Perhaps the hottest "new" sub-genre of speculative fiction, steampunk is a wild blend of fantasy, SF, and history all wrapped in a thick coating of fun. Think "Back to the Future III" but with the addition of any cool monsters, machines, and mayhem you care to throw in.

ORDER

Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, this one is original with a capital O. The homunculus, a wee little man who can drive normal men to murder, is a good match for a mad hunchback who spends his time trying to bring back the dead. This book is quite brilliant in its own mad way.

In 1855 London, computers exist, and only Edward Mallory knows the secret of a mysterious deck of perforated cards the Luddites will kill for. This one skillfully recreates its times and spins a complex plot toward a slam-bang confrontation.

Fans of Mainstream will like this sequel, which focuses on three main characters. This time there's a long journey by submarine, secret societies, and another look at the Wall, all bound up with philosophical musings and Lake's vividly descriptive prose. 

Lake has ingeniously imagined the universe as a giant clock with gears and cogs and a mainspring which must be wound. The Angel Gabriel gives the task to a clockmaker's apprentice, who gets to discover all sorts of fascinating things in his struggle to carry out a task he scarcely understands, including what it's like on the other side of the Equatorial Wall. There's airships, mechanical men, dark wizards, and every other sort of fun here. 

A romp through Civil War era Seattle--or rather, what's left of it after a mad inventor gets done with it. You get zombies, airships, and a son determined to clear his father's name. Except maybe his father isn't a good guy. 

A nice addition to a hot genre.

This is YA that adults can love. Set during World War I, it indeed has a world war, but between the Clankers who believe in all things mechanical, and the Darwinists who believe in creating new species. Prince Aleksandr of the Clankers must flee his own people when his parents are assassinated, and eventually meets up with young Deryn Sharp, who has disguised herself as a boy in order to serve aboard the British royal airship Leviathan, a biological construct resembling nothing so much as a giant whale. Who is really the enemy here?