Sunday, October 30, 2011

Steampunkish Books To Be Reviewed! Coming Soon~

These are just some books in my stacks that I plan to read in November.  I wanted to share some quick notes on them.



Book #4 in the Clockwork Century Series by Cherie Priest
this is not-to-be-missed if you're a steampunk aficionado!
Cherie Priest has put her stamp on what it means to be a woman writer of the steampunk genre.

Others of the books in this Clockwork Century Series are:
"The Boneshaker,"  "Clementine," and "Dreadnought" respectively.
 
Read more about this book here:

"The air pirate Andan Cly is going straight. Well, straighter. Although he’s happy to run alcohol guns wherever the money’s good, he doesn’t think the world needs more sap, or its increasingly ugly side-effects. But becoming legit is easier said than done, and Cly’s first legal gig—a supply run for the Seattle Underground—will be paid for by sap money.
New Orleans is not Cly’s first pick for a shopping run. He loved the Big Easy once, back when he also loved a beautiful mixed-race prostitute named Josephine Early—but that was a decade ago, and he hasn’t looked back since. Jo’s still thinking about him, though, or so he learns when he gets a telegram about a peculiar piloting job. It’s a chance to complete two lucrative jobs at once, one he can’t refuse. He sends his old paramour a note and heads for New Orleans, with no idea of what he’s in for—or what she wants him to fly.
But he won’t be flying. Not exactly. Hidden at the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain lurks an astonishing war machine, an immense submersible called the Ganymede. This prototype could end the war, if only anyone had the faintest idea of how to operate it…. If only they could sneak it past the Southern forces at the mouth of the Mississippi River… If only it hadn’t killedot inside it. But it’s those “if onlys” that will decide whether Cly and his crew will end up in the history books, or at the bottom of the ocean."

Just a picture of me and my grandmother Charlotte Flowers Triplett last week in London after the World's Fair honoring Queen Victoria.  I'm the girl on the left-hand side.  Grannie's on the far right.  What fun we had!!  We tripped the boardwalk home afterwards.

Wild, wild West, anyone?  It's a strange treat to meet all the "boys" of the OK Corral in steampunk!  What was once a veritable freebie has now fled up the charts in sales and 5 stars category.

Here's a quick summary:

"The year is 1881. The United States of America ends at the Mississippi River. Beyond lies the Indian nations, where the magic of powerful Medicine Men has halted the advance of the Americans east of the river. An American government desperate to expand its territory sends Thomas Alva Edison out West to the town of Tombstone, Arizona, on a mission to discover a scientific means of counteracting magic. Hired to protect this great genius, Wyatt Earp and his brothers. But there are plenty who would like to see the Earps and Edison dead. Riding to their aid are old friends Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. Against them stand the Apache wizard Geronimo and the Clanton gang. Battle lines are drawn, and the Clanton gang, which has its own reasons for wanting Edison dead, sends for Johnny Ringo, the one man who might be Doc Holliday's equal in a gunfight. But what shows up instead is The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo, returned from the dead and come to Tombstone looking for a fight. Welcome to a West like you've never seen before, where "Bat Masterson" hails from the ranks of the undead, where electric lights shine down on the streets of Tombstone, while horseless stagecoaches carry passengers to and fro, and where death is no obstacle to The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo. Think you know the story of the O.K. Corral? Think again, as five-time Hugo winner Mike Resnick takes on his first steampunk western tale, and the West will never be the same."


Hope you have great reading plans for November, too.  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

*Note:  All summary quotes are taken from Barnes & Noble

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Steampunk Fascinating~ "The Art of Steampunk" by Art Donavan

Published by:  Fox Chapel Publishing
Pages:  128
Genre: Art Exhibit


The Dame's Review:

Steampunk by its very conception was meant to be quirky and odd-placed, not-of-this timeframe; actually, quite disarranged. In this collection of museum-exhibited pieces of steampunkery (if that's even a word)we find a daunting group of work from artists of all minds and capabilities. I found this book both charming and awe-inspiring. I could look at it over and over for ages.

Art Donovan, the man who coordinated the exhibit and compiled the works in this small book, has a keen eye for the wonders of steampunk and its place in the world of fine art. He comments that, "Steampunk has already influenced everything from product design to fine art and fashion." To which I want to make a resounding clap of hands! Jules Verne would be so amazed and joyful to see what his imagination wrought, and how man has taken it to the next steps and beyond.

In this book we see the beautiful, clean line and artistic aesthetic of physical scientific materials juxtaposed with natural products
and man-made materials such as refined leather and rubber. I'm only touching the surface when I give that much description because the clocks, lamps, laptops and other pieces shown in this exhibit will sit you back in your seat, spellbound and gaping.

This book may answer that question we had as children; why would someone want to be a "Cat Burglar?" Why in this case is because the amazing, inventive gadgets made into works of art are so superior and elegant they are incomparable treasures!

When you peruse this book, it will take you out of the 21st century and place you someplace else, and you'll want to don brass, iron, leather, jewels, stone, crystals and time-pieces...you'll want to be wound up in a time machine and a steampunk gizmo for a trip. You'll wish you'd been at this amazing display of formidable artists' designs.


Please enjoy a part of the exhibit yourself!


5 clockwinding stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Monday, October 3, 2011

Steampunk Jewelry Artist~Dereck Maltez's Extraordinarily Weird & Wonderful Work!

Dereck Maltez Rocks Steampunk Jewelry Designs!

Red, Taxidemist's Reptilian Eye Ring w/ Copper Wiring and Gear


Steampunk Reptilian Eye Ring Screams Futuristic!


Mr. Maltez's Description of These Rings

 "...ring is hand made with insulated copper wire and electric copper wire, this is a craft, with a rifle Bullet Casings and mounted, glass taxidermy eye and gear from watch and bead.


The Dame's Point:

Visiting Mr. Maltez's "Wire Jewelry and Steampunk Jewelry by Dereck Maltez" on Etsy is an incredible experience!  I ran across the shop by a crazy happenstance this past weekend.  The jewelry designs jumped out at me because of his use of taxidermy, of all things!  What a genius idea for the perfect concoction of steampunk and sy-fy accouterments.

What I also love about Dereck's designs is that it reflects steampunk's vital genre grounding:  female and male equality.  Both men and women will look kranked in his jewelry.  The assortment of styles and pieces Dereck has mixes things madly.  And, his prices are too reasonable, with the rings shown above going for under $60.00.   That's just a steal. 


I Love The Heavily Geared and Sproketed Look of This One with the Jewel!


A Frightening Masterpiece of a Mechanical Spider--Pendant or Pin
$250.00
The Spider's inspiration was the mechanical one in "Wild, Wild West" movie!


Dereck Maltez is the Dame's choice for Steampunk Jewelry Artist of the Season.  I hope you've enjoyed the tour of his creations and that you'll visit him on his Facebook and Etsy sites.



Dereck's Etsy Blurb:


"Jewelry Designer of the Steampunk Movement" :
Steampunk Rings, Bracelets, Watches, Necklaces, and more.
 Exclusive designs by : keoops8 and steamwire, http://steampunkwire.blogspot.com/



Visit Dereck Maltez here:


www.facebook.com/steampunkwire (fans page)www.facebook.com/feathersOnhair
www.twitter.com/steampunkring
www.twitter.com/steamwire



In Conclusion :

I'm hoping to get an interview with Dereck in the near future with a forecast of his new designs for the Winter and Spring.  Can you see the influence of Florida beaches and sunshine?


*Please let us know what you think of his jewelry.  We'd love some feedback!


Deborah/TheBookishDame

Steampunk's Crankin' New Books ~ Steampunk Week Wonders!

The Dame Speaks of Steampunk Week:

These are some choices taken from Barnes & Noble.  One of the things I enjoy about this genre is the inclusion of strong women characters.  These books live up to that equation.  Bully for them in this 21st century!


...a weird Wild West story.
Complete with a dead, mangled Doc Holliday, horseless stage coaches and Wyatt, Women and the Boys
Steampunk style!


Steamy tropical environs of late 1800's where plague survivors take steamworks to flee vampire hordes...to 2010 battles
Love and looming dangers!

Book 4 in the "Clockwork Century"
 novels
"Gandymede" the underwater war ship to end the war?
Cherie Priest is the womanpunk writer personified!


If you can't read one of these, at least think about buying a steampunk book this week!  Support the writers who are making this genre a stand-out for this generation.

What are your favorite steampunk novels of the year??

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Cory Doctorow's Dickensesque Story in "Steampunk!" Anthology Foreshadows Good Book!

Published by:  Candlewick Press
Pages:  Preview Ebook
Cory Doctorow Story:  "Clockwork Fagin"
Available Free:  Barnes & Noble/Nook



Summary:

Imagine an alternate universe where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, utopian revolutionaries, and intrepid orphans solve crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships. In Steampunk!, fourteen masters of speculative fiction, including two graphic storytellers, embrace the genre's established themes and refashion them in surprising ways and settings as diverse as Appalachia, Ancient Rome, future Australia, and alternate California.

Get a preview of the anthology by sampling one of these inventive tales for free-Cory Doctorow's "Clockwork Fagin," in which orphans use the puppet of a dead man to take control of their lives.

The Steampunkish Dame's Review:

Far be it from me to put the kabosh on anything Cory Doctorow has a hand in contributing to!  He is one of my idols of sy-fy, fantasy (?), and contemporary other-worldly writing.  I can't turn around without reading or hearing about his adeptness at curving the words and making characters stand on end for his adoring fans.  I'm one of them.

Once, I took that survey that's supposed to tell you whom you write like most.  Yep, you guessed it...my evaluation came back "Cory Doctorow."  This was some time ago, and frankly, I'd never heard of him.  Since then, how things have changed!  And, how certain I am that nobody can really write like he does.

This Anthology of steampunk stories has foreshadowings of madness and gear clickings. If Doctorow decided to participate along with other very well known authors of the mystic and strange, it's a book we need to snap up as soon as it becomes available. 

You'll get a "charge" out of Cory's Dickensesque story. Go by and get it for free if you have a Nook!

An anticipated 5 grinding gears of goodness

Deborah/TheBookishDame