Steam Punk Stories
If you aren't familiar with the genre of "Steam Punk," I've got a couple of books to recommend for you. Steam Punk is a type of science fiction usually with a historical setting and it frequently includes steam powered machinery instead of advanced technology. Sometimes the elements can seem anachronistic.
When it comes to books, think authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and dozens of author authors in the 21st century who love bringing this type of world to their readers.
If you really need a taste for it, you can watch the TV Show Steampunk'd (last I checked it was on Netflix) in which contestants are given challenges to create a Steam Punk environment down to the smallest details, including clothes. It's kinda fun to watch...
But really what I want to get to is the two books that I read recently that are set in this world of steam engines and machinery.
First, Cogheart (the first book of the Cogheart Adventures series) by Peter Bunzl. This is a fun middle-grade book that really gives you a taste for the steam punk genre. The summary:
Thirteen-year-old Lily Harman always dreamed of adventure. A strong-willed girl, Lily felt trapped in a life of Victorian stuffiness at her prim boarding school. But after her father-a famous inventor-disappears on a routine zeppelin flight, Lily's life gets turned upside down.
Now cared for by her guardian, the heartless Madame Verdigris, Lily is quite certain that she's being watched. Mysterious, silver-eyed men are lurking in the shadows, just waiting for their chance to strike. But what could they possibly want from her?
There are rumors, Lily learns, that her father had invented the most valuable invention ever made-a perpetual motion machine. But if he made such a miraculous discovery, he certainly never told Lily. And all he left behind is a small box-with no key, no hinges.
With the help of a clockmaker's son, Robert, and her mechanimal fox, Malkin, Lily escapes London in search of the one person who might know something about her father's disappearance-and what he left behind.
Thirteen-year-old Lily is a really great character. She is very spunky and smart and that really helps her in her adventures with Robert and Malkin. There are actually some pretty heavy topics in this book for a middle grade book. Her mother died in a horrible accident and her dad is now missing. She loses friends and allies throughout the book. But I think that it helps make the adventure seem real--that this is really something to be invested in. There is a lot at stake!
I'll tell you right now that there is a happy ending and in this book it feels right. It is a fun adventure book that embodies steam punk in its use of mechs (mechanical people and animals), zeppelins, and other moving parts--set in a roughly Victorian era.
Steampunk is a pretty popular genre and I think that we get another taste for it in the other book that I just read, Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve. This one should sound familiar thanks to the new film that's out. Yesterday I posted my comparison of the book and the movie.
There are also a lot of fun things--cities on wheels, airships, etc. that make it a good YA steampunk book. I highly recommend both stories.
When it comes to books, think authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and dozens of author authors in the 21st century who love bringing this type of world to their readers.
If you really need a taste for it, you can watch the TV Show Steampunk'd (last I checked it was on Netflix) in which contestants are given challenges to create a Steam Punk environment down to the smallest details, including clothes. It's kinda fun to watch...
But really what I want to get to is the two books that I read recently that are set in this world of steam engines and machinery.
Thirteen-year-old Lily Harman always dreamed of adventure. A strong-willed girl, Lily felt trapped in a life of Victorian stuffiness at her prim boarding school. But after her father-a famous inventor-disappears on a routine zeppelin flight, Lily's life gets turned upside down.
Now cared for by her guardian, the heartless Madame Verdigris, Lily is quite certain that she's being watched. Mysterious, silver-eyed men are lurking in the shadows, just waiting for their chance to strike. But what could they possibly want from her?
There are rumors, Lily learns, that her father had invented the most valuable invention ever made-a perpetual motion machine. But if he made such a miraculous discovery, he certainly never told Lily. And all he left behind is a small box-with no key, no hinges.
With the help of a clockmaker's son, Robert, and her mechanimal fox, Malkin, Lily escapes London in search of the one person who might know something about her father's disappearance-and what he left behind.
Thirteen-year-old Lily is a really great character. She is very spunky and smart and that really helps her in her adventures with Robert and Malkin. There are actually some pretty heavy topics in this book for a middle grade book. Her mother died in a horrible accident and her dad is now missing. She loses friends and allies throughout the book. But I think that it helps make the adventure seem real--that this is really something to be invested in. There is a lot at stake!
I'll tell you right now that there is a happy ending and in this book it feels right. It is a fun adventure book that embodies steam punk in its use of mechs (mechanical people and animals), zeppelins, and other moving parts--set in a roughly Victorian era.
Steampunk is a pretty popular genre and I think that we get another taste for it in the other book that I just read, Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve. This one should sound familiar thanks to the new film that's out. Yesterday I posted my comparison of the book and the movie.
There are also a lot of fun things--cities on wheels, airships, etc. that make it a good YA steampunk book. I highly recommend both stories.
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