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New Amsterdam Elizabeth Bear 9781596061064 Books

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New Amsterdam Elizabeth Bear 9781596061064 Books

I very much liked the characters in Ms Bear’s story. They were flawed, interesting, kind, self-centered, generous - and charming. I suppose I could have used a bit more place-ness in someways — New Amsterdam existed in words, there was a borough of Queens, and other similar icons. However there was little sense of the city — the wharfs that once lined the shores, the Hudson, the East River — what was once five points or its alt history version.

Having said that, I just bought the sequel and side-quel to New Amsterdam.


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New Amsterdam Elizabeth Bear 9781596061064 Books Reviews

I've gotten old and jaded, but finally a book good enough to keep my attention.
I picked up this book because I adored Bear’s Karen Memory, and I also remembered kindly the long-ago fantasy/mystery short stories of Randall Garrett, to which these tales are supposed to be a homage. The book wasn’t bad, but having seen what Bear can do in the way of memorable characters, I was nonetheless disappointed.

Garrett’s tales were classic detective stories, but set in a standard medievaloid fantasy world in which magic is commonplace. Bear’s setting is more steampunkish, but with a twist. It’s the early twentieth century, and airships exist, but North America still consists mainly of British colonies the American Revolution hasn’t happened yet, though by the end of the book it seems to be getting ready to do so. Magic also exists, though it doesn’t appear to play a large role in daily life. So do wampyrs, as they’re called here. Generally they don’t attack random citizens—they have “courtesans” (of either gender) who gladly donate some of their blood in exchange for the ecstasy that comes with doing so—and they’re ignored in Europe, but in some of the less tolerant American colonies they can be executed (by being forced to go into the sunlight) if discovered.

The chief detective is Lady Abigail Irene Garrett (her last name is surely no coincidence), an investigator of crimes involving magic in the colony of New Amsterdam (as New York is known in this alternate world) employed the British Crown. In between investigations, she, um, Gets Around she has close relationships with several men at the heart of the colony’s politics. Early in the book she adds to her string of beaux a newly arrived wampyr who calls himself Don Sebastien de Ulloa (among other things). He also has detective abilities, in fact playing the lead role in the book’s first story, and he helps Abby Irene (as she prefers to be called).

Each of the six connected stories that make up the book includes a murder mystery, but the mysteries are forgettable. Of much more concern are the three main characters—Abby Irene, Sebastien, and Sebastien’s devoted “courtesan,” Jack—and their developing and changing relationships with each other and with the political fate of New Amsterdam and (presumably) the other American colonies. Although I did come to care about the three, I didn’t find them nearly as appealing as I had found Karen Memory and her friends. I also missed the humor that I remembered as being a part of the Randall Garrett stories.

I’ve gathered that Abby Irene’s adventures are continued in several later volumes, presumably with a similar structure (i.e. as groups of connected mystery short stories). I wasn’t interested enough to want to follow her further, however.
Good book with well written characters and a tight plot. A bit too long but the author covered each main character in depth so it was engaging. I have read some of her other work and this is probably my favorite so far.
There's a small number of writers who simply cannot write a bad book. Elizabeth Bear is one of them. Details, plot, theme, characters, tension, conflict, emotion... whatever Bear is in exquisite control of all the elements of story telling. When she says "What if..." the reader is in for something truly unexpected. She does her research to the nth degree as well, and it shows in this Alternate History novel. Treat yourself to a wonderful experience delivered by a true professional.

And, incidentally, fall in love with Sebastian and Inspector Garrett to the extent that you have conversations with them in your head for weeks after reading the darn book!
Recommended for folks who like
Streampunk, alternative history, strongly drawn protagonists of both genders, free love, Nichola Tesla, Victorians, sorcery, the undead, serial storytelling.
And the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie.
Good times, good times. The usual seamless, innovative world building the author excellent at.
I've read a LOT of books, especially in the scifi/fantasy/steampunk categories, but none of them was anything like this. Bear's novel almost defies a genre categorization, and her writing is so strong that the plot and the supernatural elements take a backseat to the characters but this isn't a bad thing. In short, the book is about vampire Sebastian de Ulloa's attempt at making his immortality meaningful, and sorceress-investigator Elizabeth Garrett's efforts to protect the crown. This book, and its sequels, address the choices each character makes when the price of indifference (in Sebastian's case) or loyalty (in Elizabeth's) become too high, along with what happens after the dust has settled.

What I loved about this book was the characters. They completely draw you in, and stay with you long after you've finished the last page. They are refreshingly real people with complex, contradictory motivations. They have hopes, fears and regrets. And Bear is nothing if not consistent; if you read the whole series, the characters' past experiences very much shape their actions. I especially applaud Bear for not making Garrett's love life the center of the novels or her the trait by which she is defined. Instead, Garrett is a woman with a past who embraces her own sexuality as much as she can within the confines of society. All in all, I can't say enough good things about this book- go read it!
I very much liked the characters in Ms Bear’s story. They were flawed, interesting, kind, self-centered, generous - and charming. I suppose I could have used a bit more place-ness in someways — New Amsterdam existed in words, there was a borough of Queens, and other similar icons. However there was little sense of the city — the wharfs that once lined the shores, the Hudson, the East River — what was once five points or its alt history version.

Having said that, I just bought the sequel and side-quel to New Amsterdam.