This page contains short reviews of books, movies, TV-series and music. Not all of these can be defined as pure Steampunk, but they are still on this list because they have supplied us with inspiration.
Movies
Pan's Labyrinth
A magnificently told story, mixing reality and fantasy in a way that transcends the story of Alice in Wonderland. Set to Spain in the year 1944 at a village outpost, ruled by a ultra-fascist commander. Ophelia is the daughter of the officers new wife, and it is within her the whole story progresses, a young girls way to escape the horrors of war.
Firefly
Movie in the same universe the series FireFly takes place in, approx 6 months after the events of FireFly.
-
TV-Series
Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009)
This series is some of the best science-fiction ever made, with its five and completed seasons it is a breathtakingly intelligent and well written story, with some solid acting to back it up. The series covers many serious topics, that few others dare to touch, giving it special depth to the whole of the story. Personaly i think its main theme is about humanity, as a whole and as individuals, it is about what makes us human alive and the meaning of a soul and about the evolution of the human race. There are heroes and traitors, some not wanting to be neither and all the characters are well balanced, as there are none that are purely "evil" nor anyone being perfect, they are all presented in layers of different beliefs, thoughts and emotions.
The humans, organised as 12 different colonies on different planets gets close to wiped out by the Cylons, firstly created by humans to serve humans. Only a small fleet is less than 50.000 remains of the whole human population is space and now they are running from the Cylons as well as trying to find a new home..
If you like this series you will probably also like its spin-off series: Caprica. Set to 40 years before the events in Battlestar Galactica, in the crucial time where the first Cylons are made.
Caprica (2009)
One of the most intelligent viewing experiences available on television today, Caprica is an expansion of the Battle Star Galactica storyline. Transhumanism, escapism within virtual reality, the possible transcendence of death and other topics typically belonging to bio-ethics or philosophy are dealt with in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner. Rarely do we get such a frank portrayal of our potential evolutionary path from entertainment. This show is quite a favorite for us here in Tempest in the Aether.
Firefly (2002)
An old veteran of the resistance against the Alliance, has bought a space ship of the outdated firefly class and gathered a wild bunch for crew. They travel the solar system, looking for jobs, mostly smuggling and shady dealings. The series is set in the future, and in another solar system and the esthetics vary from the slick high-tech-baroque of the Alliance to the cowboy-ish look of the so called outer rim settlements, the ship and its crew. Highly entertaining, with lots of humor and surprising plots.
Music
Tom Waits
Tom Waits' bellowing soulful bar-songs give us the chills. Call it a celebration of all that is complex and emotionally challenged about life itself. Say it's the ranting of a madman. Speak of the music as chilling or villainous. We don't care. All we know is that songs like "Black Wings" and "Singapore" are a dram of cold poison for our grown up selves and sweet-sweet candy for the children that society has butchered with its expectations and demands. Tom Waits puts the listener in the privileged space of understanding the glossolalia of one soul beaten so thin by the world that it's become a percussion instrument.