steampunk
Function: noun
Definition: a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power; also written steam-punk
| Source: Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, © 2003 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC |
I guess I'm playing a bit more fast and loose than this definition. Within the scope of what I consider Steampunk I'd lump in alternative histories; Scientific romances; Anything which uses anachronistic technologies; Swashbuckling adventure and several other works that border upon this genre.
Perhaps its a style then? Maybe. But again we reach a grey area where adventure, both swashbuckling and gritty, can rub shoulders with dark horror and low comedy. Sometimes it's high concept, sometimes it's pure pulp.
All I can suggest is don't be blinkered. Be prepared to entertain alternative pasts, than can be populated with scientific wonders and occult horrors.