Aspiring Dieselpunk author here

[Surad]

Hello everyone,

I'm a guy who's been working towards writing a dieselpunk novel for quite some time (more than two years! Ouch), my novel started out as a short story that became so big I'm having some difficulty managing it.

But that being said, while I am a fan of fantasy and scifi, I've always been partial towards Dieselpunk and other pseudo-modern fantasy/fiction. Close enough to the real world to be relatable, but just far enough to be an escapist fantasy.

 

[Tom]

Hi! Welcome to the forums. Hope you like it here.

I've been writing my own dark/political/not-really-epic fantasy for five years now, so you're in good company. I enjoy Steampunk, and have read a few Dieselpunk stories as well.

 

[stephenspower]

Good luck! What are some good examples of the genre? I'm not that familiar with it besides, I guess, Tank Girl and Mad Max.

 

[Surad]

Good luck! What are some good examples of the genre? I'm not that familiar with it besides, I guess, Tank Girl and Mad Max.

For Dieselpunk, you can't go wrong with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, it practically defines the genre. Also the Indiana Jones movies are another good example. If you like Anime, there's Skycrawlers and Legend of Korra. Video games have stuff like Crimson Skies (which to be honest is the finest example of Dieselpunk ever made. You can't get more Diesel than that). There are others, but those are the first to come to mind.

 

[Philster401]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[stephenspower]

Thanks. I love Korra. Sky Captain is a terrible movie, but that's not your point.

 

[BronzeOracle]

Hi Sura - I love dieselpunk and steampunk, its wonderful you are adopting this genre. I fondly remember the 80s anime movie Wings of Honneamise, I'm pretty sure that would be dieselpunk.

I'm also taking my time writing a novel too (ancient world based, so er bronzepunk... or perhaps togapunk?), the ideas keep building and the story morphing of its own and its going to take a while before I finish. I'm looking forward to seeing your posts!

 

[Surad]

Hi Sura - I love dieselpunk and steampunk, its wonderful you are adopting this genre. I fondly remember the 80s anime movie Wings of Honneamise, I'm pretty sure that would be dieselpunk.

I'm also taking my time writing a novel too (ancient world based, so er bronzepunk... or perhaps togapunk?), the ideas keep building and the story morphing of its own and its going to take a while before I finish. I'm looking forward to seeing your posts!

Wings of Honneamise. Never heard of it... I'll have to check it out. Thanks.

Thanks. I love Korra. Sky Captain is a terrible movie, but that's not your point.

Sky Captain was a silly movie, but like you said, it's not about whether it's good or not, the movie captures the essences of Dieselpunk perfectly.

 

[AllegedObserver]

You're going to have to forgive my ignorance on this subject. I know what Steampunk is, but what exactly is Dieselpunk? Is there some sort of definition that separates it from Steampunk? Mentioning Sky Captain (I didn't fing the movie too terrible) and Indiana Jones, I kinda always thought was more like Pulp Fiction style (the adventure dime novels from the 20s and 30s, not the Tarantino movie).

 

[Surad]

You're going to have to forgive my ignorance on this subject. I know what Steampunk is, but what exactly is Dieselpunk? Is there some sort of definition that separates it from Steampunk? Mentioning Sky Captain (I didn't fing the movie too terrible) and Indiana Jones, I kinda always thought was more like Pulp Fiction style (the adventure dime novels from the 20s and 30s, not the Tarantino movie).

In a sense, yes, Dieselpunk is like Steampunk, only instead of a 19th century industrial revolution based thing, it's more of an early 20th century 1920s to 1950s type (though more often than not, it's a 1940s, WW2 era thing). It draws on the aesthetics and fashions of the era, as well as taking the technology of the time to sci-fi proportions. Some modern attitudes are transplanted, but not so much that it just feels like a present-day past. It takes a lot from film noir, adventure serials/pulps of the time, and the 'secret weapon' technology that was being made at that time.

That's the best way I can put it. I'm more into the military side of the sci-fi, as well as some moderately paranormal stuff going on. The setting is perfect for me since not only do I really love certain technology of the time (notably the aircraft), but it's also far enough into the past to have that escapist feel, but not so far as to be completely alien.