Exploring Genre: Steam Punk and Gaslight

by Alison Stegert

Historical Fantasy Sub-Genres: Gaslamp and Steampunk

Gaslamp (Gaslight) fantasy and steampunk are atmospheric sub-genres of fantasy that exploit historical features and foibles of the 19^th century, particularly in Britain and its colonies.

A Bit of Background…

The European Enlightenment of the 17^th and 18^th centuries exalted Reason above all else, a focus that both ignited scientific enquiry and spawned revolutions. At the same time, the Enlightenment calcified the imagination. Two centuries of constrictive rationality created a hankering for escape and a hunger for whimsy. In other words, at the turn of the 19th century, the world was ripe for fantasy.

The Nineteenth Century

Welcome to the Romantic Era, the age of sturm und drang—intense emotion, when fairies flitted in gardens and mad scientists cooked up monsters during electrical storms. This shift of focus to emotions and intuition, myth and magic provided fodder for creatives of all types, not least writers.

The 19^th century in England was a time of incredible social change. Starting in Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution (1780 – 1840) heralded a new urban lifestyle, featuring a working class, advances in trade and business, and the mechanical manufacturing. The power of steam was harnessed for transport, textiles, iron production.

The Royal Circus

A series of formidable monarchs ruled during the 19^th century. George III’s chronic illness and mental health issues came to a head when his youngest daughter Amelia died in 1811. His intense grieve left him unfit to rule, so his son, the Prince of Wales, ruled as regent from 1811 - 1820 (aka, The Regency Period).

The Prince Regent made a right royal mess of things, running up debts, flagrantly spending, and generally behaving immorally. Upon his father’s death in 1820, he was crowned King George IV, dying ten years later after a prolonged illness.

His brother William IV took over, ruling for seven years, during which he did not produce a legitimate heir. His niece Alexandrina was next in line, ruling as Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. The British Empire grew during her long reign, and she, dour and indomitable, left an indelible mark on history.

Her son succeeded her, reigning from 1901 to 1910 as King Edward VII.

Historical Fantasy Genres

Both gaslamp/gaslight and steampunk occupy the above piece of historical real estate, Regency to Edwardian eras, but they use the space differently.

Gaslamp (or Gaslight)

Gaslamp fantasy is historical fantasy with magical possibilities. The setting is usually Regency, Victorian or Edwardian, and usually it’s placed in Britain or its (former) colonies. The name refers to the ambiance created by the gas lamps that lit the streets of the time. The nomenclature derives from the comic series Girl Genius by Kaja Foglio.

Gaslamp Hallmarks

The tropes of gaslamp differ from those of straight fantasy (e.g., Tolkien) or straight Faerie (e.g., MacDonald). Victorian times saw a spike in curiosity about the spiritual world with many people dabbling in seances and other occultic practices. These themes sometimes make their way into gaslamp fantasy. Similarly, there was a resurgence of interest in fairies and other fey creatures and folklore.

Gaslamp explores fantastical possibilities and supernatural elements, time-slip, alternative histories and parallel worlds. Its tone can range from broodingly gothic to ‘swashbucklingly’ adventurous. A librarian from the New York Public Library described gaslamp fantasy as: “Jane Austen or Charles Dickens meets Harry Potter.” It can include mystery, boarding schools, pirates, monsters, spies, and manners.

Classic Gaslamp Examples

The gaslamp classification didn’t exist at the time these works were published, but they fit. Consider:

Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie – Victorian, magic, parallel worlds, magic, mythical and fey characters

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – Victorian, magic, portal, time-slip

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Victorian, time-slip, ghosts, eerie ambiance

Dracula by Bram Stoker Victorian, mythical character, magic, eerie ambiance

Contemporary Gaslamp Examples

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark

The Prestige by Christopher Priest

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman (Australian author)

Steampunk

While gaslamp plays up magical possibilities, steampunk emphasises the technological possibilities afforded by 19^th-century advances in steam power. Some argue that this focus on technology pushes it more toward science-fiction than fantasy. Often the technologies are anachronistic, for example, steam-powered robots or androids; or they can be ‘retrofuturistic’, for example, a reimagining of a blimp as a family vehicle or a war machine.

The punk aspect of steampunk refers to the tone of the genre, which can be irreverent, brash and disaffected. There’s a vague or overt sense of dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, often an anachronistic callousness, and sometimes a lack of optimism about the future.

Steampunk is not only a literary genre, it’s also an aesthetic. Costumes and settings are Victorian but amped up, for example, women wearing corsets as daywear or men donning thick goggles as eyewear. Clockwork and steam engines of all sizes and descriptions abound.

Variations on a Theme

Some steampunk incorporates supernatural elements such as vampires, werewolves, and witches. Although usually set in Victorian times and generally in Britain (or its colonies), a strong off-shoot of steampunk is ‘weird west,’ usually a wild west setting with gadgets and horror elements. More recent additions to the steampunk canon include non-British settings and POC protagonists.

Image Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1889_Verne_poster.jpg   

Classic Steampunk Examples

Consider the following works as forerunners to the steampunk genre. Again, the classification of steampunk didn’t exist at the time of these authors, but their works nonetheless fit:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Time Machine by HG Wells

Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Contemporary Examples of Steampunk

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

The Tremblers by Raquel Byrnes (Christian steampunk)

Maiden of Iron: A Steampunk Fable by Edie Melson (Christian steampunk)

 Other images: Upslpash

Bio

Ali Stegert writes gaslamp fantasy adventure for children. The Temple of Lost Time, book one of The Whitherworld Chronicles trilogy, is currently in submission. Set in London’s theatre district in an alternative 19^th century, cheeky theatre child Toby Fitzroy must find his long-lost father or end up in a notorious Workhouse for Wayward Children. But his search intersects with the dying, magic-addled king’s quest for the time elixirs of the mythical Temple of Lost Time and sends him to another world…

Writing gaslamp fantasy gives Alison a playground in which to indulge in her passion for Victoriana, fairy tales, and history. A former school counsellor, Alison now cares for her elderly father-in-law and writes books for children. She lives near the beach in Australia with her husband and two naughty dogs. Find out more on her blog, Spilling Ink.

Book Review: Jewel of the Stars by Adam Collings

Review by Jeanette O'Hagan

Back Cover Blurb:

The Cruise is Over

Haylee was more confident designing starships than raising an autistic child. Now she just wants a relaxing holiday with her family. But when Earth falls to an alien armada, she knows life will never be the same again.

Les was just a cruise ship captain. Now, he must rise up and become something greater, if he is to keep his crew and passengers alive.

Braxton never wanted to leave the space navy, but now, taking a cruise is the only way to feel the stars around him. This crisis may be his ticket to regaining the life he thought was gone forever.

Can they overcome their differences and save everyone on the ship?

If they reach unexplored space, they might yet survive, but an unstoppable enemy stands in their way…

Earth’s Remnant is the thrilling pilot to an episodic space opera, Jewel of The Stars, by Adam David Collings. Join the crew as they fight for survival against the wondrous backdrop of the unknown. What else will they find hiding among the stars?

Join the adventure today.

My Thoughts:

I was keen to read Jewel of the Stars, intrigued ever since the author Adam David Collings shared the concept.  Jewel in the Stars: Earth's Remnant is a science- fiction novella. It is classic space opera - think transporters, faster-than-light ships, travelling between the stars, aliens and space ships.  In this case, the action is set on a cruise ship travelling through space instead of on ocean and with planets, stars, and nebulae instead of islands or exotic ports. Apart the starliner Titanic in from the "Voyage of the Damned episode of Doctor Who (and yes, that starliner suffered a similar fate to it's namesake), I haven't come across this concept before. 

But what makes Jewel of the Stars particularly interesting is it's format. Earth's Remnant is the first 'episode' of the first 'season', much like the popular format of popular TV series.  Each episode has it's own story arc, as does the season and the series. 

Adam has launched the series with episode one (and it's free prequel) - setting up the dramatic situation and premise. Jewel of the Stars sets out on a regular tourist trip when a cataclysmic alien invasion cuts them off from earth. They are on their own and most avoid the predatory aliens while surviving the scarcity of space. Can they do it? 

The first episode, Earth's Remnant introduces us to pivotal characters - the captain, an ex-space navy commander, an astroengineer and mother, the doctor and so on.  The story presents a concrete dilemma that must be solved if the Jewel of the Stars and its passengers and crew are to survive. 

While Jewel of the Stars is written for the general market,  I like how Adam subtly and naturally brings in a faith element to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Earth's Remnant. The characters are interesting, with believable challenges and outcomes. The episode was well paced, with an exciting and nail-biting climax, leaving me anxious to read the next episode without feeling let down. I'm anticipating more great adventures and await the second episode with bated breath.

Jewel of the Stars is for lovers of science-fiction - or anyone who have enjoyed Star Trek, SG1 or Doctor Who TV series.  If you love an entertaining, fast paced read with great characters and dramatic situations set on a cruise ship in space, then this is the series for you. 

Available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Jewel-Stars-Season-Episode-Remnant-ebook/dp/B0757DSYBH/

Exploring Genres: Space Opera and Supehero

by Adam Collings

This year, the cross posts between Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers are focussing on the subject of genre. Last time, Iola Goulton gave a great overview of the importance of meeting genre expectations. This time, I have been asked to explore the science fiction genre. In particular, the subgenres of space opera and superhero.

Space Opera

Merriam Webster dictionary online defines space opera as "a futuristic melodramatic fantasy involving space travelers and extraterrestrial beings". I find it best to talk about space opera in terms of what it isn't. It isn't hard science fiction. Hard science fiction (think Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, or The Martian by Andy Weir) places a great important on the science. The speculative elements in the story must be seen as scientifically plausible. Space opera, on the other hand, places a higher importance on adventure than it does on science. This is where we see "magical" technologies like the warp drive, transporters and universal translators seen on Star Trek. What matters is telling an exciting adventure in a space setting. Of course, this is a spectrum, rather than a hard boundary. The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica took great pains to be believable and realistic, while Guardians of the Galaxy just focuses on the fun of it all, completely abandoning basic science.

Some popular tropes commonly seen in space opera include faster-than-light travel, first contact with aliens, combat with aliens, and highly advanced ancient extint civilisations. Common technologies that often appear in these types of stories are teleporters, laser/energy/ray guns, artificial gravity, robots, force fields and tractor beams. Space opera often crosses over with the genre of military science fiction.

Space Opera is very much alive and kicking in the Christian market, but not so much with the major publishers. There are a lot of great books coming out from small publishers and indie authors. Most are coming from America at present.

Some Examples in the Christian Market

Superheroes

Superheroes have definitely become big in mainstream entertainment. Once considered to be "just for kids" by some people, they now dominate Hollywood. In addition, superheroes are moving beyond their traditional medium of comic books into other story-telling media, like novels and video games.
Superhero stories come in a range of different tones, from the light-hearted and campy (Spiderman 1) to the serious and gritty (Batman V Superman). Some superhero stories are more closely aligned with science fiction (Superman) while others are more closely aligned with fantasy (Doctor Strange). It all depends on the source of the character's powers. And then there are the masked vigilantes that have no powers, just gadgets, fighting skills and smarts (Batman and Daredevil - although you might argue that Daredevil's heightened senses constitute a super power).

Superhero stories can often blend with other genres. For example, Man of Steel is a first contact/alien invasion story. Ant Man is a heist story. Captain America is a period WW2 story.
Sometimes the superhero aspect of a story is overt, but sometimes is can be subtle. For example, Tosca Lee's thriller The Progeny is not marketed as a superhero story, but it features a protagonist with some unusual abilities.

Common tropes in superhero fiction include super powers, vulnerabilities, secret identities, costumes, villains, sidekicks and shared universes. Superhero stories will also often feature common science fiction tropes such as time travel, alternate dimensions and alien invaders.

Some Examples in the Christian Market

My superhero story Chronostream's Father will soon be appearing in Superheroes: The Crossover Alliance Anthology V3 from edgy Christian publisher The Crossover Alliance. The book releases at the end of this March. I also have a superhero novella in production. The first episode of my space opera series Jewel of The Stars is very close to being ready for release. If any of these projects interest you, be sure to sign up for me email list, so you can be informed when they become available.

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Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his own youTube show – Stories with Adam Collings.
Find him at adamdavidcollings.com or sign up to his email list for a free short story.

So what is speculative fiction? Writing Craft Post - Part 1

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

If I asked you to name the Top 10 Highest Grossing Films of all Time, how many do you think you’d be able to name?

You might surprise yourself and know many or even most of them. The Wikipedia list I used looks to be regularly updated so it’s most likely a reasonable guide for reference purposes.

How many of them did you enjoy? If you did enjoy them what particularly appealed to you about each movie?

What’s interesting is that 8 of the 10, if they were novels, could be deemed “speculative” by definition. Two were based on novels and five were based on comic strips and/or a theme park ride. The final one of the eight, Avatar, was created by James Cameron.

Now let’s think about the Highest Grossing Novels. It starts getting a little trickier due to the sheer volume of books that have been released since whenever. Once again there are some significant “speculative” novels that have sold in excess of 50 million copies:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

• Harry Potter series
• Star Wars
• The Vampire Chronicles
• Twilight series
• Hunger Games trilogy

Final one. Highest Grossing Christian Novels. I struggled to source a definitive list. The Wikipedia link above includes two mega hits:

• The Lord of The Rings (plus The Hobbit)
• The Chronicles of Narnia

Photo courtesy of
Crossway.org

We can safely add to those Frank Peretti’s “Darkness” duo and The Shack, both of which have sold millions of copies.

All of these would be grouped under the “speculative fiction” banner.

It’s reasonable to make the statement that entertainment involving the speculative is appealing to the masses. And don’t get me started on television shows. The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Buffy, Charmed, oops, sorry, I said I wouldn’t get started.

A definition?

But what is speculative fiction and what differentiates it from other genres? Let’s start with defining it and then next week we’ll explore what are the key elements to grabbing a reader’s attention.

Our good friend Iola did a fabulous job outlining many of the sub-genres that exist within speculative and fantasy in a post she wrote last year.

It’s been interesting exploring various literary sites to find there are many varied definitions for speculative fiction. Marcher Lord Press, which is a Christian publisher, dedicated to speculative fiction splits the category between fantasy, science fiction and supernatural (including the paranormal). I read somewhere this definition for speculative fiction, which has lots of merit:

“A catchall for strange stories that don’t fit anywhere else”

I was able to find a definition on The American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) site under the “Genesis Contest” for unpublished fiction. It read:

Speculative: Novels in which the science fiction, the future, other planets, a fantasy world, or paranormal happenings are a major element of the plot or setting. This category includes speculative, visionary, science fiction, paranormal, futuristic, allegory, and alternate history fiction. 

However, I believe Orson Scott Card of “Ender’s Game” fame has captured it very simply:

"Speculative fiction includes all stories that take place in a setting contrary to known reality, namely:

• Future,
• Historical Past that contradict known facts
• Other worlds
• Stories involving aliens
• Contrary to the laws of nature. This is a catchall for time travel, invisible man-style fiction and super heroes.^1"

Different to Other Genres

Implicit in the various definitions above is the notion that, unlike many other genres, speculative fiction is not bound to follow any particular formula. Further, two characteristics that are essential to these novels are:

1. The creation of an alternate setting or world, and
2. The story being intrinsically bound to that alternate setting and vice versa.

Next week we’ll walk through some of the general characteristics of world creation and it’s link with the generation of the story line.

May I leave you with two questions to ponder and perhaps comment on:

1. What appeals or doesn’t appeal to you about speculative entertainment?
2. If speculative entertainment is so popular to the masses why do you think speculative fiction doesn’t appeal to more Christian readers?

Note: 1. How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card, Writers Digest, 1990, pp17-18

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter