The Fascination With Steampunk

Automaton from Cirque du Soleil's Kurios

When I embarked on this journey to write a story about a young boy growing up in a very different historical version of Hawaii, I knew that I wanted to incorporate the imaginings of an often misunderstood genre - steampunk.

When most people hear of the term for the first time, images of Victorian garb, goggles, metal wheels and cogs, ray guns, and flying dirigibles may be the images that come to mind. But as a written genre, it can become so much more. Steampunk takes the glorious age of the Industrial Revolution - poverty, pollution, progress, and all - and asks the question, "What if it still existed?"

Jules Verne may be the earliest author to give voice to such a question with his classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. His futuristic submarine and weaponry were fine examples of how far the technology of the Industrial Revolution could take humanity. Today, we have television shows that have celebrated the "Age of Steam," such as Warehouse 13 and Doctor Who. You can even find examples in movies: Wild, Wild West, The Golden Compass, or Howl's Moving Castle. Even video games have embraced elements of steampunk as with .Hack//G.U., Bio Shock, and Order: 1886.

Kurios performers atop the tent

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch Cirque du Soliel's Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities. It was an amazing visual display of steampunk and I was happy to have seen it. The stage design was exquisitely laid out with Tesla-coil-like devices, bronze colored machines and towers, and Edison lights scattered throughout. The costuming ranged from mad-scientist lab gear to Victorian holiday travelers, to odd automatons and fish. Yes fish.

I enjoyed the show from start to finish, and reveled in being immersed in a humble scientist's steampunk dream. What if science could change the way we lived? In the scientist's dream, we would have robots that helped us, modes of transportation that would takes us anywhere we wanted to go, we would discover amazing new sea creatures, and see the possibilities our world has to offer.

I hope I can follow such an imaginative world with my own. Hawaii, as a self-governing monarchy, came to an end in 1893. But what if it hadn't? That is the question my imagination answers, while also adding "What if Hawaii embraced industry, with sugar cane being its primary driver?" These questions set the stage for my characters, giving them a home within which to roam and have an adventure. While my novel may not take you to the world of steampunk that is strictly Victorian in nature, it still embraces the idea of a cultural shift in the face of rapid progress; I want you to experience this world from a unique perspective of island life and Asian influence.

Interview with a Character 3

Kai Napunoa

Not the greatest art, but here's Kai!

I'm finally ready to introduce one of my characters from my newest novel. Thirteen-year-old Kai Napunoa lives in a plantation camp on the island of Maui. He is a curious kid who would rather go exploring instead of going to school. Living on an island might sound boring, but with a creative mind like Kai's, every day can be an adventure!

JH: Hello Kai, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am excited to have a conversation with you!

Kai: Um, yeah, hi. (Fidgets in seat.)

JH: In your world, 1930's Hawaii has advanced steam energy. Can you tell me what it's like?

Kai: Well, we have steam buses and trains, and all the plantations run on steam power. There's electricity and oil, but those are really expensive. 

JH: Why is steam cheaper? Don't you need coal or oil to make steam?

Kai: No, most of what we burn to make steam comes from sugar cane. The islands have other things we can use to make energy. We use the sun, wind, and water to make things run.

JH: Oh, that sounds interesting! Do you know how it all works?

Kai: Sort of, but my dad would know more. He's an engineer for the Wailuku Sugar Mill and keeps things going. But mostly he keeps the ditches that collect water for the mill from taking too much away from the rivers. If too much water is taken from the streams, the sugar mill gets in trouble. It's a law that the rivers and streams cannot run dry.

JH: Hawaii still has a monarchy. Have you met the queen?  

Kai: I did. When I was five I think. I don’t really remember her, but my mom works for her. She took me to Lahaina one day and the Queen was there. I got to sit on her lap. Nice lady.

JH: What does your mom do for the Queen?

Kai: My mom takes care of the palace in Lahaina. She makes sure it is always ready for the Queen. It doesn't sound like much, but she makes sure there is enough security and when tourist come to see the palace there is someone there to do a tour. Sometimes, if the queen comes for a visit, my mom has to stay overnight. But most of the time, she catches the 6am train and comes home on the 6pm train.

JH: And what is it like growing up on a sugar plantation?

Kai: You eat, breathe, and sleep sugar cane. It surrounds the camp, and it gets smokey when the fields are burning. My family doesn't work in the fields, but I have friends who have family that do. Hard work. After school I sometimes help my dad with the ditches. We don’t have many families left at Mango Tree, that's the name of our camp. The workers moved into nearby Pu'ualoa Village. Only the engineers and lono live in Mango Tree. Lono are what we call the managers and supervisors at the mill. We own our property. The village is owned by the plantation. I think that’s why some of my school mates don’t like me, because they think we're richer since we have land. But that isn't true.

JH: What is school like?

Kai: I don’t like school, I think it’s dumb. I know all the math stuff already, and I hate writing and the only things I read are for building and maintaining stuff. But this is my last year of required school. My mom wants me to go on to high school, but I don’t want to. I’d rather help my dad as an apprentice. I go to Wailuku Intermediate. I take a jitney to school from nearby Pu'ualoa Village.

JH: What is a jitney?

Kai: It's like a bus, but it's open in the back and it has a regular route, but not regular stops. You kind of have to flag it down or it won't stop for you.

JH: What do you do for fun?  

Kai: I like to mess around with the leftover mechanics my dad brings home from the plantation. I built a pair of steam skates, see, check these out! (Holds up a pair of chunky boots with wheels and some kind of mechanism attached.) And my dad made me a metal penguin that moves. I also like to go exploring up above the Waihe'e ditch. And I’ll go into Wailuku town with my family or my friends and play at the park. Sometimes my family and I go swimming.

JH: Where do you go swimming?

Kai: Most of the time I play in the Wailuku stream up in I'ao valley. If we have a long weekend in the summer, we’ll go to Kihei or Lahaina and spend all day there at the beach. We go super early so we beat the tourists, and then we bring lunch and snacks, and my mom packs a shelter that my dad and I built to make shade when it gets too hot. Then we leave as the sun goes down. We use our car to take these longer trips because it's not always convenient to take the train or bus. Our car runs on biofuel. The mills produce sugar and leave behind the pulpy stuff, begasse. My dad figured out a way to use the leftovers to make the car go!

JH: Wow, your dad is super smart! Would you say he's your greatest influence?

Kai: Well, I don’t know. I mean, my dad is cool because he makes things work. But my mom…she’s kinda scary, but she has an important job and I’m proud of her. My grandpa’s scary too. He teaches me kendo and sometimes I’m afraid to practice. But he teaches me all sorts of stuff through kendo to make me better.

JH: Why is your mom scary?

Kai: She knows kendo, too, and sometimes if you ever watch her, well, I would not want to be her sparring partner. She beats up the dummy that Grandpa built her. 

JH: Well, she does sound a little scary! But your family and plantation life sounds exciting. Thank you so much for talking with me, I'll let you get back to trying out your steam skates!

Kai: 'Kay, thank you, too. Bye!

And there he goes, steam skates sputtering as he rolls uncontrollably out the door, arms flailing...uh.oh. Anyway, I hope you found my interview as interesting and insightful as I did. I am excited to know more about Mango Tree Camp and the technology of this time!

Searching for lost history : the forgotten Mango Tree Camp

From Hawaii State Archives

When I set out to write my current project about a young boy living in a steampunk alternate history of Maui in the 1930's, my initial question had been, "What if the Hawaiian Monarchy had never fallen?" This was the question that drove my setting, and fueled my 9-year-old son's imaginative character building as he helped me cultivate the story.

I wanted a mango tree to be the anchor to the theme of the novel, a story about perseverance, self-assurance, and growth. And it was modeled after a tree that lived in my grandmother's back yard, next to a house built by my great grand-uncles in an old plantation town. And so, a mango tree was born in the pages of my outlined draft and it's branches encompassed the characters.

Writing: Know your history

Strahov Monastery - photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

When you write non-fiction, it is important to have your facts straight. Being able to reference historical information to support your writing is essential. If you're writing about the future of publishing, be able to discuss publishing's past. If you're writing about a CEO's rise to power, give credit to events in that person's youth that put her where she is today. If you want to be considered an expert on molecular biology, reflect on the various people and theories that make up what the science is today.

But if you are writing fiction, history is meaningless, right? Let's leave out the obvious historical fiction and modern adventure/thrillers that rely on knowing past events. Would you still need history to create an epic fantasy that takes place in a fantasy realm, like J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit? Or how about a grand work of science fiction like Frank Herbert's Dune? Neither novel takes place on Earth, or in a time that we know, so is history all that important?