Dept. V · Books & Film
The Steampunk Reading List: 25 Books, in the Order to Read Them
Twenty-five steampunk books in a suggested reading order: ancestors, founding novels, gateway books, literary novels, graphic works and recent titles.
A sound steampunk reading list begins before the word existed and moves forward in six stages: the nineteenth-century ancestors, the founding novels of Jeter, Powers, Blaylock, Gibson and Sterling, the gateway books of the 2000s, the literary and political novels, three graphic works, and a few recent titles. The order below is our own suggestion, and it is built from the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the publishers’ own pages and award records. The word “steampunk” dates from K. W. Jeter’s 1987 letter to Locus, though the founding novels are older. We list exactly twenty-five books, and we flag where a book is only adjacent to the genre.
- Stage one: ancestors from 1818 to 1974 (5 books)
- Stage two: founding novels from 1979 to 1990 (6 books)
- Stage three: gateway books, 1995 to 2009 (6 books)
- Stage four: literary and political (3 books), stage five: pictures (3 books), stage six: recent (2 books)
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There is no single correct shelf, and the reader who has met an argument about “the first steampunk novel” will know why: the authorities divide, and the word itself arrived after the books. What follows is a ladder, with the older and plainer rungs first. Readers who prefer to start with a story that moves quickly should skip to stage three and return to the ancestors later. For the wider picture of books, films and games, steampunk books, films and games is the pillar; the origin of the word is told in who coined steampunk.
A note on method. We name a book as steampunk only where a source we have read does so; where the source calls it gaslamp, neo-Victorian or something else, we say so. One reference guide, SF Crow’s Nest, supplies many of those classifications; we cite it as one guide’s opinion, not as settled fact.
Stage One: The Ancestors
None of these was written as steampunk, since the word did not yet exist. They are the soil from which it grew.
| # | Book | Author, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankenstein | Mary Shelley, 1818 | An ancestor of the scientific romance, not steampunk; Project Gutenberg hosts the 1818 and 1831 texts |
| 2 | The Time Machine | H. G. Wells, 1895 | The Morlocks return in Jeter’s Morlock Night |
| 3 | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | Jules Verne, serialized 1869 to 1870 | The Nautilus: the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes its luxurious interior as prefiguring steampunk |
| 4 | The Warlord of the Air | Michael Moorcock, 1971 | The first Oswald Bastable book; the Encyclopedia says the series expressed a nostalgia for an Edwardian vision of the future |
| 5 | The Land Leviathan | Michael Moorcock, 1974 | Bastable in a 1904 shaped by an inventor’s labor-saving technologies |
Stage Two: The Founding Novels
The three writers named in Jeter’s letter, and the book that made the term widely known.
| # | Book | Author, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Morlock Night | K. W. Jeter, 1979 | The Morlocks invade Victorian London, with Arthur, Merlin and an Atlantean submarine. The Encyclopedia says it may well be the first significant steampunk novel; that is one opinion among several |
| 7 | The Anubis Gates | Tim Powers, 1983 | A man time-tripped to London in 1810, Egyptian magic and a subterranean city; won the 1984 Philip K. Dick Award |
| 8 | Homunculus | James P. Blaylock, 1986 | The first Langdon St. Ives novel, with alchemy and a Dickensian London; best paperback original at the Philip K. Dick Awards |
| 9 | Lord Kelvin’s Machine | James P. Blaylock, 1992 | The direct sequel to Homunculus, expanded from a 1985 magazine story |
| 10 | Infernal Devices | K. W. Jeter, 1987 | “A Mad Victorian Fantasy”; the Steampunk Workshop calls it one of the funniest steampunk books |
| 11 | The Difference Engine | William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, 1990 | An alternate nineteenth century in which Babbage builds his computer; SF Crow’s Nest labels it core steampunk |
On the question of which of these came first, see the long answer in who coined steampunk. The Difference Engine has its own page, The Difference Engine explained.
Stage Three: The Gateway Books
These are the ones that bring most new readers in, and they are the quickest reads on the list.
| # | Book | Author, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US) | Philip Pullman, 1995 | Lyra’s Oxford, zeppelins and the alethiometer; the guide classes it as gaslamp-adjacent and still recommends it as the gentlest entry |
| 13 | Mortal Engines | Philip Reeve, 2001 | Mobile “traction cities” prey on one another; the guide calls it post-apocalyptic steampunk. See Mortal Engines books in order |
| 14 | The Court of the Air | Stephen Hunt, 2007 | Recommended in the same guide’s starter list as a full-throttle steampunk adventure |
| 15 | Leviathan | Scott Westerfeld, 2009 | An alternate First World War of Clanker walkers against Darwinist beasts; won the 2010 Locus Award for young adult novel |
| 16 | Boneshaker | Cherie Priest, 2009 | A mining machine and its poison gas in Civil War-era Seattle; won the 2010 Locus Award for science fiction novel |
| 17 | Soulless | Gail Carriger, 2009 | Orbit, 1 October 2009; the publisher describes it as “Buffy meets Jane Austen”. Gaslamp and steampunk in equal parts; see steampunk romance books |
A caution about Boneshaker: retailers’ copy sometimes says it won the Hugo. It did not. It was a finalist for the 2010 Hugo for best novel, and the award went to a tie between The City & The City and The Windup Girl. Younger readers have their own list at steampunk books for teens.
Stage Four: The Literary and Political Novels
| # | Book | Author, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | The Diamond Age | Neal Stephenson, 1995 | Neo-Victorian “phyles” and an interactive primer; won the Hugo and the Locus Award. Neo-Victorian more than strictly steampunk |
| 19 | Perdido Street Station | China Miéville, 2000 | New Crobuzon, a smokestack city; won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. The guide puts it beside steampunk, not in the brass-goggles core |
| 20 | Everfair | Nisi Shawl, 2016 | An alternate nineteenth-century Congo where a Fabian Society enclave pursues a gentler industrialization; the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction does not call it steampunk |
Stage Five: Pictures
| # | Book | Creators, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, from 1999 | A literary mash-up of Victorian characters; the Encyclopedia does not label it steampunk, while the guide calls it a core gaslamp remix |
| 22 | The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage | Sydney Padua, 2015 | Pantheon, 21 April 2015, 320 pages; the pair imagined building the Difference Engine and fighting crime |
| 23 | Girl Genius | Phil and Kaja Foglio | Won the Hugo for best graphic story three years running, the third in 2011 for volume 10 |
More of this shelf is at steampunk graphic novels.
Stage Six: Recent Titles
The recent shelf is mostly small-press or adjacent, and we are cautious about it.
| # | Book | Author, year | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Kinning | Nisi Shawl, early 2024 | A sequel to Everfair, from Tor, listed in Steampunk Explorer’s round-up of 2024 books |
| 25 | The Angel of the Crows | Katherine Addison, June 2020 | Appears on the Rising Shadow steampunk list, which is a reader-tag list and not an authority; its place on the shelf is arguable |
What We Left Out
We omitted Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, whose entry we could not read, and Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel, whose steampunk status we could not check. The Steampunk Bible and the VanderMeers’ Steampunk anthology are well-known companions; we could not read a page for either and do not describe them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best steampunk book to start with?
For a quick, gripping read, Mortal Engines, Leviathan or Boneshaker, in the gateway stage. For the foundations, Morlock Night or The Anubis Gates.
What are the best steampunk books for adults?
The founding novels and the literary stage: The Difference Engine, The Diamond Age, Perdido Street Station and Everfair.
What was the first steampunk novel?
The authorities disagree, and any single answer is an opinion. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction nominates Morlock Night (1979) as possibly the first significant steampunk novel.
Are there steampunk books for young readers?
Yes: Mortal Engines and Leviathan are the usual gateways, and Northern Lights is the guide’s gentlest entry. See the teens list for more.
Did any steampunk novel win the Hugo Award?
Among the books here, The Diamond Age won the Hugo; Boneshaker was a finalist only. Girl Genius won the Hugo for best graphic story three years running.
Is there a good steampunk romance series?
Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate begins with Soulless, which the guide treats as paranormal steampunk and gaslamp fantasy. Its place on the genre’s map is covered on the romance page.