Steampunk themed photo: Kyle Cassidy
When people ask me about my books, I say “Thrillers – alternative history thrillers. They’re set in a world where the historical timeline changed in the past and a different looking world evolved.”
But the reactions can be interesting. Here’s one typical conversation I had at a book event.
Person browsing table with books for sale, ‘Oh, steampunk, then?’
I gnash my teeth, but put on a pleasant smile.
“No, actually, they’re adventure stories set in our world, but where a remnant of the Roman Empire survived and is now governed by women. Writing in that changed timeline means we can explore what would have happened if things has developed differently. Sometimes in alternative history, technology and values don’t change much, but sometimes they do.”
“Oh, steampunk, then?”
“No, that’s more fantastical and based on Victorian technological ideas. If you want to be formal, it’s a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. There’s often an element of magic plus fantastical creatures.
“My alternative history world exists in the 21st century based on the difference caused by a small dissident Roman colony surviving from ancient times. The timeline – which doesn’t rely on having a Victorian tone as steampunk does – diverged in the past from the one we know and events changed. Often one small change can alter the following centuries significantly. And unlike time travel, there’s no going back.”
“Oh, not steampunk, then?”
‘No, steampunk often features things like steam-powered machinery, steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analogue computers, such as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. It sometimes borrows additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre.
’So steampunk’s not alternative history?’
‘No, I’m afraid not. Both have strong historical fiction connections and both are considered sub-genres of historical fiction. Steampunk’s one version of a possible historical development, but often with elements which tip it into fantasy or science-fiction. Recently, it’s expanded from the Victorian period into American West or post-apocalyptic-themed, sometimes off-world. Steam spaceships with lots of goggles and long leather coats!”
“Alternative history, on the other hand, can include every period where the timeline changed but it has no fantastical elements such as in Naomi Novak’s Dragon series set during the Napoleonic Wars. Some alternative history can be off the scale bonkers, but most writers like to keep to historically logical timeline development when considering ‘what if’. I can certainly say that doing it properly, alternative history needs just as much research and standard historical fiction as the traps are legion!
“Favourite themes include what if the Spanish Armada had succeeded in invading Elizabethan England or if the Nazis had won the Second World War as in Robert Harris’s Fatherland. Here are some of the best depending on other periods and events.”
‘If you want a great example of steampunk that really defines the genre, read Liesel Schwarz’s Chronicles of Light and Shadow. Here’s the first one – A Conspiracy of Alchemists.’
‘Okay, good tip.’
She picks up INCEPTIO and PERFIDITAS and hands over 22€. I smile and wish her happy reading.
She turns and asks, ‘So when are you going to write a proper steampunk story?’
I collapse on to my chair and weep.
Updated 2024: Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.
Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
Download ‘Welcome to Roma Nova’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
