Steampunk Digest – November 19, 2021
Nautilus now has its new captain. Deadline reports that the forthcoming Disney+ series has cast British actor Shazad Latif in the starring role of Captain Nemo. Latif is probably best known for portraying starship crewmember Ash Tyler in Star Trek: Discovery. He also played Dr. Jekyll in the third season of Penny Dreadful.
As we reported back in August, Nautilus will be a re-imagining of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, telling the origin story of Nemo and his submarine.
Deadline also reported that Michael Matthews will direct the series. His credits include the 2020 film Love and Monsters.
One aspect of the Deadline report has raised hackles among Verne aficionados. In the original story, Nemo designed and built the Nautilus, but according to Deadline, the Nemo of the Disney+ series “steals a fantastical submarine from the East India Company and sets sail in search of adventure under the sea.”
So far, Latif is the only cast member listed on the series’ IMDb page. Screen Queensland announced in August that filming would begin early next year at Village Roadshow Studios and surrounding locations in Australia’s Gold Coast region. Deadline reported that production begins next month.
Looking to catch up on the latest book news? We’ve posted a new steampunk book roundup, featuring titles released in September and October. It includes books from Gail Carriger, Colin Edmonds, Anne Renwick, Jessica Nettles, Bonsart Bokel, Dean F. Wilson, and many others. You’ll recognize some of these if you’re a regular reader of Steampunk Digest, but we also scoured the aetherweb for other titles we overlooked on their initial release.
Read the full story: New Books: September/October 2021
Steampunk fans know Phil Foglio as half of the creative team behind the popular Girl Genius webcomics. But now he’s out with something completely different: A comedic all-prose fantasy novel entitled The Night Sheriff.
The title character is protector of Zenonland, a Southern California fantasy theme park that bears some resemblance to a tourist attraction associated with a cartoon mouse. “Now an attack on the park by a monster hunter, who knows far too much, threatens everything: guests, staff, and fellow supernaturals taking refuge in the park,” we’re told. “The Night Sheriff must scramble to uncover not only the source of the threat, but secrets of the park of which even he was not aware.”
The Night Sheriff is available in e-book and paperback formats from Amazon.
You’ve likely seen photos of the Neverwas Haul cruising the playa at Burning Man, or perhaps in the vehicle yard at the Obtainium Works studio in Vallejo, California. But if you haven’t seen the interior, Obtainium Works crewmembers Katherine the Great and Dr. Prof. Samuel Tweed recently hosted a video tour from the Haul’s temporary home on Vallejo’s Mare Island.
The Haul will be there through Dec. 2, after which it will move again and become part of the festivities at the Mad Hatter Festival and Parade, Saturday, Dec. 4 in downtown Vallejo.
Cyan Eyed, the short animated steampunk adventure from Nezui Films, took the top award in the 3D category in the Animation Studio Festival competition. As we previously reported, the film was written, produced, and directed over seven years by entertainment industry vet Ryan Grobins.
The movie follows a sentient automaton named Grunt who boards a pirate airship to rescue a girl with supernatural powers. But first the robot must contend with pirate captain Corliss “The Red Snake” Vail.
The Animation Studio Festival award was one of many won by the film over the past year. You can view the eight-minute film in its entirety on the Cyan Eyed website.
T.E. Yates, the multi-talented artist and musician from Bristol, UK, has been busy lately with a new EP and music video. The six-track EP, Strange Weather, begins with “Condition,” described as “a reliably forthright and honest song about his experiences as a neurodivergent person.”
The song inspired a music video created in collaboration with other neurodivergent artists in the Bristol area.
Yates himself created the album’s cover art, which was inspired by Art Nouveau, particularly the Four Seasons works by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha.
Readers may recall Yates’ 2020 animated music video, “Farewell Rainy City,” which depicts him aboard two historic vehicles, The Liverpool and Manchester Railway and John Greenwood’s omnibus.
An earlier animated music video, “Evil Cat,” was recently an official selection at the Poe Film Festival in Richmond, Virginia. It’s based on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1843 story “The Black Cat.”
The new album is available as a digital download and limited-edition CD from Bandcamp. See the artist’s website for more info.
The National Space Centre in Leicester, UK will once again host Steampunks in Space, billed as a “celebration of steam-powered science fiction.” This year’s event, scheduled for Nov. 20-21, will also serve as a tribute to the 155th birthday of H.G. Wells. Activities include an art exhibition, tea dueling, a steampunk market, craft workshops, and live entertainment.
The daytime entertainment lineup includes Victor Ghastly on Saturday and Alice Strange on Sunday. Saturday’s event is sold out but limited bookings are still available for Sunday.
The museum will also host the “War of the Worlds” dinner on Saturday night, but that, too, is sold out. The entertainment lineup features Count Rostov, Alice Strange, Thomas B Wild Esq., and Victor and the Bully.
See the museum website for more info.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair has become a holiday tradition in the San Francisco area, bringing a taste of 19th century London to the Cow Palace in Daly City. The 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19, and with the emergence of the Delta variant, the organizers announced in August that this year’s festival would also go dark. But now they’ve decided to bring it back as the “Drive-Thru Dickens’ London,” which you can experience from your car.
They’ll be converting the Cow Palace parking lots into an outdoor version of the festival, complete with entertainment, food, and a limited number of vendors offering holiday shopping. Attendees will also be able to tune their FM radios for audio entertainment.
It’s happening for three weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, from Dec. 4 through Dec. 19. Tickets cost $25 per vehicle and must be purchased in advance.
As with last year, the organizers will also host Dickens Fair at Home, a series of online festivities that also kicks off on Dec. 4.
See the Dickens Fair website for more info about both events.
Oddball Newt announced dates for the next Stupid Cupid Steampunk Ball, which is happening Feb. 26 and 27 at Cheney Hall in Manchester, Connecticut. The event will feature performances by Victor and the Bully, Frenchy and the Punk, and The Eternal Frontier, along with fashion shows, teapot racing, tea drinking and steampunk vendors. See the Facebook event page for more info.
13 Gears, the “Eclectic Steampunk Event,” will make its long-awaited return to Minneapolis on Sunday, March 6, 2022. This time it will be a free public gathering at two adjacent venues, La Dona Cerveceria and Royal Foundry Craft Spirits at 241 Fremont Avenue N., Minneapolis, MN 55405. Applications are open for vendors, volunteers, and performers. See the website and Facebook page for more info.
Video game programmer Jesus Manuel Pacheco Lopez of Malaga, Spain launched a Kickstarter campaign for Blue Night, described as an “action RPG” set on a drought-stricken planet in the far future.
One steampunk-styled city has been saved thanks to cloud-generating machines, but now “it rains day and night, the probability of getting sick is high, food is scarce, and the economy does not advance,” the creator writes. “People are fed up with this and many have risen up against it by forming a rebellion.”
Players take the role of Chika, a super-powered soldier who aims “to save humanity from those who seek to destroy the rain that saves all.”
Lopez plans to release the game on the Steam platform next March. It will be available in English and Spanish. The Kickstarter page includes links to a downloadable demo version.
The campaign launched Nov. 15 and seeks €7000 (US$7908) by Dec. 25. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had just four backers. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Update: The Victorian Collection costume book from Laura Meyer is more than halfway toward its US$9500 goal with about two weeks to go. Rewards include the book itself (in PDF or hardcover) as well as some of the creator’s handmade costumes.