Is Victorian London The Only Possible Setting for a Steampunk Novel?

[Lia Keyes]

You know the answer to this is no, right? 

Where is your current work-in-progress set? How have you gone about researching it?

 

As you scroll down through the comments, don't forget there are several pages of them, so click through the numbers to read them. :)

 

 

[Paul Orlando Caggegi]

*shock!* a leading question, aimed at the converted. *tsk tsk! :D I totally agree, and there are grounds to say it is not. Take Stephen Hunt's Jackalian books, for instance, set in a world without the familiar borders we know: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/

 

Also: many Animes which have a steampunk theme are not set in Victorian England (I know Steamboy might be) - Full Metal Alchemist is even a wonderful mix of Steampunk, fantasy, sword and sorcery, and even (spoiler alert!) trans-dementional quantum physics.

 

The films of Studio Gibli: Laputa; Castle in the Sky (fantasy); Porco Rosso (set in Italy) has elements of steampunk.

 

"His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman, the first book of which was turned into the film, "The Golden Compass" has some wonderful steampunk elements in it, and that's set all over the world... and beyond.

[Robert D. Gray]

My NaNoWriMo 2010 project, currently titled "Kharybdis Thrashing" is set in 1880-1890's  Baltimore, Md.

I wanted to move outside the standards of the Victorian habitat.  Also in this story I worked away from the other American steampunk manifestation of the old west.  I love Deadlands, do not get me wrong, but wanted to branch out.

Finally, my main character was a Baltimore Policeman.  I wanted to explore this genre as well, as who would be the first responders to your average stem-powered zombie attack,  airship bombardment, or amok clockwork automaton?  The police.  The dichotomy of the police using SP technology against the villains also using SP technology struck me as interesting as well.

 

As to research, I was surprised that every neighborhood I wanted to examine had its own website!  Historically, I used as much or as little as could offer about the time period I wanted.  I Googled facts and things but let the general impression fill me up before I wrote instead of quoting verbatim.  Such details are for the revisions, anyway!

[Robert D. Gray]

Wow, and Rule Brittania! 

Sarah Ahiers said:

I classify my current WIP as a touch of Naval Steampunk, and it's set in a fabricated country. Being that i live in MN and not on an ocean, i had to do a lot of research regarding coastal life and steam-ships as well as victorian age firearms. Fun times!

[Sarah Ahiers]

Steampunk police sounds bad ass. I'm totally down with that

Robert D. Gray said:

My NaNoWriMo 2010 project, currently titled "Kharybdis Thrashing" is set in 1880-1890's  Baltimore, Md.

I wanted to move outside the standards of the Victorian habitat.  Also in this story I worked away from the other American steampunk manifestation of the old west.  I love Deadlands, do not get me wrong, but wanted to branch out.

Finally, my main character was a Baltimore Policeman.  I wanted to explore this genre as well, as who would be the first responders to your average stem-powered zombie attack,  airship bombardment, or amok clockwork automaton?  The police.  The dichotomy of the police using SP technology against the villains also using SP technology struck me as interesting as well.

 

As to research, I was surprised that every neighborhood I wanted to examine had its own website!  Historically, I used as much or as little as could offer about the time period I wanted.  I Googled facts and things but let the general impression fill me up before I wrote instead of quoting verbatim.  Such details are for the revisions, anyway!

[Cameron Chapman]

The series I'm working on now only touches down in London once so far. The first book starts in the Russian Empire, goes north to Scandinavia, heads toward Iceland, and then finally ends up in London. The second book starts in Moscow, travels across Russia and Siberia, and then goes to Canada and ends up in Halifax. Book three, which I haven't started yet, will take place in the American West, and I think at least the next couple of books will stay in that area. Before the series is finished, I'm pretty sure they'll end up back in Europe (probably Scandinavia again), but haven't decided for sure yet.

 

I've got another steampunk story I'm thinking about that will take place in an entirely fantastical world.

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

The Burning Sky is set in an alternate Morocco.

To build this new version of Marrakesh, I studied the cultures of North and West Africa (Amazigh / Berber, primarily) and the social effects of industrialization in England and America in the 19th century. I thought it made for a great blend of the familiar and the new.

[Nicole Ross]

My novel is set in Rio, Dover, London and Friedrichshafen. Sadly, I haven't visited any of these places (I used to live in Germany but never went to Lake Constance), so I don't know if they'll be recognisable to those who have. I'm sure historic photos and Google Maps have helped to an extent, but it's not the same as having a bit of first-hand knowledge of a city. My descrptions of the cities rely more on photos and my imagination than memories of a visit, and that probably shows.

 

Why didn't I just set the darn thing in Australia? ;)

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

A steampunk Australia? That would be pretty dangerous considering all the orcs, elves, and hobbits just across the water in New Zealand. I'd hate to see what would happen if Sauron got a hold of your airship!

Nicole Ross said:

My novel is set in Rio, Dover, London and Friedrichshafen. Sadly, I haven't visited any of these places (I used to live in Germany but never went to Lake Constance), so I don't know if they'll be recognisable to those who have. I'm sure historic photos and Google Maps have helped to an extent, but it's not the same as having a bit of first-hand knowledge of a city. My descrptions of the cities rely more on photos and my imagination than memories of a visit, and that probably shows.

 

Why didn't I just set the darn thing in Australia? ;)

[Nicole Ross]

It's OK...I don't think they can swim. ;)

 

New Zealanders aside, steampunk in Australia sounds like an interesting setting. I'll have to think about this. And hey, at least I could visit the locations.

Joseph Robert Lewis said:

A steampunk Australia? That would be pretty dangerous considering all the orcs, elves, and hobbits just across the water in New Zealand. I'd hate to see what would happen if Sauron got a hold of your airship!

[Lia Keyes]

Seriously, though, a steampunk Australia is a GREAT idea. Please do it. :)

Nicole Ross said:

It's OK...I don't think they can swim. ;)

 

New Zealanders aside, steampunk in Australia sounds like an interesting setting. I'll have to think about this. And hey, at least I could visit the locations.

Joseph Robert Lewis said:

A steampunk Australia? That would be pretty dangerous considering all the orcs, elves, and hobbits just across the water in New Zealand. I'd hate to see what would happen if Sauron got a hold of your airship!