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Steampunk Capitol Hill: Gears, zombies, and rewriting history with Cherie Priest

Earlier this week I got a chance to sit down and talk with Capitol Hill resident and author Cherie Priest about her most recent work, the Seattle-set steampunk novel Boneshaker. Much of my conversation with Priest boiled down to one question: “Why Seattle?”  “I tend to set things in places I’ve really been”, says Priest, “I’d been here a couple years when I started Boneshaker, so I figured that the time had come.”

A majority of steampunk novels are set in gaslamp London; moving the setting across the pond, to a Western frontier town no less, seems like a bold move. Priest’s answer: Seattle is steampunk ground-zero already – why not write the city into the canon? “[Seattle]’s dark, it’s cold, it’s good for wearing layers. The more laid-back attitude is good for the development of a subculture. There’s the band Abney Park, the Unhallowed Metropolis folks who wrote a steampunk RPG, and an existing goth scene out of which for the steampunk scene to grow.”

When it comes to historical material to work with (as anyone who’s been on the Underground Tour as many times as Priest has knows), it’s not as if there was nothing going on in Seattle in the 1800s.  If you add accelerated technology from a Civil War that stretches on for two decades, a Klondike gold rush that happens 40 years early, and an epidemic of the walking dead (like Priest does in Boneshaker), there’s plenty to write home about.

Priest also emphasized the sense of play that she finds in the steampunk world: “My bottom line is always if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.” The playful aspects of steampunk extend past the fun gear and steam-powered technology; the alternative history aspect of the genre lets the adventurous author play around with the past. “Part of the punk of steampunk is rewriting the history that created the rules that make some people ‘other’,” says Priest, “The joy of steampunk is that there is literally room for everybody, and you can rewrite the rules that put a group on the outside.”

In case you’re a voracious reader like myself and you read through Boneshaker in a couple of days, never fear: there are sequels on the way. Clementine is coming out at the end of May through Subterranean (the publisher where Priest works) and Dreadnought is tentatively coming out in the fall through Tor.  If you’d like to talk to the author herself, Priest will also be appearing a number of panels again this year at Seattle’s own Steamcon in November.

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D'Arcy
D'Arcy
14 years ago

To all those in the steampunk community- Emerson Salon is a steampunked theme salon on Capitol Hill. Check us out! emersonsalon.com

Traevynn
Traevynn
14 years ago

Seattle has steampunk coming out its cogs and gears! Check out Norwescon, Steamcon, Seattle SteamRats group, graphic novels – Girl Genius, steamblogs and costumes! costumes! costumes!!