Book Review - The Steampunk Bible
Everything here is my opinion. You're allowed to disagree. Heck, you're encouraged to.
Looks like a LARP rules book... feels like a LARP rules book... you'd almost think it was a LARP rules book but actually it's the "Steampunk Bible" by Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers.
Author and editor Vandermeer has won a pair of World Fantasty Awards as well as other huzzahs and applauses and is likely best known locally for editting [with his wife] the pair of Steampunk Anthologies that have appeared on bookstore shelves. Chambers is also an editor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. At about 25$ for 220+ pages the "Steampunk Bible" is definitely well worth the money.
You have to be careful calling something a bible as that name brings with it a cart of luggage large enough to require a half dozen bellboys. Given that... I personally don't think it's a bible. I do think it's a fantastic read, a great book and a wonderful introduction to the beginner, with parts that will entertain and educate all readers no matter how long you've been in the Steampunk community. I know that it gave me several points of good thought. It is an excellent guide.
It's well laid out in an intelligent and logical manner. The first two chapters deal with the subculture's definition, popularity and history. The roots of Steampunk are examined in depth through Wells, Verne and Poe and the modern movement is explored though the emphasis is on the far past rather than the recent.
Chapter three looks at the literature which is truly the foundation and fundament of the Steampunk subculture. This is where it began and where it's still going strong. They do cover a fair range of books and comics with enough delights to please any reader.
The fourth chapter is a good sized chunk on the makers among the subculture and though they don't cover a broad range of artificers they do hit all the heavies and discuss the creators as well as the created. The focus here does tend to be on the complex and large but they offer an insert of several pages explaining how to do your own Home Etching on tins; something fairly simplistic and detailed sufficiently for the everyman.
Then comes the section on fashion, accessories, music and the subculture as most of its participants see it. They could have done a whole book on this particular chapter alone and it shows, but you have to cut it somewhere or you end up with volumes 1 to 42. They explore the history of the fashion and offer some great pictures though I felt that they could have shown more diversity. I don't agree with their "Four Styles of Steampunk Fashion" but I've always found that different regions use different labels and definitions so fair is fair... this is theirs. Doesn't need to be yours. Nor did I find the pictures for the "Street Urchin" and the "Tinker" styles to be all that indicative of the styles. They didn't have a lot to say about the accessories but honestly, there isn't a lot to say so they did cover it reasonably well. The Bible's "Eight Ways to Raise Your Steampunk Fashion Game" lacks a bit as well.
The part of chapter five on Music... now there's where I had my major sticking points but then again, as a DJ and ob-com music guy, I would. They missed a couple of very important bands/artists. The quote from Evelyn Kriete about what Steampunk music is, is a mouthful of steam... it's a chunk of big words that really doesn't mean anything much. When I read it for the fourth time I thought to myself "Just what the hell does that really mean?!?" Of course it's not easy to define Steampunk music [though we do keep trying] and that could make for a chapter of its own. And the traits of Steampunk music that are listed are... well, rather generic and again without much meaning as far as the music itself goes.
The final section of this chapter on events was entertaining but mostly fluffy followed by a fun little five page "whatever" tale about a group of Steampunk folk and their imaginary airship. I'm not sure how that translates to 'events' but it does offer a glimpse into the fun that can be had with imagination and how building a group world can keep people together even when they are geographically distant.
Chapter six is about movies and television and is a little confusing. They begin with the old films, the history done in a page or so touching upon a few of the gems before sliding into television with a lot about a little. I think this might be the 'historic media' section. The Bible then offers a good sized write up about the Japanese Masters before returning to Hollywood for a few more pages. The section called "Demented One-Offs" is mislabelled, merely taking the reader out of Hollywood into other parts of the world as well as a single example of You-Tubery. "New Steampunk TV Trends" is pretty much about "Warehouse 13" with a mention of some Steampunk aesthetic showing up in an episode of NCIS. From most of the date marks, the book was written primarily in 2008/09 so of course they're going to miss a lot of stuff, particularly as Steampunk continues to swell and grow with erratic leaps.
The last chapter on the Future of Steampunk I found interesting but, in the end, mostly a 'hey, we could kind of LIVE this way and in our own way make the world a better place through green-ness and sustainability' sort of thing, which won't appeal to everyone. They do get international in this chapter though the Bible primarily looks only at France and Brazil. The Steampunk Manifesto made me wonder why the subculture needs a manifesto and how many [outside of the maker population] will really pay attention to it.
Do remember that the authors are Floridians so the focus does tend to be on the U.S. of A. and yet I found they tripped to other countries enough to keep me reading [though the Great White North, naturally, doesn't seem to exist anywhere in the Bible... but we're fairly new on the scene even if we are big and enthusiastic]. Some of the inserts were annoying - requiring the reader to either stop midsentence and jump topics for a page or three, or read ahead and then come back and remember where to pick it up from. The number and type of photographs and sketches were great, though lacking in the Fashion section [again I repeat "it's own book"].
Overall... I'll give it a solid 7 out of 10 with a sliding scale making it an 8+ for beginners and people looking deeper than the clothing and the toys... and a 6 or so for those who're solid Steampunkers.
Available at Hairy Tarantula in downtown Toronto, I haven't seen it on the shelves of Chapters/Indigo yet. I'm sure it's available from Amazon.
And mine can be borrowed on request.
Looks like a LARP rules book... feels like a LARP rules book... you'd almost think it was a LARP rules book but actually it's the "Steampunk Bible" by Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers.
Author and editor Vandermeer has won a pair of World Fantasty Awards as well as other huzzahs and applauses and is likely best known locally for editting [with his wife] the pair of Steampunk Anthologies that have appeared on bookstore shelves. Chambers is also an editor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. At about 25$ for 220+ pages the "Steampunk Bible" is definitely well worth the money.
You have to be careful calling something a bible as that name brings with it a cart of luggage large enough to require a half dozen bellboys. Given that... I personally don't think it's a bible. I do think it's a fantastic read, a great book and a wonderful introduction to the beginner, with parts that will entertain and educate all readers no matter how long you've been in the Steampunk community. I know that it gave me several points of good thought. It is an excellent guide.
It's well laid out in an intelligent and logical manner. The first two chapters deal with the subculture's definition, popularity and history. The roots of Steampunk are examined in depth through Wells, Verne and Poe and the modern movement is explored though the emphasis is on the far past rather than the recent.
Chapter three looks at the literature which is truly the foundation and fundament of the Steampunk subculture. This is where it began and where it's still going strong. They do cover a fair range of books and comics with enough delights to please any reader.
The fourth chapter is a good sized chunk on the makers among the subculture and though they don't cover a broad range of artificers they do hit all the heavies and discuss the creators as well as the created. The focus here does tend to be on the complex and large but they offer an insert of several pages explaining how to do your own Home Etching on tins; something fairly simplistic and detailed sufficiently for the everyman.
Then comes the section on fashion, accessories, music and the subculture as most of its participants see it. They could have done a whole book on this particular chapter alone and it shows, but you have to cut it somewhere or you end up with volumes 1 to 42. They explore the history of the fashion and offer some great pictures though I felt that they could have shown more diversity. I don't agree with their "Four Styles of Steampunk Fashion" but I've always found that different regions use different labels and definitions so fair is fair... this is theirs. Doesn't need to be yours. Nor did I find the pictures for the "Street Urchin" and the "Tinker" styles to be all that indicative of the styles. They didn't have a lot to say about the accessories but honestly, there isn't a lot to say so they did cover it reasonably well. The Bible's "Eight Ways to Raise Your Steampunk Fashion Game" lacks a bit as well.
The part of chapter five on Music... now there's where I had my major sticking points but then again, as a DJ and ob-com music guy, I would. They missed a couple of very important bands/artists. The quote from Evelyn Kriete about what Steampunk music is, is a mouthful of steam... it's a chunk of big words that really doesn't mean anything much. When I read it for the fourth time I thought to myself "Just what the hell does that really mean?!?" Of course it's not easy to define Steampunk music [though we do keep trying] and that could make for a chapter of its own. And the traits of Steampunk music that are listed are... well, rather generic and again without much meaning as far as the music itself goes.
The final section of this chapter on events was entertaining but mostly fluffy followed by a fun little five page "whatever" tale about a group of Steampunk folk and their imaginary airship. I'm not sure how that translates to 'events' but it does offer a glimpse into the fun that can be had with imagination and how building a group world can keep people together even when they are geographically distant.
Chapter six is about movies and television and is a little confusing. They begin with the old films, the history done in a page or so touching upon a few of the gems before sliding into television with a lot about a little. I think this might be the 'historic media' section. The Bible then offers a good sized write up about the Japanese Masters before returning to Hollywood for a few more pages. The section called "Demented One-Offs" is mislabelled, merely taking the reader out of Hollywood into other parts of the world as well as a single example of You-Tubery. "New Steampunk TV Trends" is pretty much about "Warehouse 13" with a mention of some Steampunk aesthetic showing up in an episode of NCIS. From most of the date marks, the book was written primarily in 2008/09 so of course they're going to miss a lot of stuff, particularly as Steampunk continues to swell and grow with erratic leaps.
The last chapter on the Future of Steampunk I found interesting but, in the end, mostly a 'hey, we could kind of LIVE this way and in our own way make the world a better place through green-ness and sustainability' sort of thing, which won't appeal to everyone. They do get international in this chapter though the Bible primarily looks only at France and Brazil. The Steampunk Manifesto made me wonder why the subculture needs a manifesto and how many [outside of the maker population] will really pay attention to it.
Do remember that the authors are Floridians so the focus does tend to be on the U.S. of A. and yet I found they tripped to other countries enough to keep me reading [though the Great White North, naturally, doesn't seem to exist anywhere in the Bible... but we're fairly new on the scene even if we are big and enthusiastic]. Some of the inserts were annoying - requiring the reader to either stop midsentence and jump topics for a page or three, or read ahead and then come back and remember where to pick it up from. The number and type of photographs and sketches were great, though lacking in the Fashion section [again I repeat "it's own book"].
Overall... I'll give it a solid 7 out of 10 with a sliding scale making it an 8+ for beginners and people looking deeper than the clothing and the toys... and a 6 or so for those who're solid Steampunkers.
Available at Hairy Tarantula in downtown Toronto, I haven't seen it on the shelves of Chapters/Indigo yet. I'm sure it's available from Amazon.
And mine can be borrowed on request.