A man (it’s almost always a man) becomes a powerful magician (or later, a scientist) and creates something that looks almost human. Then it all goes wrong.

Steampunk is frequently associated with the Victorian and Edwardian periods of British and world history lasting roughly from 1837, when Queen Victoria took the throne, through the end of World War I.

At present, when one hears the word “unicorn,” the associations are obvious: a horned white horse, representing purity; a similarly chaste and pristine young woman; a series of single entendres.

In recent years, automatons have seen a surge in popularity, from steampunk contraptions to mecha. But this interest is hardly new.

For kids who love to read, there’s something deeply exciting about opening up a book and being absorbed into someone else’s adventures. But sometimes there’s an alternative to simply reading about the protagonist’s derring-do.

Why do we have such strong feelings for alternate retellings? We love seeing a book come alive on the screen, but it comes with a price: trying to cram pages of character development into a two-hour movie.

Who hasn’t thought of shooting out the eyes of the deserving with an Elven bow? We’ve all been there. But you should actually be really, really glad you haven’t been there at all. Here’s why.

History is filled with examples of travels grander in scale than could have been imagined beforehand, each one managing to change the world in some way as a result.