I'm actually quite surprised at how many people don't know what steampunk is. I was under the impression that the mainstream was already aware that this was a subgenre of speculative fiction. But I guess I shouldn't assume anything. I've been looking through subgenres of spec fic when I came across some terms I haven't heard of before.
*Bangsian fantasy - Spec fic that deals with the afterlives of famous people. The only book I've read in this genre was one of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld books.
*Dying Earth fiction - It's a subgenre within a subgenre (science fantasy to be exact). It's spec fic that takes place at the end of time, when the sun is dying. Sort of like H. G. Wells' The Time Machine in the far future.
*Biopunk - Spec fic that deals with the underside of a biotech society. Includes elements such as the hard-boiled detective, film noir, anime, and post-modernism.
*Ribofunk - The word is derived from the full name for RNA. A subgenre of biopunk, it deals with the enhancement of technology via genetic manipulation.
*Clerical fiction - A subgenre of science fiction that deals with the Catholic Church.
*Cosy Catastrophe - A subgenre of post-apocalyptic science fiction where everyone is killed except a few middle-class survivors who set about rebuilding civilization.
*Xenofiction - Spec fic that is set among a species that is very different from humanity or human society. An example would be Watership Down by Richard Adams.
You know, sometimes it's amusing to see all these little classifications, but personally, I don't really want to categorize what I write. I say that I'm trying steampunk because my story is set in a quasi-Victorian society. It's not like I'm going to focus entirely on steam technology (I'm not). Who knows what other elements I might end up throwing in--fantasy, mystery, romance, horror, comedy...
