Jumping the mechanical shark: steampunk

Last night whilst awaiting the start of “Cloverfield,” my lady and I were assailed by a cgi commercial with cutesy thinglets seeking the golden Coke bottle or some such. It was very much in the manner of steampunk, with brass and steam and gears and absurdist contraptions galore. It reminded me that several of the NaNoWriMo friends I had made were hard at work on steampunk novels, as a sort of gentle gateway into science fiction.

Steampunk has, apparently, already revved up its Bersendorfer-Worcestershire Inverse Steam-driven Bicycle Conveyance and hit the ramp hard, attempting to jump the tank containing the gear-fed shark automaton.

And sadly, a twinge of annoyance arose in me even as I typed those steampunky descriptions — which would have, in the past, given a twinge of delight instead. “Name it after the awkwardly surnamed inventors, use archaic language, check. Steampunk!” They should freezedry it and package it, just add adjectives.

Right now I am reading Portland author Jay Lake’s excellent book, Mainspring, which is about a mechanical universe. While the premise intrigues me, and the Dickensian characters, plot and prose have already captured me, I am a bit nervous to experience the next moment of steampunkery — a mechanical angel, the clock gears of the world, etc. Not because he handles them anything less than skillfully, but I catch myself thinking, “Aw crap, more steampunk; I thought I enjoyed this stuff. Heck, I loved The Difference Engine.” I reckon I’ll finish the book and enjoy it (and hopefully have a chance to discuss it with him at February’s RadCon, where he is toastmaster and I am a guest, plug plug), despite my growing weariness with all things Steampunk.

You can expect a Steampunk related post on BoingBoing.net virtually every day; a Steampunk book/podcast/pdf magazine/story virtually everywhere at any time. A Steampunk computer game every six months (Bioshock et al). What about steampunk has captivated the science fiction community so much?

I have guesses. Let me try to describe them, a bit on the fly.

ONE: Steampunk is EASY. It carries an implicit conceit that this archaic technology can, in fact, achieve the same results as internal combustion, transistors and digital computers. Of course, if it could have, it would have, and I’d be stoking the miniboiler of my laptop with wood pellets right now. So Steampunk relies on magic to make things go: it’s fantasy.

TWO: Steampunk is FANTASY for people who don’t like conventional fantasy. Aha! I have arrived at a conclusion that the reader has probably uncovered years ago. Good for me. Science fiction poses the question “What if?” but more precisely, “What if we extend what we know about X to X x 1000?” Example: “What if a computer could gain intelligence?” Fantasy just says, “Here’s how it is: dragons are real and they can talk. PS, elves.” Without demanding an intellectual leap of comprehension, fantasy presents the gameboard as it will be for the story. In this age where most of us utilize technology without understanding the core concepts of how it works — “My computer won’t start. Call IT.” — fantasy goes down much, much easier. So why should it continue to rely on Tolkienesque European elements? Let’s throw a steam locomotive in there… poof. Steampunk, a fresh take on fantasy, with a light technological flavor.

THREE: As we destroy the natural environment, Steampunk is the CHARMING THROWBACK of our technological landscape. The reason coal has been largely replaced by natural gas and petrol is that it stinks. It pollutes the air far worse, destroys the ozone layer (as we know know) at a faster rate, and leaves soot everywhere. Why be nostalgic for steam power? Because we have grown weary of the technology that drives our society now, and we have too few natural experiences to sustain our attachment to a pristine, verdant time.

FOUR: Advertising executives now get it. Case closed.

Can we keep the next “punk” secret? Just for a while? So that we can enjoy it without that sense of disgust as it is harnessed by the vasty marketing engines that spin at the heart of our own clockwork society? How about something diametrically opposed to the ad executives, like “MarxistPunk?”