About this title: Steampunk is the twisted offspring of science fiction and postmodernism, a sassy, unpredictable tongue-in-cheek style of which the incomparable Paul Di Filippo is master. The three short novels in The Steampunk Trilogy are all set in a very alternative nineteenth century, and feature a mixture of historical and imaginary figures. In "Victoria," a young and lissome Queen Victoria disappears from her throne and is replaced by a sexy human/newt clone. The race is on to find the original Victoria and to hide the terrible secret from the nation. In "Hottentots," Massachusetts is threatened by ...
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Description: VERY GOOD. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows 1994 1st printing 352 pages, 5 3/8 x 8 3/8, large format trade paperback CONDITION: VERY GOOD, just a trace of edge wear o/w a very nice copy, near fine condition NOTES-Contains Victoria, Hottentots, and Walt and Emily. read more
Edition: First Paperback Ed, First Printing.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Running Press
Date Published: November 1997
ISBN-13:9781568581026ISBN:1568581025
Description: Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. Used. Very light wear on the corners and edges. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows
Date Published: 1995-03-16
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: Like New. New, never sold, but has some shelf wear. Excellent condition otherwise. No marks. Hard cover with dust jacket. 111909. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Collectible. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 352 pp.; 22 cm. Tight, clean copy. First Printing, April 1995. Dust jacket protected in a mylar book cover. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Running Pr Book Pub
Date Published: 1997-11-09
ISBN-13:9781568581026ISBN:1568581025
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781568581026. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Running Press
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9781568581026ISBN:1568581025
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Fine 1st edition in a like jacket, Protected with Brodart cover. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 352 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9781568581026ISBN:1568581025
Description: Trade paperback. Unread, as new with a remainder mark to bottom edge and a very small ding to top edge. 352 pp. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows, NY
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1568580282. First printing. Fine in a very near fine (short closed edge tear in upper corner of rear panel) dust jacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: NY: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1995.
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: New in New jacket. 1st edition. 1st printing. Hardcover. Dj art: Christine Francis. Di Filippo's 1st book. New, unread copy. Very Fine in Very Fine-dj. read more
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows, New York
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9781568580289ISBN:1568580282
Description: Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1568580282. Di Filippo, Paul; 1.2 x 8 x 5.3 Inches; 420 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9781568581026ISBN:1568581025
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
"An interesting if not great book, The Steampunk Trilogy relates three unconnected tales about a quirky, early Victorian world where genetically engineered salamanders reign and where nuclear train engines and "ideoplasm"-powered transdimensional prairie schooners haunt the imagination. DeFilippo's success here is in the details---the fustian prose echoes that of the 19th century, as does the fiery libertine poetry, while the characters never quite lose a certain postmodern knowingness, a glint in the eye as it were.
Alas, he never seems to weave these details into a memorable story. Two days after completing it, and "Hottentots" (the second of the three stories comprising the trilogy) is receding in my memory. The other two stories, "Victoria" and "Walt and Emily," were more compelling, but only marginally so.
Good for checking out of the library or buying from a used-book store."
"Steampunk is what some refer to as "alternative history." That is to say, it is like science fiction which took place in the distant past (particularly, the era of steam power). Cyberpunk in reverse, if you will, with fanciful inventions and situations combining to make the past seem absolutely futuristic.
The "Trilogy" portion of the title refers to the triumvirate of short stories presented herein. In the first, Queen Victoria turns up missing, only to be temporarily replaced by a seductive salamander-based humanoid replica ("Victoria's Secret," indeed!). In the massive second installation, the reader is brought face-to-face with a series of gut-wrenching beasts - not the least of which is the protagonist with his obscene racial views (which spin mindlessly through revulsion, hilarity, tedium, and all the way 'round to repugnance again) - in search of a stolen specimen of peculiar preserved private parts of the female persuasion (afflicted with sinus pedoris - look it up yourself). Finally, the reader is treated to a uniquely sexually-charged tale involving an opium-esque voyage into the hereafter with Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, a world seeminglessly limitless with newly-resurrected dead children with adult minds - a journey somewhat reminiscent of Philip José Gardner's Riverworld.
Each portion of the world is masterfully recreated by Paul DiFilippo - and then scored with the abrasive padding of Steampunk. Surely not in our world - and yet, the basics of the history books assert that these people were real. DiFilippo writes in a tone conducive of the age which it represents, complete with representations of native dialects and semi-defunct verbiage.
The Steampunk Trilogy presents a writing style (and, of course, subject matter) which promises to be palatable to a distinct few purveyors of modern speculative literature - or literature of practically any kind, in that regard. The book does a very small thing within the realm of literature - but this very small thing it does exceptionally well."
"I wasn't sure what to think about this. I loved the first story and couldn't get enough of it. I love the way he blends real people with characters (who cross over stories!) and how it all fits together. I'm not sure I liked the second story. It went on way too long and was a bit much. The last story was good, and I totally had to look up that Walt Whitman was gay! I didn't know that was historically speculated."
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