steampunk

The progression of Steampunk from fringe subgenre to mainstream has taken a few decades.  You could say it has taken a little over a century if you want to throw in H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, and we really should.  While those two authors are often relegated to the “classics” section of the library, their incorporation of the bizarre, anachronistic engineering, and influence from the possibilities of science put many of their stories clearly in the Steampunk category.

Alek and Deryn, I mean, Dylan are back for the second installment of the Leviathan Trilogy. Picking up directly after the close of Leviathan, Behemoth finds Alek and Dylan racing toward Istanbul in hopes of keeping the Ottoman Empire out of the conflict between the Clanker Germans and the Darwinist British Empire. Neither teen knows all of the other's secrets, but they have become friends. Their friendship is tested as Alek and part of his contingent escape the airship Leviathan and become caught up in the rising rebellion against the Ottoman sultan. In addition, Dylan struggles with her desire to tell Alek her true gender as she begins hoping he will see her as more than a friend.

Speculative Fiction (SciFi/Fantasy) has often taken the possible and impossible to explore new worlds or our world in alternate times or histories. Within that larger genre are many subgenres. Amy Goldschlager (Avon/EOS) provided an explanation of several of the different subgenres in 1997. You can read her listing here.