SUSAN KAYE QUINN

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Steampunk Prize Pack of Awesome Giveaway

Dear Beloved Followers,

I am not an expert in steampunk. After all, I’m no Matt Delman. (Which didn’t stop me from dabbling in it, of course.)

But I can give you my impression of the genre.

You can find definitions on Wikipedia, or Matt’s fabulous site, that describe steampunk as 1) science fiction set in a Victorian era using steam technology, and/or 2) a more expansive aesthetic that includes science fantasy features that are futuristic and retro at the same time.

But steampunk strikes me mostly as an attitude. With the future appearing bleak in much science fiction today, and future technology approaching magic, steampunk allows us to escape into an altered past, where technology is inventive but still intuitive – we can understand and admire an elegant airship or a clockwork robot or a fabricated Darwinist creature. The technology is pleasantly within our reach, and at the same time provides grist for many adventures, where communications are limited, speeds are slower, and the bad guys just might have a new mechanick device that will change everything.

And then there’s the fashion. Buttoned up clothing, goggles that go with everything, and extreme manners and high teas give a high brow yet campy feel to these stories. And these elements also make for great storytelling and a rich playground for writers to frolick in.

But while most steampunk escapes into a fantasy past, it carries with with it modern sensibilities about justice and equality. The heroines of steampunk are spunky girls dressed as boys or intrepid spies with dark histories. The heroes struggle with the norms of society as much as the girls do, but in different ways. And some steampunk novels dispense with the past altogether and bring the steampunkery into an altered present. Thus we have steampunk novels set in an altered World War I era (Leviathan, Behemoth), a hidden steampunk world in modern Avalon, Minnesota (The Brimstone Key), or a rich world of steamworks in Victorian England along with shape-shifters and other creatures-of-science (The Hunchback Assignments). But they all share a sassy and adventurous attitude that readers will quickly come to love.

This week we’ll have reviews of steampunk books, a guest post from a steampunk author, and the unveiling of a new feature on Ink Spells. To celebrate the steampunkery fun, I will be giving away the Steampunk Prize Pack of Awesome, as follows:

  • My review copy of The Brimstone Key by Derek Benz and Jon S. Lewis 
  • Four posters from the Grey Griffins series (four pictures above)
  • My review copies of The Hunchback Assignments and The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade
  • A SIGNED COPY of Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

I had the incredible good fortune to have Scott Westerfeld touring through Chicago this month. I missed him on his first sweep through for Leviathan, but now he is out touring for the second book in the series, Behemoth (which I’ll be reviewing later in the week).
If you get a chance to go to a Scott Westerfeld signing, take it. He was not only funny and charming, but he gave a fantastic talk about the history of illustration in novels (Leviathan and Behemoth have gorgeous drawings, including some in color for Behemoth), as well as the evolution of the books themselves. He also took questions from the audience, so naturally I posed one or two. One of my questionswas about developing slang for his novels (his steampunk books are rich in alternate-world slang). He said he used a lot of Australian words as the basis for his Uglies series, and that a lot of the slang in Leviathan and Behemoth are actual words used in the time period (WWI).
Although Westerfeld looks a bit dour in both of these pictures, I can assure you he was delightfully funny in person and was gracious enough to sign multiple books, including a copy of Behemoth for the giveaway and the cover of my Nook (which held a copy of Leviathan).
This is an epic post, but this is the Steampunk Prize Pack of Awesome Giveaway, so there was a lot to cover. To enter is simple: leave a comment in this post. Winner will be announced on Friday. But you’ll want to be stopping back all this week for the other steampunkery fun!
UPDATE: Open only to shipping in the U.S. Sorry, I should have mentioned that before!
Yours in Steampunk,
Dr. Quinn

Comments

  1. You're right–this is epic! I loved Leviathan and have enjoyed other steampunk (The Golden Compass) so I'm eager to enter. Thanks for the interesting post and chance to win such grand books. *looking for my goggles*

  7. Susan, I'm just at the point that I'm ready to explore a new genre (in reading) and I love the endorsement of writers because they know what's good. I've already reserved Scott Westerfeld's book at our library. Looks like you had a great time meeting him. Thanks for having the contest!

  9. Cool. Are you also entering Matt's invention contest?

    That's an awesome prize package, and I'll definitely be back to follow the rest of your Steampunk posts.

    ……dhole

  10. That's a pretty cool (and accurate, I think) take on steampunk. I want Behemoth and will happily settle for those other prizes. Count me in. (I have friends in the States who can accept the prize for me :-).

  11. @Donna Just after I announced my steampunk contest, I realized I was competing with Matt in running a contest at the same time! My apologies to my good friend in steampunk for that. But the timing is partially due to the blog tour for Jon S. Lewis, which Matt was gracious enough to send the publishers my way. So friends, please see Matt's contest as well!

  13. I love steampunk, heck the background on my laptop is steampunk! Thanks for holding such a rad contest, and giving me a new list of books to read 🙂

  14. Holy truckload of awesome, Susan! I love, love, love steampunk and would kill (or at least seriously maim) for a signed copy of Behemoth – O-M-G!!! This week is going to rock. 🙂

  15. This is an awesome giveaway. I have been wanting to read all of these books already, and seriously an autographed copy? Sweet.

    jlynettes @ hotmail . com

  20. Susan, I loved your definition and description of what steampunk is… it was quite lovely. And I'd love to read these books… sounds right up my alley! What a great contest!!

    Thanks for always leaving sucn nice comments on my blog. 🙂 Your book is on my TBR list!

  21. Susan, this is great fun! I like your run-down on steampunk. This blog has grown very nicely since I last stopped by. I hope to be dropping in more often in the future.

    Cheers!

  25. So far I've only read one steampunk book, Soulless (for adults) and I LOVED IT and I can't wait until I have time to tackle Leviathan and some other MG steampunk books. This Brimstone one looks great too. Looking forward to the rest of your Steampunk week!

  28. @Elizabeth I didn't realize steampunk was SF until I started writing it (dabbling, really). It's all over the map in terms of the SF-ness, so you might be pleasantly surprised. 🙂

About Susan

Susan Kaye Quinn is PhD Environmental Engineer turned spec fic author who writes hopeful climate fiction & solarpunk.
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