Steampunk Book Review: The Lost World (1912)
Sherlock Holmes is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous character, but definitely not his only one. I have noticed that some of the newer renditions of Mr. Holmes show him as, at best, suffering from Asberger’s syndrome, and at worst, a monumental jerk. If you have read Conan Doyle’s books, you would know that this is not actually consistent with Sherlock’s character, but it is spot on for the (sometimes) hero of The Lost World, Professor Challenger.
Challenger, like Holmes, is a genius, but he doesn’t spend his time hanging out in London. He is an adventurer, a trail-blazer and a scientist extraordinaire (and doesn’t he know it!) who will use his intellect to thwart his academic enemies, and his fists to back up his intellect. I thoroughly enjoyed his turns of phrase and clever barbs throughout The Lost World even more than the premise of the story itself, and he was a great foil for the young and inexperienced narrator.
Like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, Conan Doyle explores the prospect of a place that time has left behind. When Challenger’s assertions of its existence are called into question, the National Geographical Society mounts an expedition to investigate his claims that there is a plateau in South America where dinosaurs still roam the earth. And not just dinosaurs! There are all kinds of blasts from the past that have wandered to the secluded spot over the years, some of them remaining unchanged and some of them evolving along a whole new line.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is another one that the Mister and I read out loud together and that was a great way to experience it. The dialog between Challenger and his rival scientist, Summerlee, is fantastic, and there were many times I laughed out loud. I also know just enough biology to appreciate the rival points of view and interaction of species. I can’t wait to read the next Professor Challenger title, The Poison Belt.
Have you ever read any Professor Challenger stories? What did you think?
Chris Hardwick went Steampunk for Halloween on @Midnight
As a person living very far from home at the moment I am so thankful for the internet, and especially networks that post episodes of my favorite shows. It was love at first viewing of the Comedy Central show @Midnight, which is hosted by Chris Hardwick of the Nerdist podcast series. He is fabulously nerdy and a big fan of cosplayers, so it came as no surprise when he dressed up in clever costumes for several episodes of the improv comedy show leading up to Halloween.
In addition to Luke Skywalker Texas Ranger, he also got decked out by Clockwork Couture in a Steampunk Doctor Who ensemble. From a distance, you wouldn’t know he was posing at the Doctor, but as he told the audience, his splendid cravat actually had his name embroidered in Gallfrayan on it. Someone photoshopped Hardwick onto a TARDIS interior and I couldn’t resist posting it.
Celebrating a Wonderful First Year with some Steampunk Cakes
Hello friends!
Halloween marked the first anniversary for For Whom The Gear Turns and it has been a great first year. Thank you so much to The Steampunk Journal, The Obsession Engine, Hive Queen and Country and Airship Flamel for your reblogs, to the World of Penny Blake for your support, and to all my readers for sharing almost 3,000 things, including the campaign for Steam Tour.
So as a little “happy birthday” to the blog, I collected some amazing examples of Steampunk cakes.
I reached and exceeded my goal of 25,000 views for the first year, and gained 711 followers. Wow! But I need your help to shape my calendar for the year to come, so please give me your feedback below. You can vote as many times as you want, so feel free to reload this post and choose as many options as you like.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you all the articles that have been the most popular in case you are new to following or missed them the first time around. It is really interesting to see what interests you the most, and it helps me decide what to write about, so keep up the good work sharing. commenting and reading! The titles are all active links so feel free to explore these top picks by readers.
Most Shared
This is one of my favorite statistics to check, and it tells me so much about what my readers might want to see more of.
1. Steampunk Scrapbook Paper
2. Free Vintage Images
3. Music to Steampunk by: Lindsey Stirling
4. Steampunk Sourcebook: Captain Nemo
5. Treasure Planet
6. Of Coke and Culture Clash (Multicultural Steampunk)
Most Viewed
You can’t imagine how much it warms my heart to see that the two pages that are most personal, about me and the pictures of my artwork, are in the top 6 most viewed things on the blog.
1. Van Helsing Mixes Monsters for Movie Magic
2. Brothers Grimm Punks Your Favorite Fairy Tales
3. About the Author
4. The Dolls of New Albion at Ed Fringe Review
5. My Artwork
6. Hustlers, Harlots and Heroes Book
The Spitalfields Nippers
A link to a Daily Mail Online article about a set of photographs that were taken in the decades surrounding 1900 showing the heartbreaking state of the children of the poor inhabitants of Spitalfields in East London. The photographer was Horace Warner, a Quaker working in the East End to fight poverty and hunger. Some of his photographs were used to highlight the plight of the poor; most were stored away until now.
Adelaide Springett was so ashamed of her tattered boots, she took them off for this 1901 photograph. Source: Daily Mail website (link above).
Those of us enamored by the Victorian Period or its revival movement, Steampunk, often forget that it was not all tea parties and polished brass doorknobs. Not everyone had a country manor or took the “Grand Tour” through Europe to finish one’s education. The orphanages and workhouses were full, and not with the happy…
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For Whom the Gear Turns 