Steampunk, Cyberbpunk, Genepunk–what are all these punks doing in teen lit? Here’s a quick guide to these genres, and some books and movies to get you started!
Steampunk: Imagine the past, with the future’s technology. Want to fly? Take a hot air balloon, or maybe a steam-powered airship. Top hats and crinolines rule, but look out for mechanical umbrellas and the occasional jet pack. Get started with a few of these:
- Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
- The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
- Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
- Sherlock Holmes (DVD, 2009)
Cyberpunk: Computers are a part of everything–every waking moment is monitored or enhanced or connected, somehow, to technology. Sounds pretty close to reality, huh? Cyberpunk gets into the gritty underground of a techno-society, with hackers and revolutionaries working to survive.
- Neuromancer by William Gibson (a cyberpunk classic)
- Feed by M. T. Anderson
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
- Epic by Conor Kostick
- Tron and Tron Legacy (DVD)
Genepunk: Also called biopunk, this is what happens when genetic engineering takes over. From giant whales that serve as airships to human beings grown in pods, this genre often features mad scientists.
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (proto-genepunk)
- The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen
- The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (yep, it’s biopunk and steampunk at the same time!)
- Dark Angel (DVD)
So what kind of punk are you?