New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear
Aug. 29th, 2008 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreIt begins in 1899 with a vampire detective aboard a Zeppelin, migrating to the colonies, and ends in 1903 with Tesla and Paris. I say this first and in relative isolation because there are a few people who won’t care about anything I have to say beyond that.
A collection of six stories ranging from short story to novella length, creating a continuous, novel length story despite each individual story managing to stand on its own, New Amsterdam is an AU book set from 1809-1903, in a world where England still controls the American colonies. Part steampunk, part eldritch horror and part detective noir, the book focus on the lives of Lady Abigail Irene Garrett, a sorceress and Detective Crown Investigator for the English crown, and Don Sebastien de Ulloa, a wampyr (vampire) over a thousand years old who is also a renown detective, as well as Abigail Irene’s friend and sometimes lover, and their various loves.
Abigail Irene (never to be referred to only as Abigail) drinks too much and has been famous for both her lovers and her beauty, though she seems to have slowed down a bit as she approaches her middle years. Absolutely loyal to the crown-and the former lover of Prince Henry, heir to the thrown-Abigail Irene finds herself in the position of being far from home and caught between different political factions, the crown, nobility who expects her to cover for them before standing for justice, and a mayor who plots rebellion. A mortal with mortal worries and investments, her concerns lie in her here and now, and what side is ultimately best for her generation, and the next few.
Sebastien is so old that he doesn’t remember his real name, or even the name of the town where he was born. His chief concern is for the people in his life, his court. First, there’s Jack, his young courtesan who dreams of revolution. Then, of course, there’s Abigail Irene, who probably comes closer to understanding him than any one else. Then there’s Phoebe, an American authoress he met aboard the zeppelin, and with whom he later seeks shelter. Last, there’s David, another wampyr he turned centuries before, eventually moved on, but who seeks him again. The larger picture is only an issue with him in terms of his court and their wants. Not because he doesn’t care about mortals (there’s no “bad boy emo anti-hero” air about him) but because he knows that, in a few generations, it won’t matter anymore because someone else will decide the world needs changing again.
One interesting thing is that the vampires here don’t actually have intercourse. They feed, they form strong emotional attachments, and they provide sexual favors, but they don’t actually have intercourse. I find this much easier to swallow than the usual version. I mean, thanks to biology, it isn’t as much of an issue for females, but how on Earth would male vampires have actual intercourse anyway? It, you know, requires, as romance novels like to put it “rushing blood.” Because of this, the emotional ties are stronger, Sebastien seeks out lovers not for physical pleasure, but for emotional pleasure and companionship, and because of his nature, those ties are even stronger. He reacts more strongly to Abigail Irene’s affairs with Henry and Richard than Jack’s with Phoebe (and, I suspect, others) not because he cares about Abigail Irene more than Jack, but because but because Henry and Richard are her great loves, and he’s Jack’s great love. Similarly, Abigail Irene is comfortable with the idea of Sebastien having other lovers until she learns that he lives with Jack, which indicates a stronger emotional bond. Jack, being younger and more rash, is jealous of all Sebastien’s relationships, but seems to find it easier to accept Phoebe and Abigail Irene than he does to accept David, the only one to be a part of Sebastien’s life before Jack.
Some people, I suspect, will have problems with the ending, but I thought it was extremely fitting with the theme of the book. It’s written to give a fitting conclusion to the story, not to give the readers warm and fuzzy feelings.
A collection of six stories ranging from short story to novella length, creating a continuous, novel length story despite each individual story managing to stand on its own, New Amsterdam is an AU book set from 1809-1903, in a world where England still controls the American colonies. Part steampunk, part eldritch horror and part detective noir, the book focus on the lives of Lady Abigail Irene Garrett, a sorceress and Detective Crown Investigator for the English crown, and Don Sebastien de Ulloa, a wampyr (vampire) over a thousand years old who is also a renown detective, as well as Abigail Irene’s friend and sometimes lover, and their various loves.
Abigail Irene (never to be referred to only as Abigail) drinks too much and has been famous for both her lovers and her beauty, though she seems to have slowed down a bit as she approaches her middle years. Absolutely loyal to the crown-and the former lover of Prince Henry, heir to the thrown-Abigail Irene finds herself in the position of being far from home and caught between different political factions, the crown, nobility who expects her to cover for them before standing for justice, and a mayor who plots rebellion. A mortal with mortal worries and investments, her concerns lie in her here and now, and what side is ultimately best for her generation, and the next few.
Sebastien is so old that he doesn’t remember his real name, or even the name of the town where he was born. His chief concern is for the people in his life, his court. First, there’s Jack, his young courtesan who dreams of revolution. Then, of course, there’s Abigail Irene, who probably comes closer to understanding him than any one else. Then there’s Phoebe, an American authoress he met aboard the zeppelin, and with whom he later seeks shelter. Last, there’s David, another wampyr he turned centuries before, eventually moved on, but who seeks him again. The larger picture is only an issue with him in terms of his court and their wants. Not because he doesn’t care about mortals (there’s no “bad boy emo anti-hero” air about him) but because he knows that, in a few generations, it won’t matter anymore because someone else will decide the world needs changing again.
One interesting thing is that the vampires here don’t actually have intercourse. They feed, they form strong emotional attachments, and they provide sexual favors, but they don’t actually have intercourse. I find this much easier to swallow than the usual version. I mean, thanks to biology, it isn’t as much of an issue for females, but how on Earth would male vampires have actual intercourse anyway? It, you know, requires, as romance novels like to put it “rushing blood.” Because of this, the emotional ties are stronger, Sebastien seeks out lovers not for physical pleasure, but for emotional pleasure and companionship, and because of his nature, those ties are even stronger. He reacts more strongly to Abigail Irene’s affairs with Henry and Richard than Jack’s with Phoebe (and, I suspect, others) not because he cares about Abigail Irene more than Jack, but because but because Henry and Richard are her great loves, and he’s Jack’s great love. Similarly, Abigail Irene is comfortable with the idea of Sebastien having other lovers until she learns that he lives with Jack, which indicates a stronger emotional bond. Jack, being younger and more rash, is jealous of all Sebastien’s relationships, but seems to find it easier to accept Phoebe and Abigail Irene than he does to accept David, the only one to be a part of Sebastien’s life before Jack.
Some people, I suspect, will have problems with the ending, but I thought it was extremely fitting with the theme of the book. It’s written to give a fitting conclusion to the story, not to give the readers warm and fuzzy feelings.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 11:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 11:05 pm (UTC)*grumps and fixes*
IT DID THIS TO ME YESTERDAY TOO!!!!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 12:18 am (UTC)I find it depends of how exactly vampirism is described. If it's a very straight version of the trope, I'll... be bored anyway so I won't care much besides rolling my eyes a lot. If it's something more creative, it depends how it's handled and of the rationales behind. Friedman did two novels with vampires for example, Season of Madness and the Coldfire Trilogy (not counting the stuff she wrote for Vampire the Masquerade ;), both are VERY different versions, and in one case intercourse was possible, and in the other totally impossible (although not for biological reasons). In both cases, it made total sense.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 12:30 am (UTC)But most go with the "soulless undead, unaging, yadda yadda" varieties, and I'm like "but...how does he...?"
no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 12:36 am (UTC)I agree with you, if one's supposedly little more than a magically animated corpse, it makes no sense.
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Date: 2008-08-30 01:27 am (UTC)This sounds very interesting! And I sway in the direction of your opinion re: vampires (though on the whole flexible).
H'mmm.
*looks at checkbook*
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Date: 2008-08-30 01:43 am (UTC)'Tis a good book.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 06:33 pm (UTC)But then, I'm one of those who would usually rather the author stomp on my heart for a fitting ending than give me a happy or ambiguous one to avoid that.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-30 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 12:12 am (UTC)Most seem to have problems with the ending, but I think a different kind of ending would have annoyed me.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 05:57 am (UTC)*glances at three waist-high bookcases*
I understand your "so many books, so little time" sentiment.