Steampunk Books, Films and Games: Where to Start

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A genre named in 1987 for books written in the 1970s and 80s, and then adopted by film makers, game designers and costumers, has no tidy canon. What it has is a number of doorways, and the sensible reader chooses the one that matches his or her tastes. This page is the front hall of our section on books, film and games. It sets out the founding novels, the books most readers actually begin with, the films and games the reference guides class as core, and eight paths for readers of different tastes. The question of what a word means is answered in what is steampunk, and the 1987 letter in who coined “steampunk”.

I.The Founding Novels, 1979 to 1990

K. W. Jeter, by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction’s account, almost certainly coined the word in an April 1987 letter to the magazine Locus, by analogy with cyberpunk, to describe work by himself, Tim Powers and James Blaylock¹². The same entry says that Jeter’s own novel Morlock Night, published by DAW in 1979, “may well constitute the first significant steampunk novel”². We repeat it as the Encyclopedia’s phrase, not as a settled fact; the question of what came first is argued below.

II.Before the Word: Verne, Wells and the Rest

Proto-steampunk is real and loosely defined. Michael Moorcock’s Oswald Bastable books begin with The Warlord of the Air (1971)¹⁶; H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine is from 1895⁷; Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea was serialized in 1869 and 1870⁸; and Frankenstein appeared in 1818⁹. The Encyclopedia’s steampunk entry lists Wells-linked and Moorcock works as precursors and does not mention Verne¹. We would call Shelley an ancestor of the scientific romance and leave it there. The longer account is in steampunk before the word.

III.The Modern Gateway Books

Most readers meet the genre through four novels of the 2000s.

• Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines (Scholastic, 2001) is classed as post-apocalyptic steampunk by one reference guide, on the reasoning that setting chronology is not the only criterion²³. See Mortal Engines books in order.
• Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan (Simon Pulse, 2009) is set in the First World War¹¹²⁴.
• Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker (Tor, 2009) won a Locus Award in 2010¹²¹⁵ and was a finalist for the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel, in a year when the winners were The City & The City and The Windup Girl, which tied¹⁴.
• Gail Carriger’s Soulless (Orbit, 1 October 2009) is the start of the Parasol Protectorate¹³⁷⁵; the reference guide’s term for it is gaslamp fantasy²⁶. See steampunk romance books.

Younger readers will find the next steps in steampunk books for teens.

IV.Which Books Won Awards

Honesty requires us to say that awards are thin for steampunk in the strict sense. Boneshaker was a Hugo finalist and a Locus winner, as above¹⁴¹⁵. Girl Genius, the graphic novel, won its third consecutive Hugo for Best Graphic Story in 2011¹⁶. Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, classed as neo-Victorian, won the Hugo and the Locus¹⁷. China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station won the Arthur C. Clarke Award¹⁸, though the SFcrowsnest Steampunk Field Guide places it beside steampunk, as New Weird, rather than within it⁷¹. We have not verified a Nebula for any steampunk title and do not claim one.

V.Where the Arguments Are

The best short referee we found is Stephen Hunt’s Steampunk Field Guide on SFcrowsnest, which sorts works as core, adjacent, gaslamp or neo-Victorian and gives a written reason for each²¹. We cite it as one reference guide’s view, and not as the last word.

1. What came first? Jeter’s 1979 novel against Moorcock’s 1971 one and earlier works; the word itself is from 1987¹²⁶.
2. Must it be Victorian? Mortal Engines is set far in the future²³; Leviathan in the First World War²⁴; BioShock Infinite in 1912, and closer to dieselpunk²⁵.
3. Gaslamp or steampunk? Soulless, Carnival Row, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Nevers are labelled gaslamp or adjacent because magic or people, and not machines, drive the story^26313032.
4. Neo-Victorian? The Diamond Age is so classed¹⁷; Poor Things is classed in the guide’s entry as neo-Victorian and steampunk-adjacent²⁹.
5. Does fantasy with airships count? The guide treats His Dark Materials as a gaslamp-adjacent sibling of the genre²⁷, and the same site’s Starter Kit still puts it first²². Northern Lights is the gentlest bridge to adult fantasy on that list²².
6. Politics. The guide notes that Space: 1889 rests on an imperial premise³⁶; Nisi Shawl’s Everfair is built as an alternative¹⁹; Carnival Row and Arcane foreground class and refugees³¹²⁸. We take up the argument in steampunk and the empire.

For ten contested works in a row, see is it steampunk?.

VI.Films and Television

Rotten Tomatoes scores and box-office figures, as read in October 2026 and not promised thereafter:

Two cautions on the table. The box-office figures are worldwide totals from Box Office Mojo and The Numbers, and a gross says nothing of quality. The classification column cites the Field Guide wherever it expresses a view; where the cell is blank, we claim none. Our fuller treatment is steampunk movies, with television in steampunk TV and the Japanese titles in steampunk anime. The Field Guide calls Castle in the Sky, Steamboy and Last Exile core anime steampunk³³³⁴³⁵.

Streaming moves. JustWatch’s U.S. pages, read on 17 and 18 October 2026, showed Arcane on Netflix⁵¹, Carnival Row on Prime Video⁵², Penny Dreadful on Paramount+⁵³, Poor Things on Hulu⁵⁵, and Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky on HBO Max⁵⁶⁵⁷; it showed The Nevers as not streaming⁵⁴. Treat each as true of that date only.

VII.Games and Tabletop

Some of the best-reviewed games sit outside the Victorian age; BioShock Infinite, for one, is set in 1912²⁵.

• Dishonored (Arkane, Bethesda; 8 October 2012) carries a Metacritic score of 91 on Steam⁵⁸.
• BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games, 2K; 25 March 2013) scores 94⁵⁹, though the Field Guide classes it nearer dieselpunk²⁵.
• Frostpunk (11 bit studios; 24 April 2018) scores 84⁶⁰; Frostpunk 2 (20 September 2024) stood at Mostly Positive, 77 percent of 9,756 English reviews, on Steam⁶¹.
• Core on the table: the Field Guide lists Space: 1889 (GDW, 1988) and Castle Falkenstein (R. Talsorian, 1994) as core steampunk role-playing games³⁶³⁷.
• For other moods: SteamWorld Dig for cozy platforming⁶², Sunless Sea for narrative exploration⁶³, and the board game Scythe from Stonemaier Games⁶⁴.

The fuller guides are steampunk video games and board games and tabletop RPGs. Mechanical models and puzzle boxes are in steampunk puzzles.

VIII.Paths by Reader

Eight short ladders, each rung with a reason.

A. I loved Mortal Engines or Leviathan. Take whichever of the two you have not read¹⁰¹¹; then Boneshaker for something darker¹²; then Pullman’s Northern Lights (1995) as a bridge to adult fantasy²². Watch Mortal Engines (2018) and Castle in the Sky⁴⁹³⁸.

B. I want romance and humor. Soulless and the Parasol Protectorate¹³; then Jeter’s Infernal Devices for farce², and Sydney Padua’s The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Pantheon, 21 April 2015, 320 pages) for comedy with footnotes²⁰.

C. I want the canon. The founding novels in the order of the table above²³⁴⁵; add Moorcock’s Bastable books⁶.

D. I want literary and political steampunk. The Difference Engine⁷²; Perdido Street Station⁷¹; Everfair (Tor, 2016)¹⁹; The Diamond Age¹⁷.

E. I want a visual route. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, by Alan Moore⁶⁶, Lovelace and Babbage²⁰ and Girl Genius¹⁶; then Steamboy and Castle in the Sky³⁴³³. See steampunk graphic novels.

F. I want a film tonight. Highest rated first: Castle in the Sky, Hugo, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Prestige, Sherlock Holmes^3839414243. For the so-bad-it-is-interesting shelf, Wild Wild West and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 16 percent⁴⁵⁴⁷.

G. I want games. Stealth and atmosphere, Dishonored⁵⁸; survival strategy, Frostpunk⁶⁰; and, as a board game, Scythe⁶⁴.

H. I want the music. Abney Park lists more than thirty years of live performance and 35 albums on its own site⁶⁵; Vernian Process, of San Francisco, describes itself as pioneers of the steampunk music movement and dates its founding to 2003⁶⁷; Steam Powered Giraffe, a robot-mime band, scored Music from SteamWorld Heist II in 2024⁶⁸; Professor Elemental lists UK touring in 2026⁶⁹. Our band guide is steampunk music.

IX.Newer Titles

Recent steampunk is mostly small-press or adjacent. Nisi Shawl’s Everfair (Tor, 2016) and Kinning (Tor, 2024) are the two titles we could verify¹⁹⁷⁰, and a Book Riot roundup dated 11 June 2025 lists eight newer titles with their premises⁷³. We recommend the reader treat any list of “the best of the year” as a starting point for a library visit.

X.Guides in This Section

Every guide in the Books, Film & Games section:

• The steampunk reading list: 25 books, in the order to read them
• Steampunk movies: which are core, which only borrow the look
• Books for teens and young readers
• Mortal Engines books in order, and how the film differs
• The Difference Engine explained: Gibson, Sterling and Babbage
• Steampunk TV: from The Wild Wild West to Carnival Row
• Board games and tabletop RPGs
• Puzzles: mechanical 3D kits, puzzle boxes and jigsaws
• Is it steampunk?: ten contested works
• Steampunk anime: Castle in the Sky, Steamboy, Last Exile and more
• Video games: from Dishonored to Frostpunk 2
• Romance books and where the Parasol Protectorate fits
• Graphic novels: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Girl Genius and more
• Music: Abney Park, Vernian Process and Steam Powered Giraffe

XI.Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best steampunk book to start with?

It depends upon the reader. Younger readers do well with Mortal Engines or Leviathan¹⁰¹¹, romance readers with Soulless¹³, and those wanting the canon with the 1979 to 1990 founding novels²³⁴⁵.

Who invented steampunk?

K. W. Jeter almost certainly coined the word in an April 1987 letter to Locus, to describe work by himself, Tim Powers and James Blaylock¹².

What was the first steampunk novel?

It is contested. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says Jeter’s 1979 Morlock Night may be the first significant one, while precursors such as Moorcock’s 1971 The Warlord of the Air are listed beside it¹²⁶.

Is steampunk always Victorian?

No. One reference guide classes Mortal Engines as steampunk on grounds other than chronology, places Leviathan in the First World War and BioShock Infinite in 1912²³²⁴²⁵.

Is Arcane steampunk?

The Field Guide classes it as adjacent, not core²⁸. See is it steampunk.

What are the best steampunk movies?

By Rotten Tomatoes score among the titles we researched: Castle in the Sky 97%, Hugo 93% and Howl’s Moving Castle 88%, as of October 2026³⁸³⁹⁴¹.

What are the best steampunk video games?

The strongest Metacritic scores on Steam go to BioShock Infinite (94), Dishonored (91) and Frostpunk (84)⁵⁹⁵⁸⁶⁰.

Sources