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New Amsterdam, by Elizabeth Bear
Feb. 16th, 2012 10:30 amI read Elizabeth Bear's New Amsterdam yesterday, and I am currently aflail in currents of ALL THE FEELINGS.
There are several things there people might like (not necessarily that which I latched onto like, y'know, a monofannish fan):
- steampunk.
- a millenia-old vampire detective and a Crown Investigator middle-aged sorceress, the latter being the main protagonist for most of the short stories.
- older female bluestocking characters having sexualities! And relationships!
- mysteries.
- gorgeous love letters to cities.
- Batman/Robin. In which Batman would be said millenia-old detective vampire who hurts when his people leave him, and Robin is his ward, who's a clever, capable, flirtatious and jealous mix of Dick and Jason, and aklsdjldsk. And I mean that not in the "sticky and hot" subtext sense or the "took me away from you" one. I mean that in the sense that it's kissing-on-the-page text. FEELINGS.
- complicated relationships, because yes, a vampire needs to eat and they can't take too much blood from a single human otherwise they'd kill them, so that means sharing, and neither the Robin nor the sorceress are naturally polyamorous. (vampire detective just wants them to ~get along~) And just because there is something between two characters doesn't deny there can be nothing else elsewhere.
- politics (in an alternate history kind of way).
- choices and loyalties.
- the most fabulous depiction of Paris I've found under the pen of a writer who isn't French. (usually I cringe, but Elizabeth Bear can write Paris whenever she wants.)
- a cameo by Nikola Tesla.
- lush and beautiful language.
- I can't deal with all these feelings.
The first story starts with the vampire detective on a zeppelin to America (in this world, still British Colonies) and a description of each of the passengers. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, RIGHT?
It's 246 pages! YOU CAN READ IT AND WE CAN MAKE A FANDOM OUT OF IT. (There are two sequels, but I haven't read them yet, and am fully prepared to launch AU fic-things for reasons.)
There are several things there people might like (not necessarily that which I latched onto like, y'know, a monofannish fan):
- steampunk.
- a millenia-old vampire detective and a Crown Investigator middle-aged sorceress, the latter being the main protagonist for most of the short stories.
- older female bluestocking characters having sexualities! And relationships!
- mysteries.
- gorgeous love letters to cities.
- Batman/Robin. In which Batman would be said millenia-old detective vampire who hurts when his people leave him, and Robin is his ward, who's a clever, capable, flirtatious and jealous mix of Dick and Jason, and aklsdjldsk. And I mean that not in the "sticky and hot" subtext sense or the "took me away from you" one. I mean that in the sense that it's kissing-on-the-page text. FEELINGS.
- complicated relationships, because yes, a vampire needs to eat and they can't take too much blood from a single human otherwise they'd kill them, so that means sharing, and neither the Robin nor the sorceress are naturally polyamorous. (vampire detective just wants them to ~get along~) And just because there is something between two characters doesn't deny there can be nothing else elsewhere.
- politics (in an alternate history kind of way).
- choices and loyalties.
- the most fabulous depiction of Paris I've found under the pen of a writer who isn't French. (usually I cringe, but Elizabeth Bear can write Paris whenever she wants.)
- a cameo by Nikola Tesla.
- lush and beautiful language.
- I can't deal with all these feelings.
The first story starts with the vampire detective on a zeppelin to America (in this world, still British Colonies) and a description of each of the passengers. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, RIGHT?
It's 246 pages! YOU CAN READ IT AND WE CAN MAKE A FANDOM OUT OF IT. (There are two sequels, but I haven't read them yet, and am fully prepared to launch AU fic-things for reasons.)
