Gatehouse Gazette Issue #10

The tenth issue of the online steampunk and dieselpunk newsletter the Gatehouse Gazette was released today!

I wrote a review of the Nintendo DS game Nostalgia by Matrix Software, so be sure to check that out. Also marvel at the wonderful cover by Myke Amend.

From Ottens:

A Happy New Year to all our readers! With 2009 behind us—a year that saw the steampunk community continue to grow and interest in the genre extend to mainstream media—we predict that 2010 will be a dieselpunk year.

We see mid-century influences in modern-day fashion and film and a revival of interest in times past in general, especially in the interwar era as a result of the economic hardships suffered then and today. At several websites and blogs dedicated to dieselpunk, enthusiasts are hard at work building the genre into a movement with its own style and philosophy. The Gatehouse Gazette is no exception in this process. As steampunk is steadily entering the mainstream, we are free to devote all the more energy to promoting dieselpunk. We have begun exploring its potential from the very first issue of this publication onward and will continue to do so by offering a platform for opinion and analysis. Dieselpunk is truly taking off—and therefore this Gatehouse Gazette is “taking to the skies!”

Tying in our aviation theme with the emergence of a dieselpunk mentality, we offer biographies of two heroes: Howard Hughes and Amelia Earhart, written by James Roberts and J. Parkin respectively. Both were pioneers and perhaps a tad eccentric. Both were innovators and adventurers. And both continue to inspire us are we reminiscence about their accomplishments and the seemingly more heroic epoch that was their time. While Earhart was the first aviatrix to crisscross across North America and later, the world, a league of equally daring men attempted to conquer the Arctic by air. Marcus Rauchfuß tells the story of the early twentieth century polar expeditions by airship, balloon and zeppelin. Later on in this issue you will find him interviewing Ms Kaleena Kiff; producer and director of the web series Riese: a steampunkesque adventure that incorporates Norse mythology and dystopian elements seemingly inspired by Piecraftian dieselpunk.

In our literary section is an exclusive preview of Lavie Tidhar’s upcoming steampunk novel The Bookman which should hit the shelves around the time this issue is released. Hilde Heyvaert reviews Philip Reeve’s Larklight trilogy and dedicates her Steampunk Wardrobe column to the aviator look while also reminding us of one of Disney’s most underrated adventures: the movie Treasure Planet. Lastly, Trubetskoy writes an extensive comparative review of The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith and H.G. Wells’ The War in the Air—another chapter in the history of alternate history fiction that no serious steampunk can afford to skip!

Click here or on the image to go to the Gatehouse and download it now.