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Favorite Five Books With Steampunk Elements
Steampunk these days is such a murky category. Is it science fiction? Is it fantasy? Well, a lot of ‘steampunk’ these days seem to be both, and that’s just fine by me! Here are a few of my favorites!
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Soulless by Gail Carriger
If you’re looking for a good comedy steampunk historical urban fantasy, well, Soulless has you covered. Vampires and werewolves! Romance! Quirky characters! Hilarious dialogue! This series is a lot of fun. It may seem like it has too much going on, but somehow all the elements really work well together.
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Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare
I really love this series, it’s just so much fun. In this alternate history of 19th century Italy, there are people who are really good at certain things, they have a certain gift for one of three specialties. One of which is creating technology, so there are all kinds of neat little steampunk things going on in this book and its sequel, including steampunk robots! The books have a very cinematic feel to them and they’re fun, quick reads.
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The Greyfriar by Clay & Susan Griffith
When given the opportunity, I will never fail to talk about this series because I love it so very much. Post apocalyptic vampire steampunk book! And one of the protagonists is kind of like a legendary superhero going around saving people from vampires. He lives in a castle in Scotland. And kittens love him! I mean, what more can you ask for? And, in addition to all the cool steampunk-y tech, there’s also geomancey!
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Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn: A Steampunk Faerie Tale by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Day Al-Mohamed
This story is a loose retelling of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves where the djinn is a clockwork automaton. It’s such a lovely book, and a well-crafted retelling. I love when retellings have their own little twists like this one. If you’re looking for a unique retelling, I’d say check this one out. 🙂
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Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre
This duology has such an interesting intersection of magic and technology. It’s central plot is a mystery, and it’s essentially a police procedural, but with a fantasy twist of course. One of the things I love about this one is the relationship between the two main characters. But also the world is really intriguing too! I wish there were more books to this series because I would have loved to explore the world further, but I’ll take what I can get.
Those are my picks this week! Thoughts? What are some of your favorite books with steampunk elements? Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!
Way Too Fantasy 
I don’t read enough steampunk, so these recs are great!!
Hope you find something you like!
Soulless and Vampire Empire have been on my TBR forever, I’ve just never had time to read them. I do love this theme, though. I love Steampunk😁
They’re both really fun adventure series, if you like that sort of thing.
I loved Soulless and Vampire Empire so I’ll have to check out the others on here.
Lynn 😀
They’re all pretty fun and with feature some interesting adventures. Hope you enjoy if you get to them. 🙂
*taking notes…*
Hah. I hope if you check any of these out you enjoy. 😀
I don’t read a lot of steampunk but I LOVE IT. I am adding Ink, Iron, and Glass to my tbr, thank youuuuu
Hope you enjoy!
Soulless sounds amazing 🙂 And I’m intrigued by ink iron and glass!
I really loved Soulless, it’s just so cheeky and hilarious. 🙂
Steampunk! Yay! Awesome post.
Thank you!
Wow…not sure how I missed this, but thank you very much for including Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn. I am one of the authors, Danielle Ackley-McPhail. It was quite a flashback to see the old cover. The book has been rereleased under the Paper Phoenix Press imprint and we couldn’t come to an agreement with the artist to reuse the cover, so now it has a more mosaic take. Thanks again, so glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks, Danielle! It’s a lovely book. 🙂
Reblogged this on eSpec Books and commented:
Though the cover featured is from the original printing, this blogger warms our heart by featuring Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, co-written by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Day Al-Mohamed as one of their five favorite books with steampunk elements.
It warms my heart 🙂
I really enjoyed Bronze Gods and Silver Mirrors! It’s unfortunate that the author never wrote more in that series. I really felt like the story wasn’t finished.
Another interesting series that rides the edge of steampunk is The Viper and the Urchin series by Celine Jeanjean. I think the first book is called the Bloodless Assassin.
Yeah, I wish they had written more in that series as well, they’re just really fun books!
I hadn’t heard of that series, I’ll have to check it out, thanks!