You should definitely check out Virtuoso, an awesome steampunk webcomic set in Africa. The story is created and written by Jon Munger, and drawn by artist Krista Brennan.

Virtuoso was first released in March, 2010, and to date there are over 20 issues. This is a very original idea and a great story!

Virtuoso is an alternate history of an Africa that never existed, one run by steel and springs, commanded by vast matriarchies and past the height of its culture.

Virtuoso is the story of Jnembi Osse, a professional weapons manufacturer for the most powerful empire in the world, and how her private rebellion becomes a full scale international incident.

[via Virtuoso]

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This is the cover of George Mann’s Ghosts Of Manhattan. Pyr Books is advertising this as “The World’s First Superhero.” Sounds great, I’m interested!

1926. New York. The Roaring Twenties. Jazz. Flappers. Prohibition. Yet things have developed differently to established history. America is in the midst of a cold war with a British Empire that has only just buried Queen Victoria, her life artificially preserved to the age of 107. A series of targeted murders are occurring all over the city. This is a time in need of heroes. It is a time for The Ghost.

Here’s a paragraph from the novel about his super goggles. This looks fun!

Reaching up, the Ghost felt under the brim of his hat until his fingers located the rim of his goggles. He tugged them down over his eyes, turning the lenses slowly away from the bridge of his nose. Everything took on a red sheen. Targeting circles floated, disembodied, before his vision. He cranked the lenses once again, tiny cogs whirring inside the device, and the view suddenly magnified, becoming sharp and bright. He could see the sidewalk five stories below as if he were only a few feet away.

Ghosts of Manhatten is for sale on Amazon, and you can read a 6-chapter preview from Pyr Books.

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Best-selling author Katie MacAlister has a new steampunk novel out soon, and the New York Times has just release the book trailer for it.

Entitled “Steamed”, this steampunk romance novel will hit the bookshelves on February 2, 2010. You can pre-order it on Amazon for $7.99.

Here’s the promotional synopsis:

Computer technician Jack Fletcher is no hero, despite his unwelcome reputation as one. In fact, he’s just been the victim of bizarre circumstances. Like now. His sister happens to disturb one of his nanoelectromechanical system experiments, and now they aren’t where they’re supposed to be. In fact, they’re not sure where they are when they wake up to see a woman with the reddest hair Jack has ever seen-and a gun. Octavia Pye is an Aerocorps captain with a whole lot of secrets, and she’s not about to see her maiden voyage ruined by stowaways. But the sparks flying between her and Jack just may cause her airship to combust and ignite a passion that will forever change the world as she knows it.

[via Katie MacAlister]

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The Dec. 14, 2009 issue of Time Magazine has a wonderful article about steampunk.

Lev Grossman does a great job explaining the concept to the uninitiated, and talks about the origins of steampunk and its rapid growth into mainstream pop-culture.

The same way punk took back music, steampunk reclaims technology for the masses. It substitutes metal gears for silicon, pneumatic tubes for 3G and wi-fi. It maximizes what was miniaturized and makes visible what was hidden. Where the iPhone is all stainless steel and high-gloss plastic, steampunk is brass and wood and leather. Steampunk isn’t mass-produced; it’s bespoke and unique, and if you don’t like it, you can tinker with it till you do.

Be sure to read this article! It’s not too long and it’s packed with steamy goodness. You can read the full article for free online at Time.com.

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Cherie Priest’s latest novel, Boneshakers, is an awesome-sounding steampunk zombie tale!

From the publisher:

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

This sound so cool! Makes me wonder – What would a steampunk zombie look like?

I had a little fun searching for Zombie Steampunk on Flickr. I thought these pictures were nicely done.

Great stuff!

[via Amazon.com]

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I09 has an interesting article about the upcoming SteamCon on Oct. 23-25 in Seattle.

This year, you won’t be able to buy books. Huh? That’s like going to a Comic-Con without comics.

Long before steampunk costuming and fashion became so popular, steampunk was born and bred in novels. From H.G. Wells, Mark Twain and Mary Shelley, to modern novelists such as James Blaylock, Tim Powers and George Mann – steampunk is first and foremost Literature.

The good news, io9 points out, is that SteamCon still has time to secure a bookseller for the dealer’s room.

With the con still a couple months out, there’s still time for the organizers to make a renewed effort to get a bookstore in there….Steam-powered metal piston fingers crossed!

Despite lack of books, I’m sure SteamCon will be filled with awesome gadgets and costumes. I wish I lived near Seattle so I could go!

[via io9]

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