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boreasword's review
4.0
Great overview of Steampunk origins and culture. As behooves a book of the genre, it is a stunning visual primer! It will make you want to read more!
corita's review
4.0
Three Excellent Reasons to Read The Steampunk Bible
Have you noticed that Steampunk seems to be everywhere? Are you curious and want to know more?
If you don’t know a lot about Steampunk, but you like the new Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) movies, then you’ve experienced Steampunk. Jules Verne and HG Wells meet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: new, improved, and updated. It’s about the clothes, the gadgets, and the time period. Plus, it’s lots of fun because there’s always a little bit of the fantastical thrown into the mix.
If you want to know more about Steampunk, then The Steampunk Bible (Jeff Vandermeer) is one of the books I'd recommend.
Here’s why I recommend it:
It gives detailed background information on the literature: the Steampunk movement began with books.
It explores the other areas that have morphed from the Steampunk books: fashion, cosplay (grownups playing dress up), the craftsmen who make Steampunk gadgets, the conferences, gatherings, exhibits, as well as the music, art, photography, and films.
It includes aspects of the global nature of the movement and how the movement manifests in other countries and cultures.
Who will enjoy The Steampunk Bible? This book is for the neophyte, who wants to learn more, and for the seasoned Steampunk veteran as well as those between these extremes. I'd bet that someone who knows a lot about Steampunk would learn something from this book. Before reading it, I didn’t realize the extensive influence and many facets of Steampunk.
One of the nice features is the seven chapters focus on a different aspect of Steampunk. So, you can return to a specific section and find what you want.
Photographs and Illustrations: The other big plus is the liberal use of photographs and illustrations. Do you like ray guns? Wondering about period costumes or Steampunk creations and the artisans who make them? There are pictures and illustrations to satisfy your curiosity.
To be honest, I’ve sipped coffee and spent a few hours admiring the pictures. No one will complain that there aren't enough pictures.
It's a Keeper: The excellent background information coupled with plenty of illustrations makes this book a keeper. It’ll stay on my bookshelf as a reference and as a fun book to take up again and again. Who wouldn’t want to look at a Steampunk guitar, a steam powered elephant, or lust over a Steampunk laptop?
Have you noticed that Steampunk seems to be everywhere? Are you curious and want to know more?
If you don’t know a lot about Steampunk, but you like the new Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) movies, then you’ve experienced Steampunk. Jules Verne and HG Wells meet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: new, improved, and updated. It’s about the clothes, the gadgets, and the time period. Plus, it’s lots of fun because there’s always a little bit of the fantastical thrown into the mix.
If you want to know more about Steampunk, then The Steampunk Bible (Jeff Vandermeer) is one of the books I'd recommend.
Here’s why I recommend it:
It gives detailed background information on the literature: the Steampunk movement began with books.
It explores the other areas that have morphed from the Steampunk books: fashion, cosplay (grownups playing dress up), the craftsmen who make Steampunk gadgets, the conferences, gatherings, exhibits, as well as the music, art, photography, and films.
It includes aspects of the global nature of the movement and how the movement manifests in other countries and cultures.
Who will enjoy The Steampunk Bible? This book is for the neophyte, who wants to learn more, and for the seasoned Steampunk veteran as well as those between these extremes. I'd bet that someone who knows a lot about Steampunk would learn something from this book. Before reading it, I didn’t realize the extensive influence and many facets of Steampunk.
One of the nice features is the seven chapters focus on a different aspect of Steampunk. So, you can return to a specific section and find what you want.
Photographs and Illustrations: The other big plus is the liberal use of photographs and illustrations. Do you like ray guns? Wondering about period costumes or Steampunk creations and the artisans who make them? There are pictures and illustrations to satisfy your curiosity.
To be honest, I’ve sipped coffee and spent a few hours admiring the pictures. No one will complain that there aren't enough pictures.
It's a Keeper: The excellent background information coupled with plenty of illustrations makes this book a keeper. It’ll stay on my bookshelf as a reference and as a fun book to take up again and again. Who wouldn’t want to look at a Steampunk guitar, a steam powered elephant, or lust over a Steampunk laptop?
liedora's review
4.0
This was a beautiful book with lavish illustrations tracing the Steampunk movement. Its origins in the industrial revolution and the literature of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, to its influence in modern day fiction, fashion, art, craftsmanship, and film, are all documented with beautiful photography, illustrations, and prints on almost every single page of the book; it's worth reading just for the visual experience as the layout of the pages has been well thought out to give the reader a feast for the eyes.
There were some sections that I found rather disappointing. For example, the section on Steampunk fashion made me feel that if I didn’t have the right boots/goggles/work belt, then I wouldn’t be considered to be serious about my Steampunk. This smacked of the elitist point of view to me, as I know many people that have some outstanding costumes and have won prizes, but don’t check all the blocks they say are necessary in this book. Also the section on much went on just a little too long for such a new sound.
However, I did find the book thought-provoking and insightful, and made me consider that Steampunk and other movements are actually springing up all around the globe full of people wanting to disconnect from our technological and virtual society. The do-it-yourself ethic in which Steampunk is highly invested, focuses on creating things with your own hands in order to reconnect with the world around you while at the same time giving yourself meaning and purpose in your life; we can see this mindset slowing taking hold through various avenues such as homesteading and self sufficiency groups.
I would recommend it to readers who are interested in this genre, if it can be called such; those who are just dipping a toe into Steampunk, and anyone else who would like a beautiful, and unusual coffee table book.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/review-the-steampunk-bible-an-illustrated-guide-to-the-world-of-imaginary-airships-corsets-and-goggles-mad-scientists-and-strange-literature-jeff-vandermeer-et-al/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
There were some sections that I found rather disappointing. For example, the section on Steampunk fashion made me feel that if I didn’t have the right boots/goggles/work belt, then I wouldn’t be considered to be serious about my Steampunk. This smacked of the elitist point of view to me, as I know many people that have some outstanding costumes and have won prizes, but don’t check all the blocks they say are necessary in this book. Also the section on much went on just a little too long for such a new sound.
However, I did find the book thought-provoking and insightful, and made me consider that Steampunk and other movements are actually springing up all around the globe full of people wanting to disconnect from our technological and virtual society. The do-it-yourself ethic in which Steampunk is highly invested, focuses on creating things with your own hands in order to reconnect with the world around you while at the same time giving yourself meaning and purpose in your life; we can see this mindset slowing taking hold through various avenues such as homesteading and self sufficiency groups.
I would recommend it to readers who are interested in this genre, if it can be called such; those who are just dipping a toe into Steampunk, and anyone else who would like a beautiful, and unusual coffee table book.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/review-the-steampunk-bible-an-illustrated-guide-to-the-world-of-imaginary-airships-corsets-and-goggles-mad-scientists-and-strange-literature-jeff-vandermeer-et-al/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
abigcoffeedragon's review
2.0
Meh - for a steampunk bible, this was not put together very well. The book is mostly fluff with images and photos that you can find in any internet search of steampunk, and the information in and of itself was not informative.
I was hoping for more than just mention of writers, but actually examples of the aesthetics. I believe that the word Steampunk is overused, and has become this huge cultural phenomenon that is more about dressing up than creating the Utopian world that most of the books try to describe.
Slapping gears on a hat does not make something Steampunk. The period (IMHO) was about learning, discovery, invention, exploration, and making the best use of everything that you could find. That is what the gears are about. They are parts used from something smaller to make something bigger, better, faster. My hat and boots do not need gears. The inventions do.
Overall disappointed in this collection of ramblings and disappointed in the culture as a whole. Too many people want to play dress up and not enough people wanted to write the good stories.
On that note, there are some great steamPULP stories that I enjoy, including the Cherie Priest series mentioned within the 'bible', Scott Westerfield's Leviathan, and many others. This book however, HUGE let down. Coming from someone who writes within the genre, I expected more from Van Der Meer.
I was hoping for more than just mention of writers, but actually examples of the aesthetics. I believe that the word Steampunk is overused, and has become this huge cultural phenomenon that is more about dressing up than creating the Utopian world that most of the books try to describe.
Slapping gears on a hat does not make something Steampunk. The period (IMHO) was about learning, discovery, invention, exploration, and making the best use of everything that you could find. That is what the gears are about. They are parts used from something smaller to make something bigger, better, faster. My hat and boots do not need gears. The inventions do.
Overall disappointed in this collection of ramblings and disappointed in the culture as a whole. Too many people want to play dress up and not enough people wanted to write the good stories.
On that note, there are some great steamPULP stories that I enjoy, including the Cherie Priest series mentioned within the 'bible', Scott Westerfield's Leviathan, and many others. This book however, HUGE let down. Coming from someone who writes within the genre, I expected more from Van Der Meer.
lady_mel's review
5.0
This is a wonderful book for fans of Steampunk. It goes from the ideas of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Allen Poe, through the modern Steampunk movement of today.
The book is only available as Hardcover and paperback. There isn't a digital version. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book. There's a photo of a laptop in Steampunk trappings, and even a Steampunk wedding cake.
The book is only available as Hardcover and paperback. There isn't a digital version. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book. There's a photo of a laptop in Steampunk trappings, and even a Steampunk wedding cake.