Some time during the Second Age, humans living on Ymir figured out how to use adonium to create their own automatons to assist in mining adonium. Rather than running on electricity, these automatons ran on the magic of adonium itself. Every automaton has an adonium core, which acts as the seat of its consciousness. However, not every automaton has free will or total consciousness. Many simply behave as their makers programmed them to behave.

Some have suggested to me that The Third Genesis is an entirely new genre altogether. The funny thing is, I can actually think of a series of stories that have all of the elements I’ve listed above: the JRPG genre. Granted, that’s a video game genre, not a book genre, but bear with me. A JRPG, for those who don’t know, is a Japanese Role-Playing Game. Basically, these are video games that are heavy in story elements, usually send the main characters on an epic quest, and aren’t shy about borrowing themes from various religions and mythologies (including the Bible).

Noblebright is a genre that has been gaining popularity recently. It is very much the opposite of Grimdark, in that it is full of hope, shows good overcoming evil, and has sincere main characters. That’s not to say that the main characters are perfect, or even that they never make mistakes or do wrong things, but rather there is a general movement toward greater goodness in the setting.

The appeal of magipunk lies in its ability to blend fantastical elements with familiar settings. A wizard may walk with a staff and wear a pointed hat as he walks into a private detective’s office. Lightning elementals powering a city’s grid might cause a major crisis when they go on strike. A dark lord may rise to threaten the world with his army of steam-powered robots. It offers a fresh take on traditional fantasy tropes while exploring themes that resonate with modern audiences.