The Timeline
Two centuries of steam, charted
From Mary Shelley’s laboratory in 1818 to the frozen generators of the present day.
The spectacleThe Animated Chronology
Our chronology glides through the eras, title by title. The elegant way to feel the shape of the genre.
Open the animation
The referenceThe Full Text Timeline
Every catalogued title in date order, grouped by era.
Read the timelineFive ages
The eras of the genre
The Pre-Coinage Age
Before the word existed. Scientific romance, Vernean machines and Wellsian futures lay down the genre's whole vocabulary of brass, ether and impossible engines.
Jump to era 1987 – 1995The Coinage Age
The label is minted and the canon gets its founding texts. Babbage's engine finally works on the page, and the Victorian empire takes flight to Mars.
Jump to era 1996 – 2003The Maker & Masquerade Age
Steampunk becomes a subculture as much as a shelf. New Weird cities, immersive-sim shadows and a literary league of Victorian monsters all arrive at once.
Jump to era 2004 – 2010The Canon-Forge Age
The young-adult and anime explosion. Traction cities, living airships, automail and the first Jackelian novels forge the modern popular canon.
Jump to era 2011 – presentThe Global Steam Age
Games, television and a worldwide audience take the controls. Whale-oil cities, frozen survival states and hextech skylines push steampunk well past its Victorian cradle.
Jump to era