drupagliassotti @ November 15, 2009 # 2 Comments
Wicked Gentlemen Ginn Hale 2007, Blind Eye Books Wicked Gentlemen is a dark and lush gaslamp fantasy set in the Victorianesque city of Crowncross, where the Covenant of Redemption brought Ashmedai, Sariel, and Satanel up from hell to experience baptism and the Great Conversion. Now the demonic offspring of hell’s great princes, the Prodigals, dwell [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 25, 2009 # One Comment
“Did either of you know she looked into a book? A glass book?” “Not at all,” answered Svenson. “Are you sure?” “She said nothing,” muttered Chang. “But when would she have?” admitted Svenson. [...] “The point is that my glass book was empty,” said Elöise, “its intent being to take my memories. But Miss Temple [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 16, 2009 # No Comment Yet
The rain beyond the porch roof sang and pattered and sighed. Electric lamps on the dam blazed all night, every night, but here, with the temple and half the scholarium buildings between, the rain stole all the light. Passageways and cloistered yards were filled with falling sparks, while the buildings were only an absence, a [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 10, 2009 # No Comment Yet
“To the great distress of my only available relative, I have been thrust into the company of two men at the very border — if that — of respectability. This morning we were strangers. In this instant all three of us are without sanctuary. What I want — in fact demand — is that we [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 4, 2009 # No Comment Yet
A few readers have asked me what other books I might recommend that are like Clockwork Heart. The novel that instantly leaps to mind is Paula Volsky’s richly textured The Grand Ellipse (2000). Although it’s primarily gaslamp fantasy, I think fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance will appreciate it: the main characters possess very Victorian [...]
drupagliassotti @ March 2, 2009 # 2 Comments
As I began reading through “steampunkish” books to review on this site, I realized that it was going to become necessary to differentiate between two very similar genres, steampunk and gaslamp. In everyday discussions of books or movies, it’s quite likely that we’ll use the two terms interchangeably; however, when precision is needed (as in [...]
drupagliassotti @ November 14, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Today I’m spending at home on a much-needed “writing day,” and while doing a little side research into Victorian-era tissue preservation chemicals — pre-formaldehyde — I ran across this fascinating website: Madame Talbot’s Victorian Lowbrow and Gothic Lowbrow. I’ve tagged this post as “steampunk,” even though what she offers on her site isn’t really steampunk; [...]
drupagliassotti @ October 26, 2008 # 2 Comments
Just as an aside, today I learned that Airship Ventures is going to start zeppelin tours over San Francisco Bay. I wasn’t planning to go up to the SF area next until 2009′s Yaoi-Con, but now I’m thinkin’ I may have to plan a trip sooner than that! I’ve flown in a hot air balloon, [...]