Quote:
Originally Posted by EventHorizon
whats the steampunk version of Neuromancer?
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I don't know if it's the equivalent, but in 1990, Gibson (and Bruce Sterling) published
The Difference Engine. There are, of course, many precursors and early works before this in the genre.
I have a limited exposure to each genre, but I do understand the tropes and aesthetics of each.
My understanding is that steampunk appeals to those who are into history and speculative fiction, as many of the works consider alternative history and what-if scenarios regarding steam technology. Most works are set in the Victorian period and are Anglo-centric; however, more recent works are looking at other periods and locales, maintaining the tech aesthetic.
Cyberpunk tends to appeal to futurists: those who speculate where humanity is headed vis-à-vis the hard and social sciences. With it you get a different aesthetic, but you also get a different set of tropes. Cyberpunk has generally benefited from a much higher profile regarding its literary merit; in terms of postmodern literature, it has found a place as a literature that explores many of the concerns of the late 20th century.
William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy (starting with
Neuromancer) is on my reading list, along with some other cyberpunk-esque works (e.g. Pynchon), but I have yet to see anything highly compelling within the steampunk genre. I like the aesthetics of steampunk, but for some reason the genre as a whole doesn't appeal to me much. I think it's because I have little interest in alternative history (and history in general). I know there are works that veer away from that, but there are few that I've seen that attract my interest.
An exception is the work of
China Miéville. I can't seem to let them drop off my radar, so I should probably sample one of his books to see what they're like.