# Please recommend me some steampunk that isn't set in london and doesn't feature vampires **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912 "2012-04-25T15:25:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/21 "2012-04-25T22:45:00Z")
The Northern lights trilogy is set in Oxford, a city a whole 60 miles from London. Would that be sufficient? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/22 "2012-04-26T02:12:37Z")
Would a story that starts (partially) in London, but goes very far abroad meet your requirements? If so, the _[Leviathan](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Scott-Westerfeld/dp/1416971734)_ trilogy by Scott Westerfeld is a fun read. Not only steampunk, but also wild genetic modifications at the same time. It’s a fun series of books, but one that I did have to wrestle with my suspension of disbelief to continue a few times. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/23 "2012-04-26T02:33:26Z")
How about films? Walt Disney’s Atlantis is animated but adult enough to keep most peep’s attention, plenty of steam-punk and so advanced it is magic but looks like steam punk tech. The film’s of Terry Gilliam contain a lot of steam-punk props and themes. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/24 "2012-04-26T02:44:34Z")
The upcoming game _Dishonored_ looks to be a Steampunk version of Assassin’s Creed. Also, awesome. The Tv show Avatar: Legend of Korra is pretty steampunky. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/25 "2012-04-26T17:10:09Z")
The graphic novels [Grandville](http://www.amazon.com/Grandville-Bryan-Talbot/dp/1595823972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335459731&sr=8-1) and [Grandville Mon Amour](http://www.amazon.com/Grandville-Mon-Amour-Bryan-Talbot/dp/1595825746/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335459731&sr=8-2) by Bryan Talbot are only partially set in London, in a setting where Napoleon was successful in founding a French Empire, from which England has recently won her independence. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/26 "2012-04-26T23:08:55Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Would a story that starts (partially) in London, but goes very far abroad meet your requirements? If so, the _[Leviathan](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Scott-Westerfeld/dp/1416971734)_ trilogy by Scott Westerfeld is a fun read. Not only steampunk, but also wild genetic modifications at the same time. > > It’s a fun series of books, but one that I did have to wrestle with my suspension of disbelief to continue a few times. - 1. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/27 "2012-04-27T08:35:49Z")
Theodore Judson’s _Fitzpatrick’s War_ might be interesting–it’s set somewhat far in the future (up to 2600, I think), but it has a society without electricity and steam-based technology. It’s grand-scale pseudo-historical narrative, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/28 "2012-04-27T08:41:36Z")
Excuse my bias, but my husband’s first novel, **Empire State** , is set in New York and there are no vampires. It’s kinda noir steampunk. 🙂 [http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/books/empire-state/](http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/books/empire-state/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/29 "2012-04-27T13:28:31Z")
Try this short film, _The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello_: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORsKyopHyM) ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/30 "2012-04-28T10:32:31Z")
Sorry to take so long to reply - I’ve been reading all the responses, but have been a bit time-poor. > [@smiling bandit](#): > > The TV show Avatar: Legend of Korra is pretty steampunky. It is, and I love it! I’m liking the newsreel-style way they’re doing ‘previously on…’, and the way they’re not making the show a series of call backs to The Last Airbender. Korra kind of annoys me, but I’m sure that as the series progresses she gets the edges knocked off a little. I have high hopes for the series as a whole. I’ve also read and loved His Dark Materials and the Leviathan trilogies, and am a massive China Mieville fan. I agree, **N9IWP** , there’s a steampunk-ish vibe to the Bas-Lag series. Magic-punk? Industrial magic-punk? Sounds like a new music genre… All of your suggestions are lovely, and I hate to sound ungrateful. But I think I’m looking for something that’s not there. I do understand why the UK/US is the setting for so much of this genre, hell, it’s the setting for most of everything I read. I wanted to broaden my horizons a little, and read about Nairobi’s Zepplin Air Corps, and how they were intergral in fending off early colonial advances into the nation. Or how William Adams entered Tokyo under the escort of clockwork soldiers. Or how the Australian Subterraneum Interior Railway (Sydney-Perth in under eight hours) tunneled too close, and too deep, and woke what they should not… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/31 "2012-04-28T15:13:10Z")
You’re asking for what hardly exists. The U.S. and the U.K. are the setting for nearly all science fiction and fantasy (or for that matter, nearly all fiction) that’s available to read or watch in English. Yeah, it would be great if there were more fiction available to expand our horizons. Why doesn’t more of it get translated? Why doesn’t more of it get written? ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/32 "2012-04-28T15:25:19Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You’re asking for what hardly exists. The U.S. and the U.K. are the setting for nearly all science fiction and fantasy (or for that matter, nearly all fiction) that’s available to read or watch in English. Yeah, it would be great if there were more fiction available to expand our horizons. Why doesn’t more of it get translated? Why doesn’t more of it get written? I am being fussy, I know. I’d say that I’ve identified a gap in the market, but it’s not a gap as much as it’s a fractional sliver of a product that’s already pretty niche. I suspect this is a project that will have to go on the backburner for now, however I’ve got some great suggestions anyway: The Peshwar Lancers is on its way to me, and there are a few more titles (including your husband’s, **sandra\_nz** ) on my wishlist. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/33 "2012-04-28T17:45:18Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Also, other anime may qualify. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky (both Miyazaki works) have steampunkish elements but they take place in post cataclysmic worlds and don’t take place in clearly identified modern countries or even the recognizable future of any of those countries. Neither has vampires. They both have steampunkish flying machines, one has robots, and one has artificial life. Both of them have more that 200% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of Cute Anime Heroine ^\_^. Casshern fits this description too. Trailer on you tube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk9fGI90qdM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk9fGI90qdM) ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/34 "2012-04-29T08:16:27Z")
I did a review on [The Clockwork Man](http://www.amazon.com/The-Clockwork-Man-Science-Fiction/dp/1605420999/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1335687237&sr=8-5). It was pretty good, if you consider automatons to be steampunk. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/35 "2012-04-29T08:27:33Z")
It’s more Gaslamp Romance than Steampunk, but Martha Wells’ Fall of Ile-Rien is really, really good. It does have magic, albeit a very proto-scientific type, so fair warning; but there are also airships and so on. The titular Ile-Rien has a continental feel, and a good chunk of the story is in a different place entirely, so it’s not London. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/36 "2012-04-29T13:31:49Z")
I’m halfway through Stephen Hunt’s **Court of the Air** ; it’s primarily steampunk with fantasy elements (magic conjurers and “real” gods) taking place in fictional countries (it’s hard to say definitively that this is even supposed to be Earth, the names are common English-based names but there are sentient non-human characters). 250 pages in, there has been a vampire hinted at (something’s draining blood from unfortunate victims) but there’s absolutely no indication that it’s your typical “blah blah, I vant to suck your blood” kind of thing. It’s engaging and enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912/37 "2012-04-30T07:52:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You’re asking for what hardly exists. The U.S. and the U.K. are the setting for nearly all science fiction and fantasy (or for that matter, nearly all fiction) that’s available to read or watch in English. Yeah, it would be great if there were more fiction available to expand our horizons. Why doesn’t more of it get translated? Why doesn’t more of it get written? A lot of it that gets written abroad in science fiction is set in the US. Same as, say, US comic book writers feel free to insert feudal countries into Europe, or US novelists to have social situations in Europe or Latin America which are completely irreal, many non-English writers reckon that “if you want to write about a place where people may do things that would be considered crazy here, just set it in the US - after all, American media has them doing crazy things all the time.” There’s legal figures which exist Over There but not Over Here (such as citizen’s arrests), there is a whole body of art where things that are completely illogical get done all the time (such as leaving someone strung to a light pole and expecting that he’ll end up in jail), and our readers don’t care that el Condado de San Patrás del Pino Verde (Oregón) does not exist any more than American readers care about the nonexistence of Latveria or Wakanda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-me-some-steampunk-that-isnt-set-in-london-and-doesnt-feature-vampires/619912.md?page=1)