From one of the best Lego book publishers, No Starch Press, Steampunk Lego hits the racks on November 30th. Written by Guy Himber, this 200 page Lego coffee table book features constructions in the Steampunk genre by over 90 different artists from every corner of the globe!
This isn't really your traditional Lego book. You know the ones that are filled with building techniques and maybe even instructions. Books that have interviews with the builders talking about how they did this or that with stories about how long they've been building with Lego. Though I like that sort of book because I'm into Lego, I build shit, I love learning about people in the Lego community, it doesn't always make for a good coffee table book.
Steampunk Lego delivers on that part of the equation; it is a wonderful coffee table book. This is a fantastic book to have in your living space for someone to flip through, to marvel at, to enjoy regardless of if they are going to wait in line with you on Brick Friday to get that sweet free-with-purchase giveaway. Someone doesn't have to be into Lego like we are into Lego to love this book.
Purveyors of finery and fancy for the discerning gentleman. Adornments and whimsy to suit a curious customer.
The pages are presented like a 19th century scrapbook of all the weird, cool and crazy steam driven or clockwork technology in the world. The author compiled a ton of images from a bunch of different builders and organized them into categories like, Monowheels and Penny-Farthings and my favorite section in the book, the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin is the father of the Zeppelin Balloon. When he saw the French flying their dirigible prototypes, he thought, "Germany must have this technology!" He embarked upon a years-long design and testing process with his world-famous society for aeronautics, the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Luftschiffahrt, which I think translates to "Please don't smoke around the Hydrogen..."
The pages are riddled with little notes in the margins, pasted post cards and colorful advertisement all written in that Steampunkesque Victorian English. You'll read whimsical tales about the various builds and see coffee stained notes with descriptions about the devices. The end result is good comedy and the print turned out lovely. This book is just beautiful and though sometimes there was a bit too much sepia it was a delight to flip through and I will continue to enjoy it for years to come. At just $29.95, it should be on your Christmas list.