Posted by Danny
Here’s the deal on Steampunk, a potentially huge subgenre a la all those novels featuring vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc….
Steampunk novels almost always take place in a Victorian alt-world wherein this era’s technology, usually steam powered hence the “steam” in steam punk, has evolved a thousand times faster than it did in reality. Characters in steampunk novels therefore fly around in steam powered jets, compute using Babbage’s never completed “difference engine,” and are armed with intricately built, high powered muskets.
Raul, dear 1st floor Inventory Manager, loves The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt and Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard.
BookPeople 
Thanks for this post. I’m tired of trying to explain this to people. From now on, I’ll just link them here.
There’s a great fiction anthology (that I happened to win courtesy of the BookPeople Blog) called Corsets and Clockwork that features steampunk romance – it’s a pretty nifty collection! I enjoyed it and then loaned it to a friend for her to read.
I would definitely recommend Larklight by Philip Reeve if you want some steampunk for the kiddos (or yourself!)