It’s not very often that a new genre comes down the pike for arts and literature.  You may have heard the term “steampunk” bandied about but didn’t investigate.  It’s kind of like Goth only without the sad faces, black (the only color fit to adorn a tormented soul) and boo-hoo defeatist music.

Also in a Victorian setting, what sets steampunk off is an emphasis on advanced modern technologies utilizing non-transistor and vacuum tube methods.  Think Phinneas Fogg cross-pollinated with Q from James Bond.  Like a more elegant cast of the short lived television series Wild Wild West sans stagecoaches.

Steampunk has proven quite popular melding with Internet culture as evidenced by this sweet modded computer at left.

Here are what Library Journal considers the top ten steampunk novels.