertaining.

[@merrianoliver-weymouth5265]

So glad to see Pavane mentioned here. It is still very unknown it seems to me. I have seldom heard modern era literary steampunk discussions go back further than Moorcock then leap over the 20th century to Verne and Wells

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I wanted to showcase some of the lesser-known steampunk influences in this video. I agree that Pavane deserves to be read and discussed far more widely.

[@Kjt853]

I read the Gormenghast books about 25 years ago and have never forgotten them. You mentioned the Dickensian characters. Reading it, I sensed a sort of ghastly mating of Charles Dickens and Samuel Beckett. Weird, unsettling, and wonderful.

[@thelibraryladder]

Beckett's a great comparison!

[@jerrycornelius2261]

@@thelibraryladder I agree, though Peake was i believe unfamiliar with BECKETT. What he WAS familiar with was surrealism and British absurdism (Firbank, for instance). Maurice Richardson's ENGELBRECHT is worth checking out.

[@RwnEsper]

I saw Cherie Priest in the thumbnail. Let's go!

[@SonofSethoitae]

This channel never fails to produce videos based on whatever's on my mind at the moment. It's spooky, really. Another corker. I bought a number of Mervyn Peake and James Branch Cabell books because of this channel. The former i thought was a bit over long but very interesting, the latter i have yet to read. And if you keep adding to my TBR list, i may never get there!

[@thelibraryladder]

Have you had any thoughts about King Arthur or the downfall of the Roman empire recently? [not-very-subtle channel foreshadowing...] :D

[@SonofSethoitae]

@@thelibraryladder Damn it Library Ladder, I already have to read Pavane now! ...but I am also interested in that and will be watching.

[@DejanOfRadic]

Your voice makes every sentence sound like the preview of an epic movie.

[@andreiiancu2501]

Best chanel on youtube, always makes my day

[@hendrikm9569]

Heyho, I have read a lot of Lord Dunsany lately thanks to your videos. I think I read most of his fantasy short stories and the king of elflands daughter. I didn't really like the novel, but several of the short stories were really cool. Gods of Pegana was probably my favourite of his, and I can see, why you compared it to the Ainulindale in the silmarillion, however, I think that even without the rest of the silmarillion, Ainulindale somehow felt more meaningful and grander. Overall, I'm glad I read his stories, so thank you for your recommendation. Now I am reading Mistborn and after this I plan to read some things by William Morris.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Dunsany! I'm glad you enjoyed many of his stories. As I mentioned in that video, I think his short fiction was what he did best. His novels are beautifully written, but somewhat lacking narratively, in my opinion. You'll probably find plenty in Morris' works that remind you of Tolkien too. The House of the Wolfings is one of my favorites by him. Its structure is unique (the narrative portions are written in regular, if somewhat archaic, prose, while the dialogue portions are written in poetic verse -- amazingly it works), and the central love story might ring some Tolkien bells for you.

[@FlyFoxPro]

I look forward to the Tim powers video. He is one of my favorite authors and criminally under appreciated.

[@thelibraryladder]

It's coming. I have a few other videos to finish before I'll get to it, though.

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

Enjoyed this immensely, not least of which for the mellifluous tones and engaging cadence. I wish I could play this for a room full of puppies.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! Hmmm . . . interesting experiment. I can say from experience that it seems to have an effect on kittens (who are now full-grown and follow me around everywhere begging for attention).

[@shannonm.townsend1232]

@@thelibraryladder love it, well I just thought of 101 dalmatians listening in rapt attention to an old radio programme.. on steampunk. You mentioned a lot of proto-steam authors of the early 20th century, very interesting, and still being echoed. Also, I should have known Moorcock was at ground zero of proper steam.

[@luaarenal5471]

This channel is simply exquisite 🤤

[@senchamilk8516]

Hello thought I would reach out and say that I have loved your videos to date - and in you have gifted me a new author to cherish in GGK. Notice you've been quiet recently and hope this reflects a pause and not an ending.

[@thelibraryladder]

Hi, and thanks for checking on me! It's not an ending; just an unexpected and somewhat involuntary pause caused by a lot of competing obligations and time commitments in recent months. I have several videos in various stages of development, and I hope to start uploading again in the next couple of weeks.

[@maestro7058]

We need some of fantasy top 20s or something lke tthis from you sir!

[@chim_4_gamers300]

So many of the “punk” genres have suffered from what I would call aestheticization. The nature of any punk genre is its use hyperbolic worldbuilding to critique social and economic systems of oppression. That’s the “punk.” Without this, it’s really just fantasy fiction with a very specific set of inspirations, which is fine don’t get me wrong. The problem is in how people begin to associate the punk with the commercial, which mutes the whole genre into merely another piece of commercial consumerism. It’s fine to write those stories, but it’s important to draw the distinction between stories that are meant to be consumed and stories that are meant to critique consumption.

[@thelibraryladder]

You've put your finger on a central part of the identity crisis at the heart of steampunk these days.

[@jmparker78]

Admittedly I found your channel by looking for information about Michael Moorcock's eternal champion multiverse. I have recently decided to take the plunge and read it, hopefully I will not give up as I have many other massive reading projects (well, they're on pause, at any rate). Are you planning on doing another EC video? I saw that you did the first several volumes but haven't gotten to installments like Elric and Jerry Cornelius.

[@thelibraryladder]

HI! This video _is_ the fourth installment in my series about the Eternal Champion saga. It started out focused just on Moorcock's trilogy about Oswald Bastable (one of the Champions), but as I worked on the video, I realized that the trilogy's historical significance in the steampunk subgenre warranted expanding the video's scope to cover how steampunk evolved before and after Moorcock's seminal contribution. I'll be continuing my series on the EC. The White Wolf omnibus volume Elric: Song of the Black Sword (covering roughly the first 40% of Elric's saga) is up next. I probably won't get to it until late winter/early spring, as I have a few other videos planned before it.

[@jmparker78]

@@thelibraryladder okay, cool! I did enjoy this video and it was the focus on The Nomad of the Timestreams. I think I assumed Corum would be next.

[@thelibraryladder]

I'm following the order in which White Wolf & Orion published their omnibus editions in the 1990s, which was based on Moorcock's recommended reading order. The Elric volume is fifth and the first Corum volume (of two) is seventh, with The Roads Between the Worlds (a collection of novellas not directly related to any of the major Champions) between them.

[@jmparker78]

@@thelibraryladder sounds good. I just started on War Hound. I think I will be including Kane of Old Mars, the Nick Allard books and any of the comics Moorcock had a hand in or act as supplementary material. The order I’m following is one recommended on Moorcock’s message board.

[@josephzamer5802]

I dont know why, but I always think that Jules Verne created steampunk in a "steampunk time"