We've been discussing steampunk (SP) on and off here for a while, and thought I'd expand on that discussiion a bit.
I'e just watched LXG again, and , like The Shadow, it's a flawed film but I quite like it. Never read the illustrated novel, which I will, bbut there's a reason - I'm not fond of Alan Moore;s cynical undermining of great characters and storeies, which he has done with LXG, Watchmen (to an extent, in that the heroes in that are based on others), and Lost Girls (in which, yes, he really does rape someone's childhood, probably several). Don't get me, in their own way they're goos stories, but they aren't that wildly original to me, and undercut by bitter cynicism.
But I digress.
It occurred to me we haven't really seen the Great Steampunk Story, or possibly it's just me. I've seen/read some: Moorcock's Nomad of Time trilogy, the Gibson/Sterling The Difference Engine, The Wild Wild West, the original SP/alt. history Bring The Jubilee, whole bunch of others.
But none of them have struck me as THE Great SP Story. The story that defines the genre, or expands its footprint.
So, two things: recommend a good SP story you've seen or read, or make one up, and what media would serve it best.
It's tempting to go along the LXG route, I admit, showing classic characters in a really dynamic sort of period high-tech environment, but let's see if we can come up with something original.
Anyone interested?
I'e just watched LXG again, and , like The Shadow, it's a flawed film but I quite like it. Never read the illustrated novel, which I will, bbut there's a reason - I'm not fond of Alan Moore;s cynical undermining of great characters and storeies, which he has done with LXG, Watchmen (to an extent, in that the heroes in that are based on others), and Lost Girls (in which, yes, he really does rape someone's childhood, probably several). Don't get me, in their own way they're goos stories, but they aren't that wildly original to me, and undercut by bitter cynicism.
But I digress.
It occurred to me we haven't really seen the Great Steampunk Story, or possibly it's just me. I've seen/read some: Moorcock's Nomad of Time trilogy, the Gibson/Sterling The Difference Engine, The Wild Wild West, the original SP/alt. history Bring The Jubilee, whole bunch of others.
But none of them have struck me as THE Great SP Story. The story that defines the genre, or expands its footprint.
So, two things: recommend a good SP story you've seen or read, or make one up, and what media would serve it best.
It's tempting to go along the LXG route, I admit, showing classic characters in a really dynamic sort of period high-tech environment, but let's see if we can come up with something original.
Anyone interested?
