Steampunk

Steampunk: What is it? For a detailed look at the genre, I suggest you try wikipedia, for just a precis, however, look no further.

Steampunk is a somewhat broad genre encompassing fantasy, alternate history and even sci-fi in it's attempts to bring the romanticism and feel of the Victorian age into the story. Steampunk also reaches beyond literature and story telling into fashion and even music, however since I don't give much of a damn about the first and nobody understands what steampunk music is, it's probably best if we focused on the story aspect of steampunk.

Some of the main steampunk cliches include steam power (obviously), brass, goggles (steam and bare eyes don't go so well together), Victorian era costume and zeppelins. What makes the genre so fascinating, I suspect, is the sense of exciting discoveries and science that relies on practicalities rather than the understanding of atoms, particles and energy flows.

If you're interested in reading some steampunk (and let's face it, who wouldn't be?), I'd suggest the novel The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt and the webcomics Girl Genius and FreakAngels.

The Court of the Air is steampunk fantasy in which the two main characters and the large supporting cast try to defend the world from the forces of Carlism (An extreme version of socialism) and the insect gods who desire human sacrifices and to send the world into the dark ages.

Girl Genius is about an alternate history in which people there are people with the ability to make wonderful steam powered robots known as clanks. These people are called sparks and they are born with this ability (presumably, or maybe it's given to them by the ability fairy when it gets bored, either way the ability doesn't come from hard work and perservation) and the main character apparently lacks any such ability at all.

FreakAngels is set a little in the future where a group of people with supernormal abilities protect a small settlement of people. For reasons that become obvious, civilization has suffered from extreme flooding and now raiders try to attack the settlement for the resources that they have and the raiders don't. Also, most of the technology is now steam powered... makes sense, what with all the water around.

In conclusion, steampunk is a broad, fun and somewhat weird amalgamation of old technology and modern strangeness with just a pinch of Victorian sensibilities thrown into the mix. It's hard to tell if you'll like the genre, because it's full of so much variety that there's bound to be something you'll like.