Are you ready for the next wave of Steampunk? Then it's time for something that captures the spirit of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, an era of ebullient progress in the arts, literature, science, and technology. Call it Deco Punk, and let's rock with the bootleg Twenties and roll with the grim Thirties. It was a time of heady optimism, and-fittingly-the era when modern science fiction was born.
Dieselpunk and decopunk are alternative history re-imaginings of (roughly) the WWI and WWII eras. These are tales with the grit of roaring bombers, rumbling tanks, of 'We Can Do It', the Great Depression and old time gangsters, or with the glamour of flappers, Hollywood starlets, smoky jazz, elegant cars and Radio City Music Hall. Plus fairy tales. Two young women defy the devil with the power of friendship. The pilot of a talking plane discovers a woman who transforms into a swan every night and is pulled into a much more personal conflict than the war he's already fighting. A pair of twins with special powers find themselves in Eva Braun's custody and wrapped up in a nefarious plan. A team of female special agents must destroy a secret weapon-the spindle-before it can be deployed. Retellings of The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Monkey King, Swan Lake, Pinocchio and more are all showcased alongside some original fairy tale-like stories. Featuring stories by Alicia Anderson, Jack Bates, Patrick Bollivar, Sara Cleto, Amanda C. Davis, Jennifer R. Donohue, Juliet Harper, Blake Jessop, A.A. Medina, Elizabeth, Nellie Neves, Wendy Nikel, Brian Trent, Alena VanArendonk, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sarah Van Goethem, Robert E. Vardeman and Alejandra Zannier.
Dieselpunk: an emerging retro-futuristic sub-genre, similar to steampunk, based on the era between the First World War and the start of the Atomic Age, merging elements of noir, pulp, and the past with today’s technology . . . and sometimes a dash of the occult. Award-winning editor Wallace presents a cutting-edge collection of twenty-five vibrant stories that explore the possibilities of history while sweeping readers into high-powered hydrocarbon-fuelled adventures. Join us in an era when engines were huge, fuel was cheap and plentiful, and steel and chrome blended with the grit and grease of modern machines. Praise for The Mammoth Book of Steampunk: 'World Fantasy Award-winning editor Wallace has compiled an outstanding anthology . . . sure to satisfy even the most jaded steampunk fans and engage newcomers and skeptics. Each story exemplifies steampunk’s knack for critiquing both the past and the present, in a superb anthology that demands rereading.' Publishers Weekly
Surveys the online social habits of American teens and analyzes the role technology and social media plays in their lives, examining common misconceptions about such topics as identity, privacy, danger, and bullying.
As soon as they stepped off the boat in New York, Irish immigrants Jim Leary and his brother Billy were conscripted into the Union Aero Corps, forced to fight in a civil war they had no interest in. Ten years later, with the war finally over and America divided into two nations, each brother believes the other died in combat. Jim Leary, now calling himself "Captain Gallagher," has taken to the air over the southwestern American territories in a stolen airship, leading the life of a pirate, raiding trains, stage coaches, and even other airships, the ane of both the Union and the fledgling Confederate States of America. A consortium of businessmen, tired of losing money and goods to Gallagher and his pirate cohorts, has hired a former Confederate air admiral to hunt them down. Now Gallagher finds himself pursued by an overwhelming force led by the infamous Garrett "Butcher" Prescott, the man he blames for his brother's death, and the beautiful and accomplished Justine Arthurs, an airship pilot, former Pinkerton agent and Union spy. Gallagher thinks he's got a plan that will bring down the Valkyrie, Prescott's massive dreadnaught. What he doesn't know is that the chief engineer on the Valkyrie is his longlost brother.
In a world where humanity lives in suspended space, children undergo a fishing test when they come of age. Those with immaculate talents have the possibility of becoming great fishing masters. In the endless sea, every life is imbued with a sacred mission. There are fish that can fly, turtles that have absorbed the worldly essence, and whales that can devour the heaven and earth… There are also countless fishers. Fishing is an art. There is an ancient saying: If you can't fish, you might as well be bait.
The Bioshock series looms large in the industry and culture of video games for its ambitious incorporation of high-minded philosophical questions and retro-futuristic aesthetics into the ultraviolent first-person shooter genre. Beyond the Sea marks ten years since the release of the original game with an interdisciplinary collection of essays on Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite. Simultaneously lauded as landmarks in the artistic growth of the medium and criticized for their compromised vision and politics, the Bioshock games have been the subject of significant scholarly and critical discussion. Moving past well-trodden debates, Beyond the Sea broadens the conversation by putting video games in dialogue with a diverse range of other disciplines and cultural forms, from parenting psychology to post-humanism, from Thomas Pynchon to German expressionist cinema. Offering bold new perspectives on a canonical series, Beyond the Sea is a timely contribution to our understanding of the aesthetics, the industry, and the culture of video games. Contributors include Daniel Ante-Contreras (Miracosta), Luke Arnott (Western Ontario), Betsy Brey (Waterloo), Patrick Brown (Iowa), Michael Fuchs (Graz), Jamie Henthorn (Catawba), Brendan Keogh (Queensland), Cameron Kunzelman (Georgia), Cody Mejeur (Michigan State), Matthew Thomas Payne (Notre Dame), Gareth Schott (Waikato), Karen Schrier (Marist), Sarah Stang (York/Ryerson), Sarah Thorne (Carleton), John Vanderhoef (California State, Dominguez Hills), Matthew Wysocki (Flagler), Jordan R. Youngblood (Eastern Connecticut State), and Sarah Zaidan (Emerson).
This visionary text professes to tell the complete story of Jesus' life, including the "lost" years, during which he traveled and studied in Tibet, Egypt, India, Persia, and Greece. First published in 1908, this mystical work is the cornerstone of a Christian denomination, the Aquarian Christine Church Universal, and it offers intriguing, controversial assertions about Christ's message. Jesus was conceived by a human father, author Levi Dowling states, and by effort and prayer rendered himself a fit vessel for "the Christ" — the model for human existence and ultimate salvation. Dowling, who devoted forty years of preparation to the task of transcribing this volume's contents from original Akashic records, further asserts the reality of reincarnation and its culmination in the perfection of the human soul. Tracing Jesus' life from his birth in Bethlehem to his ascension from the Mount of Olives, Dowling offers complete details concerning the savior's years among monks, wise men, and seers throughout the Orient. Readers with an interest in occult lore and the history of religion will find this remarkable volume a source of endless fascination.
