Smoke & Sorcery?

[Harbreak Challan]

I am familiar with the other subgenres listed in the guidelines, but I've never heard of this one. What are the characteristics of Smoke & Sorcery? :confused:

[Scott H. Andrews]

"Smoke & sorcery" is a setting where the technology is very early Industrial Age, powered by burning wood or coal. So the setting itself would be similar to steampunk, but I would expect "smoke & sorcery" to have the same gritty, characters-struggling feel that swords & sorcery usually does.

[Harbreak Challan]

I see! Thank you. I guess Card's 'Alvin Maker' stories could be considered an example of Smoke & Sorcery?

[Scott H. Andrews]

I guess Card's 'Alvin Maker' stories could be considered an example of Smoke & Sorcery?
Unfortunately, I haven't read those. :o

I've heard Philip Pullman's Dark Materials books called smoke & sorcery, which does to me fit their technology level. Although to me, those books are just so amazingly unique and cool that traditional genre labels fail to capture all their coolness. That's the thing for me and labels--great works often blast through the labels and exist as a new combination of things outside the old classifications.