Types of Steampunk

Biopunk (a portmanteau of "biotechnology" or "biology" and "punk") is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on biotechnology. It is derived from cyberpunk, but focuses on the implications of biotechnology rather than information technology.

Clockpunk Clockpunk portrays Renaissance-era science and technology based on pre-modern designs, in the vein of Mainspring by Jay Lake, and Whitechapel Gods by S. M. Peters. Examples of clockpunk include The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish, Astro-Knights Island in the nonlinear game Poptropica, the 2011 film version of The Three Musketeers, the game Thief: The Dark Project, and the game Syberia.

These derivatives, though they do not share cyberpunk's computers-focused setting, may display other qualities drawn from or analogous to cyberpunk: a world built on one particular technology that is extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level (this may even be a fantastical or anachronistic technology, akin to retro-futurism), a gritty transreal urban style, or a particular approach to social themes.

Dieselpunk is a genre similar to steampunk that combines the aesthetics of the diesel-based technology of the interwar period through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities.

Elfpunk Elfpunk is subgenre of urban fantasy in which traditional mythological creatures such as faeries and elves are transplanted from rural folklore into modern urban settings and has been seen in books since the 1980s including works such as War of the Oaks by Emma Bull, Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino, and The Iron Dragons' Daughter by Michael Swanwick.

Steampunk incorporates relatively specific elements of the Age of Steam—technological innovation stemming from the late 19th century, Victorian aesthetics and historical settings, and lots of brass, copper, and clockworks—into a fantasy world. Mannerpunk, however, harkens back to a slightly earlier period of British history—the Regency.

Steampunk Where cyberpunk is futuristic and dark, steampunk is retro, nostalgic and underpinned with a more optimistic view of human potential. It blends advanced gadgetry with antique accessories and imagines computers and flying machines that employ steam engines and miles of copper piping.

This last bit has led to accusations that steampunk includes a fair amount of empire worship, which is a reasonable concern. Another criticism has been that steampunk focuses on the best of the past and quietly sweeps the bad (i.e. slavery, child labor, widespread disease, etc.).