Cogs & Cutlasses – Introduction by THE Jay Barnson 😉
For those unfamiliar with the term, steampunk can be considered Victorian-era fantasy (or science fiction, as imagined in the era). If you think of modern stories following in the footsteps of Mary Shelly, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells, you probably aren’t too far off. It’s a fun concept, and I always thought it was a refreshing alternative fantasy setting to medieval Europe.
My first published fiction story (as an adult) was a steampunk story, entitled “Dots, Dashes, and Deceit,” involved Morse code, mechanical men, and, of course, airships. I wrote part of it while I was in Bangladesh while in lockdown in my hotel room due to riots. Yeah, I had some real-life drama and excitement to help push the story along.
Since then, I’ve had several steampunk short stories published, although not all were labeled ‘steampunk’. For me, steampunk is more of a starting point for ideas. Who knows where I’ll land? Anyway, due to my experience in the subgenre, I was invited to write the introduction to the steampunk anthology, Cogs & Cutlasses, edited by J.R. Handy. You can click on the title for the link to check it out. I was honored to be asked to do this, and I hope that what I wrote adds to the experience for readers.
Is steampunk science fiction or fantasy?
Would steampunk be considered science fiction or fantasy? I was on a panel where we debated that at a particular convention many years ago. This caused a bit of a discussion over the definitions of science fiction versus fantasy. I don’t remember us reducing it down to a definitive answer.
Years later with much more experience, I can answer with more authority: I dunno.
For some people, this is a much bigger question. They do not want fantasy’s chocolate to mix with science fiction’s peanut butter. I get it. I used to be that way, too. I would even refer to Star Wars as “science fantasy.” And while I have a more open mind these days with games like Shadowrun, I’m generally not interested in having elves and dragons in my cyberpunk.
As a student of the pulps, I discovered that the genres didn’t really exist until the pulp era. They were just “fanciful stories.” Classic “romances” (which, at the time, meant something more along the lines of an adventure story, which often had no significant love interest). One of the early Conan stories (The Tower of the Elephant) was borderline science fiction with the survivor of a spacefaring alien race enslaved by a sorcerer. The categories evolved over time as the magazines attempted to differentiate themselves from each other.
The Origin of the Species Genres
Hugo Gernsback, creator of Amazing Stories magazine, tried to coin the label “Scientifiction.” Obviously, it didn’t stick. His attempt in issue #1 to define his vision of science fiction was a mixture of a “charming romance” (in the classical definition), technology, and “prophetic vision.” Gernsback was an inventor, and no doubt saw his style of science fiction as, among other things, a way to communicate the amazing new developments to an audience.
When John W. Campbell stepped into the Editor-in-Chief position at Astounding (which still exists as Analog), he brought his own style of science fiction, with more rigid requirements and editorial preferences. Since it paid better than the average pulp, many authors wrote their stories with Astounding in mind as a potential market, adding to the barrier between science fiction and other styles of what we now know as SFF. This influence lives on today as to what we consider “science fiction.”
But the pulps of the era just went their own way. Planet Stories, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, and others carved out their own niche.
I understand that when Jules Verne penned Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, he did painstaking research to get his science right, according to the understanding of the day. If the “science fiction” category had existed back in the 1860s, his stories would solidly belong there. But if you were to write a similar story today, based on now-disproved Victorian scientific theory, what would it be?
Again, my answer, “I dunno.” My inclination is to say fantasy. In the same way that writing a new story today inspired by 1950s pulp positing moon bases in the 1980s and World War III in the 1990s would be fantasy (or at least “alternate history”). But really, I would probably just call it steampunk and not worry about it.
It helps to know that what we think of as “genre” is really not much more than a convenient marketing tool. I know “marketing” gets treated as a dirty word, but this isn’t a bad thing. It helps readers find more books they like. It’s really just a way of saying, “If you like X, try Y!”
This is why I try not to worry too much about the boundaries between genres. They can be useful markers for authors to manage reader expectations (and later marketing), but the story should come first. And if it doesn’t conveniently fit into neat pre-defined boxes, that’s okay. I don’t mind a little fantasy crossing over the boundary into (most of) my science fiction. I’m happy enough just saying, “It’s steampunk!” and leave it at that.
Anyway, that’s enough for now! Have yourself a great time! Oh, and if you haven’t picked up your free ebook, Heart of the Sky, be sure to grab yourself a copy!
Clara Memory
Reminder: Free book!
Twisted Metal grew to become a popular franchise, and even became a TV series recently that is currently producing a second season. For that time in my life, vehicular combat dominated my conscious thoughts. Still, as much as I put my passion into it, I really wished we could do something more like Car Wars, with a grittier science fiction world than the over-the-top dark-humor fantasy of the videogame.
I had hoped at this time to reward you all for that by offering you a free novella. It’s coming, but the above difficulties delayed things a bit. Up until now, the delay was entirely my own fault. Hopefully by the end of the year, but that depends on schedules other than mine for editing, etc. Watch this space! It will be available to everyone subscribed to the email! And if you want to know how to do that… there’s a link on this page to the right of this post. 🙂
I was a little apprehensive watching the TV series Twisted Metal on Peacock, starring Anthony Mackie (Falcon in the Marvel movies). Emotionally, I feel a little bit of ownership of Twisted Metal. Legally, of course, I have none. I was hired to help create the original game back in 1993-1994. It was my first real job out of college–creating a pair of games for Sony’s then-upcoming Playstation. Yeah, the first one. Twisted Metal was a launch title, and while it wasn’t the prettiest game, it was enough of a hit to spawn an entire series of games across multiple Sony (and PC) platforms.
“Isekai” is a Japanese word meaning another (or alternate) world. As a subgenre, it’s roughly synonymous with “portal fantasy.”