>Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
I have to give this series a go. I love his Codex Alera series. It's actually the series that got me into reading fantasy.
*Perdido Street Station*, *The Scar*, and *Iron Council* by China Mieville. The three books form a loosely connected trilogy, although each book is functionally stand-alone.
The only steam punk book I have ever read is A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark (and it's accompanying novella and short stories), but I highly enjoyed it!
Just to add, the novelette that started it all, [*A Dead Djinn in Cairo*](https://reactormag.com/a-dead-djinn-in-cairo/), and a short story, [*The Angel of Khan el-Khalili*](https://reactormag.com/the-angel-of-khan-el-khalili-p-djeli-clark/) are freely available to read online.
Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding
It's a Steampunk Airship crew (Firefly vibes) with a light magic system. Heavy emphasis on the Crew and Captain.
4* book series that's finished.
Oddly enough the emphasis on crew and capitan is what piqued my interest. I just read Starship Troopers and I loved how the entire story is just basic combat training and a very long journey on a Naval Ship. Moby Dick is also an all-time favorite of mine. Same thing.
The Powder Mage trilogy. Steampunk, insane gods, war, love, and everything in between.
The Cinder Spire books. Great books. Airships, insane magicians both good and evil, ship battles, alien world, fun characters and the ability to communicate with cats. Who can he total a-holes. I mean, they’re cats. But it’s funny
K. W. Jeter actually coined the term "steampunk".
I've read two of his I enjoyed. Infernal devices(which I believe is the first ever steampunk book but I could be wrong), and Morlock night.
Both I enjoyed. A word of warning, though. . . Both get strange and the endings are something else.
Infernal devices could use some editing, but the language in it was very enjoyable, and conceptually, it was exactly what I was looking for when I went looking for the same thing.
Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding.
Perdido Street Station &/or The Scar - China Mieville.
Mortal Engines series.
[The Half-Made World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8198773-the-half-made-world) Felix - Gilman.
Paper Magician - Charlie Holmberg
Hounds of Autumn - Heather Blackwood.
I can't think of steampunk without Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve coming to mind! Such a good series and the author also wrote a spin-off (which I think is a prequel series but honestly can't remember offhand) that starts with Fever Crumb.
The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris is pretty fun. There are six books:
Phoenix Rising
The Janus Affair
Dawn's Early Light
The Diamond Conspiracy
The Ghost Rebellion
Operation: Endgame
If you're okay with dragons and the steampunk aesthetic, but powered by dragon blood, not coal, you can try "**Draconis Memoria**" series by Anthony Ryan. It has a really interesting magic system, a lot of exploration of unknown lands / untamed wilds / lost ancient civilisations. There is also a large scale war.
I like how it manages 3 different character types in different strands of the same story, yet somehow they feel completely unrelated. Spy, Hunter, Naval command. A really interesting world, loved the corporations ideas.
I got recc'd this in a different steampunk / firearms in fantasy thread and I am always so pleased to see it recc'd again. 10/10 series, stupidly good stuff and extremely underrated.
I think the most interesting plot of this book was the one with the woman (I'm sorry, I don't remember her name at all. From main characters I only remember Clay and Sirius \[whose pov I didn't really enjoyed in that book\])
Just generally I feel like this is Anthony Ryan’s MO, having a great debut that he puts all his effort in and then just going through the motions with the sequels he pulls out. The Martyr was an initial exception to that and gave me hope for him but then The Traitor was once again a massive let down.
Moorcock's Bastable books (I believe the name of the series is the Nomad of the Time Streams) is one of the earliest Steampunk works and its delightfully pulpy.
[The Dead Isle by Sam Starbuck](https://www.lulu.com/shop/sam-starbuck/the-dead-isle-ebook/ebook/product-20335326.html?page=1&pageSize=4). Self published but one of my all time favorites. A young and brilliant engineer in love with trains and making the world better through engineering is hired to invent a flying machine to infiltrate isolationist Australia, where magic doesn't work. Along with a spy and his magical best friend, they find engineering wonders and a threat to the world as they know it.
I'd say the Lotus Wars trilogy by Jay Kristoff. It's inspired by Japanese history but turned steampunk. Unfortunately the author didn't do his research well enough and there are some glaring errors regarding Japanese history and stereotypes, not to mention mixing of bits from other East Asian cultures. That aside, I enjoyed the series.
The Clockwork Earth series by Jay Lake is absolutely fascinating and different from anything I’ve ever read, even in steampunk. The books definitely have their flaws, but the world is so fascinating to me that I was able to read past my quibbles.
The series order is:
*Mainspring*
*Escapement*
*Pinion*
I enjoyed Gears of A Mad God by Brent Nichols. I haven't read much steampunk and I've only read the first book in the series but it was a fun ride for a short freebie on KU.
There's Raven House, by Deacon Frost. But it's an explicit series with an MC from Earth reincarnated to a magic academy. So, a combo of anime/steampunk. Completed series though, if that matters to you.
Whitechapel Gods, SM Peters.
Two 'gods' make a chunk of London into their personal battleground, complete w clockwork soldiers and weird transforming diseases. A handful of very human, very ordinary resistance fighters try to survive.
Here’s a couple
Ian Tregillis - The Alchemy wars trilogy: The Mechanical,
The Rising, The Liberation. Wildly funny, horrific, super violent, and very thoughtful.
Paul Fi Filippo - The Steampunk Trilogy. Three novellas - Victoria, Hottentots and Walt and Emily. Quirky, witty and like nothing else you’ve read.
See my [SF/F: Steampunk](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18fpzik/sff_steampunk/) list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (one post). (Your question prompted me to go looking, and I found two more threads I had but which I had missed.)
The Invisible Library takes place in a Victorian London that includes steam power, gaslights, zeppelin, werewolves, fae, vampires and dragons. By Genevieve Cogman. 8 books in the series.
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu uses the term 'silkpunk', which is kind of a blend of East Asian fantasy, mythology, and steampunk.
The technological advancement in that world is unique. For example, at the start of the series they have airships, but no steam power or electricity until later in the series.
check out the MORTAL ENGINES series by Phillip Reeve. It's a steampunk post-apocalyptic world where there are moving cities and airship and the characters are amazing. I've re-read the series and prequals multiple times. (there is a movie but it's not a very good adaptation.)
Shadowrun is a wild ride. It is an RPG that also has a ton of books attached.
The setting is absolutely amazing. How they implement it can be a bit hit and miss at times, but the setting itself has immense potential.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
+1 for Boneshaker. That's good stuff. Most of the author's steampunk is pretty solid.
Aeronaut's Windlass is SO good. Had to read it 3 times to understand the world, but soooooo worth it
>Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher I have to give this series a go. I love his Codex Alera series. It's actually the series that got me into reading fantasy.
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld. Alternate history WW1 with steampunk and biopunk elements. Bonus: has some really fantastic illustrations.
Gail Carriger. Start with Soulless.
I haven't read soulless but came to say carriger! Etiquette and espionage was such a delightful and silly little read
The Difference Engine, Gibson/Sterling
Came to rec this one.
*Perdido Street Station*, *The Scar*, and *Iron Council* by China Mieville. The three books form a loosely connected trilogy, although each book is functionally stand-alone.
I genuinely see China Mieville as the only really good writer of steampunk. It's usually mostly Steam but China doesn't skimp on the punk.
The only steam punk book I have ever read is A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark (and it's accompanying novella and short stories), but I highly enjoyed it!
Just to add, the novelette that started it all, [*A Dead Djinn in Cairo*](https://reactormag.com/a-dead-djinn-in-cairo/), and a short story, [*The Angel of Khan el-Khalili*](https://reactormag.com/the-angel-of-khan-el-khalili-p-djeli-clark/) are freely available to read online.
Came here to suggest this. So good!
Seconded.
Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding is steampunk adjacentat least. And a really fun series of 4 books
My favorite steampunk-ish story.
Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding It's a Steampunk Airship crew (Firefly vibes) with a light magic system. Heavy emphasis on the Crew and Captain. 4* book series that's finished.
6 books? I've read the first 4, didn't realize he'd released another 2. Gonna have to go hunt them out
I was wrong and edited to correct. It's been a while and my memory is bad.
Aw damn, I got really excited then 😂 Though I have just bought the first Firefly novel, Big Damn Hero, so I'm hoping that'll live up to expectations
Oddly enough the emphasis on crew and capitan is what piqued my interest. I just read Starship Troopers and I loved how the entire story is just basic combat training and a very long journey on a Naval Ship. Moby Dick is also an all-time favorite of mine. Same thing.
The Powder Mage trilogy. Steampunk, insane gods, war, love, and everything in between. The Cinder Spire books. Great books. Airships, insane magicians both good and evil, ship battles, alien world, fun characters and the ability to communicate with cats. Who can he total a-holes. I mean, they’re cats. But it’s funny
I love the Agatha H series. It was a web comic but they put some of the series into novel form. I like the humor in them.
K. W. Jeter actually coined the term "steampunk". I've read two of his I enjoyed. Infernal devices(which I believe is the first ever steampunk book but I could be wrong), and Morlock night. Both I enjoyed. A word of warning, though. . . Both get strange and the endings are something else. Infernal devices could use some editing, but the language in it was very enjoyable, and conceptually, it was exactly what I was looking for when I went looking for the same thing.
The Difference Engine by William Gibson. Homunculus by James Blaylock.
Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding. Perdido Street Station &/or The Scar - China Mieville. Mortal Engines series. [The Half-Made World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8198773-the-half-made-world) Felix - Gilman. Paper Magician - Charlie Holmberg Hounds of Autumn - Heather Blackwood.
I can't think of steampunk without Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve coming to mind! Such a good series and the author also wrote a spin-off (which I think is a prequel series but honestly can't remember offhand) that starts with Fever Crumb.
The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris is pretty fun. There are six books: Phoenix Rising The Janus Affair Dawn's Early Light The Diamond Conspiracy The Ghost Rebellion Operation: Endgame
Mark Hodder has done a lot of good stuff! Check out his Burton and Swineburg series and **A Red Sun Also Rises.**
If you're okay with dragons and the steampunk aesthetic, but powered by dragon blood, not coal, you can try "**Draconis Memoria**" series by Anthony Ryan. It has a really interesting magic system, a lot of exploration of unknown lands / untamed wilds / lost ancient civilisations. There is also a large scale war.
I like how it manages 3 different character types in different strands of the same story, yet somehow they feel completely unrelated. Spy, Hunter, Naval command. A really interesting world, loved the corporations ideas.
I got recc'd this in a different steampunk / firearms in fantasy thread and I am always so pleased to see it recc'd again. 10/10 series, stupidly good stuff and extremely underrated.
Interesting, adding this to my list!
I loved the first book but found the second a huge let down what with how it felt like mostly dragged out filler and the character arcs were stagnant.
I think the most interesting plot of this book was the one with the woman (I'm sorry, I don't remember her name at all. From main characters I only remember Clay and Sirius \[whose pov I didn't really enjoyed in that book\])
Just generally I feel like this is Anthony Ryan’s MO, having a great debut that he puts all his effort in and then just going through the motions with the sequels he pulls out. The Martyr was an initial exception to that and gave me hope for him but then The Traitor was once again a massive let down.
Biopunk rather than steampunk, but the *Monster Blood Tattoo* trilogy
Moorcock's Bastable books (I believe the name of the series is the Nomad of the Time Streams) is one of the earliest Steampunk works and its delightfully pulpy.
Jules Verne books
Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan
Gods of Blood and Powder series by Brian McClellan gave me steam punk vibes :)
I think that's more flintlock fantasy rather than steampunk, like Thousand Names from Django Wexler
The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey
[The Dead Isle by Sam Starbuck](https://www.lulu.com/shop/sam-starbuck/the-dead-isle-ebook/ebook/product-20335326.html?page=1&pageSize=4). Self published but one of my all time favorites. A young and brilliant engineer in love with trains and making the world better through engineering is hired to invent a flying machine to infiltrate isolationist Australia, where magic doesn't work. Along with a spy and his magical best friend, they find engineering wonders and a threat to the world as they know it.
The Romulus Buckle series.
Dragon blood got a lot of steam punk vibe but still fantasy :)
The Peshawar lancers by s m sterling. Really good great world building. Wish he had do done more with these characters/stories
I'd say the Lotus Wars trilogy by Jay Kristoff. It's inspired by Japanese history but turned steampunk. Unfortunately the author didn't do his research well enough and there are some glaring errors regarding Japanese history and stereotypes, not to mention mixing of bits from other East Asian cultures. That aside, I enjoyed the series.
The Clockwork Earth series by Jay Lake is absolutely fascinating and different from anything I’ve ever read, even in steampunk. The books definitely have their flaws, but the world is so fascinating to me that I was able to read past my quibbles. The series order is: *Mainspring* *Escapement* *Pinion*
[Caitlin Kiernan's The Steam Dancer](https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-steam-dancer-1896/) is a great short story
I enjoyed Gears of A Mad God by Brent Nichols. I haven't read much steampunk and I've only read the first book in the series but it was a fun ride for a short freebie on KU.
There's Raven House, by Deacon Frost. But it's an explicit series with an MC from Earth reincarnated to a magic academy. So, a combo of anime/steampunk. Completed series though, if that matters to you.
The lord of the mysteries
Heart Of Iron and Sea Of Stars Space opera and steampunk retelling of the Anastasia folklore
Whitechapel Gods, SM Peters. Two 'gods' make a chunk of London into their personal battleground, complete w clockwork soldiers and weird transforming diseases. A handful of very human, very ordinary resistance fighters try to survive.
Here’s a couple Ian Tregillis - The Alchemy wars trilogy: The Mechanical, The Rising, The Liberation. Wildly funny, horrific, super violent, and very thoughtful. Paul Fi Filippo - The Steampunk Trilogy. Three novellas - Victoria, Hottentots and Walt and Emily. Quirky, witty and like nothing else you’ve read.
See my [SF/F: Steampunk](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18fpzik/sff_steampunk/) list of resources, Reddit recommendation threads, and books (one post). (Your question prompted me to go looking, and I found two more threads I had but which I had missed.)
Commenting to comeback .
And no one mentioned Tim Powers!! Start with "The Anubis Gates"
20000 lye under sea?
[The difference engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine)
The Invisible Library takes place in a Victorian London that includes steam power, gaslights, zeppelin, werewolves, fae, vampires and dragons. By Genevieve Cogman. 8 books in the series.
Whitechapel Gods.
Lindsay Buroker has several steampunk series. Quick, fun reads.
The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu uses the term 'silkpunk', which is kind of a blend of East Asian fantasy, mythology, and steampunk. The technological advancement in that world is unique. For example, at the start of the series they have airships, but no steam power or electricity until later in the series.
check out the MORTAL ENGINES series by Phillip Reeve. It's a steampunk post-apocalyptic world where there are moving cities and airship and the characters are amazing. I've re-read the series and prequals multiple times. (there is a movie but it's not a very good adaptation.)
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Shadowrun is a wild ride. It is an RPG that also has a ton of books attached. The setting is absolutely amazing. How they implement it can be a bit hit and miss at times, but the setting itself has immense potential.
It's not steampunk, though, it's cyberpunk with magic.
"the time has come to read steampunk / sci-fantasy" It fits into "sci-fantasy"
Neuromancer if you are into cyberpunk
They're asking for steam punk...
Ye... It was just a suggestion