Books Archive
Books: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – Thomas Stoppard
Shakespeare. The name sort of takes over a page doesn't it? It dominates, stealing the spotlight from whatever you might have actually been writing about. The man and his works are such a literary institution, so contentious and widely loved that just the name alone almost represents an
Books: The Cruise of the Alerte – E. F. Knight
The Cruise of the Alerte is one part travel guide, one part high seas adventure, and one part farce. It is the story of E.F. Knight, an English writer and lawyer in 1889, who receives a map that claims the location of buried pirate treasure and his subsequent adventure
The Apocalypse Will Be Slow and Boring
In 1978 James Burke produced and narrated a series on the history of science called Connections. It’s a wonderful series and I highly recommend you get a hold of all three seasons. But right now, watch this video about technology traps. You’ll get the idea after the first ten
Books: Perfume – Patrick Suskind
Perfume, by Patrick Suskind, follows the life of a man born in Paris, 1738 with no personal odor; a disquieting feature that people only notice subconsciously. This man, John-Baptiste Grenouille is best described by Suskind as “one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew
The Alchemy of Stone – Ekaterina Sedia
This book arrived in the post just as I was leaving for vacation so I was actually able to read it over a period of just 3 days – a rare thing for me! Ms. Sedia draws a detailed picture of an ancient city ruled by a tripartite balance
Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle
At Comic-Con this year, Phil Foglio was kind enough to give me a copy of the newest Girl Genius book. I've been a fan of the series for a while, flitting in and out as my time and internet connection would allow. But with this book, I'm hooked! The
Voyages Extraordinaires – Steampunk Month
The incomparable fiction blog Voyages Extraordinaires has declared August Steampunk Month! Voyages Extraordinaires is a weblog for people of intelligence and good breeding who enjoy Victorian-Edwardian Scientific Romances and Retro-Futurism, Victoriana and Neo-Victorianism, Voyages Extraordinaires and Imperialist Romances, Gothic Horror, Pulp Fiction, the Golden Ages of Hollywood and of
Podcast: Steampunk Panel at ReaderCon
Many of you likely read the Steampunk Panel at ReaderCon story on io9 about a week ago. We were fortunate to hear about this ahead of time and offered to podcast the discussion here and we’re very pleased and grateful that the panelists accepted our offer! Thanks especially to
Books: Jeeves and Wooster – P.G. Wodehouse
Amazon.com Widgets I will be blunt. Jeeves and Wooster is brilliant. Well, sort of. Jeeves is brilliant. Wooster is a complete idiot. It is off this dichotomy that Life With Jeeves, a three book omnibus by P.G. Wodehouse containing The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves!, and Right Ho,
And for this post I digress: That which writ the Guide
I know, I know- we’re a specialty blog. Steampunk. Gears. Brass. Tophats. Things of that nature. However.. I think that I am allowed one post that has nothing to do with Steampunk per se. I give you: The typewriter. The typewriter that belonged to Douglas Adams. The typewriter that