New Amsterdam | |||||||||
Elizabeth Bear | |||||||||
Subterranean Press, 267 pages | |||||||||
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A review by Nathan Brazil
For those enamoured with vampire detective fiction, but bored with the crudity of Laurell K. Hamilton, and the foppish frills of
Anne Rice, Elizabeth Bear has the answer. New Amsterdam provides cooler, intellectually laced intrigue, aimed at readers
comfortable with subtle minutia and artfully crafted characterisation. Sebastian de Ulloa, who in less skilled hands could
easily have been just another old blood-sucker, is drawn as a complex creature, at odds with others of his kind, and ready
to abandon the 1000 years of his European lives, in favour of a new start in the New World of America. A place he travels to
accompanied by Jack Priest, the young man who is both his lover, and the one remaining member of his retinue. Together they
form a new crime solving partnership. In parallel with this, Abigail Irene Garrett is introduced as a Detective Crown
Investigator, middle-aged though still handsome, fiercely intelligent, yet burdened by a past riddled with scandalous
choices. Six stories are interlaced in a highly literate steampunk/supernatural collage, sometimes shown from Abby
Irene's point of view, at other junctures from behind the almost immortal eyes of Sebastian. Mystery and murder weave in
and around complex issues of loyalty, romance, injustice and international politics. Throughout, Bear cleverly shifts
focus between the love triangle of Sebastian, Abby Irene and young Jack, revealing perspectives and prejudices, layer upon layer.
Zeppelins, fanged beasts in the darkness, vampire society, royal politics, jealousy and even a guest appearance by Nikola
Tesla combine to produce an intoxicating brew. Refreshingly, the author does not lose plot difficulties at convenient
points, preferring to allow them to stick out thorn-like, where they frequently snag the characters. All the major cast
consistently show maturity and depths that most authors writing in this sub-genre either cannot or will not employ. This
plus, however, is also something of a minus, in as much as Bear's style can occasionally be challenging
to read. New Amsterdam demands close attention, and could never be mistaken for a pot-boiling page-turning
romp. But, if a reader is willing to put in the effort, the reward is a level of absorption and realism above and
beyond any of the competition.
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