Customer Reviews
Agatha Christie for the 21st Century 
2007-06-12
Imagine Brad Pitt as a vampire version of Hercule Poirot and Angelina Jolie as Miss Marple. Toss in a fair amount of sex, magic, murder, revolution, the British Royal Family and transvestite rent boys. The result is Elizabeth Bear's collection of inter-related short stories called New Amsterdam.
A Wonderful Read 2007-06-04
Sebastian de Ulloa is a vampire. He's lived for somewhere over a thousand years. He's left Europe, weary of the games the "blood" play to relieve the boredom of eternity. And oh yeah--Sebastian is an independent consultant when it comes to catching murderers. And he's very good at it.
Lady Abigail Irene Garrett is a forensic sorceress working for the Crown. She's utterly loyal to the King, and like all loyal principled people, is due for a shock when that loyalty is misused by the King's lieutenants. She lives in a world where magic is real and Britain never gave New Amsterdam back. Ever.
Plus, there's dirigibles. *drools with love*
Seriously, I loved this book. Each mystery is a novella in and of itself, which might be confusing to the average reader since the players are reintroduced each time. The midstream changes in point-of-view might also confuse an average reader, but they are handled very well and clearly. Bear handles the question of a very old vampire's psychology very well, by making Sebastian polyamorous by necessity and detached-as-possible by default. He's a necessary foil for the bluestocking Garrett, who manages to avoid social leprosy by being rich and very good at her job, not to mention uncaring about scandal. She's saved from Mary Sueness by having very definite vulnerabilities and a softer side.
The mysteries are well-plotted and create plenty of urgency. They're also devilishly clever, and it's obvious Bear has done her homework on magickal theory and folklore (she even mentions the beast of Gevaudan,) as well as forensic anthropology. And the writing is very good, very smooth, and very well done. I wanted to go back to the book each time I was pulled away to attend to that little thing called "life."
I can find very few cons in this review. There were a couple of homonyms the editor didn't catch (in particular, the ever-popular "hair-brained") and a few anachronisms, but if one has already accepted an alternate historical timeline verbal anachronisms present very little of a problem. All in all, a marvelous and highly-recommended read from a very talented author.
And there's dirigibles! Which just about make any story better. Heh.
Super Reader 
2008-03-16
A good old fixup I believe the author might call this. The name of the main character, Abigail Irene Garrett, is of course a homage to Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series, and she has combined the detective and sorcerer pairing i that book into the one woman, here.
However, I am quite sure Lord Darcy would not have down trou and let his vampire partner (in any sense of the word you like) suck dinner from his groin!
Monsters and plots to deal with, and plots to make in this turn of the 19th century fantasy USA and Europe, in a quite well done collection of stories.
New Amsterdam : Lucifugous - Elizabeth Bear
New Amsterdam : Wax - Elizabeth Bear
New Amsterdam : Wane - Elizabeth Bear
New Amsterdam : Limerent - Elizabeth Bear
New Amsterdam : Chatoyant - Elizabeth Bear
New Amsterdam : Lumière - Elizabeth Bear
Murder, bloodsucking and detection by dirigible.
3.5 out of 5
Forensic sorcery monster murder triangle.
4 out of 5
The sharp end of political plot with a bit of monster transforming gear for AIG and fanged friend.
3.5 out of 5
Fenian plots : "It was an odd thing, to find one's self greeting a murderous sorcerer by name, making casual conversation while he helped one off with one's coat and escorted one to the usual place."
3 out of 5
Some blokey vamp action, before AIG decides to give the Crown job the arse and take up the possibility of being a Bostonian Consulting Detective. More dead people and not people follow.
3 out of 5
"You have another reputation as well, Lady Abigail. One as a sort of distaff Nimrod. A mighty slayer of monsters."
The aforementioned triple barreled lady, Sebastien, Jack and the ratdog have decamped to Paris for a little revolutionary air. However, the monster hunting skills will still be needed with the ghost werewolves of Paris and The Beast running around.
4 out of 5
Pleasing mixture of alternate history with mystery and fantasy 2008-02-28
New Amsterdam is set in an alternate fantastical history, at the turn of the 20th Century. England still controls the American colonies, though tenuously. War with France looms, while many in America want independence. Lady Abigail Irene Garrett is a Detective Crown Investigator, working for the English government in the city of New Amsterdam. Her specialty is thaumaturgy - investigating crimes that use magic. Bear's debt to Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy stories is obvious - as she acknowledges with the last name of her detective. I first encountered this milieu is some short stories, in which Abby Irene solved a couple of crimes involving very highly placed individuals, including the independence-minded Mayor of New Amsterdam, and also Abby Irene's one time lover, Prince Henry, the heir to England's throne. Garrett's personal life is further complicated by her current love affair, with Duke Richard, the chief representative of the King in the Colonies; and by her growing relationship with Don Sebastien de Ulloa, a wampyr, and a detective himself.
Though incorporating short stories, New Amsterdam is finally a true novel. Curiously, the main character of the novel is ultimately perhaps Don Sebastien - though Abby Irene certainly shares center stage. As the book opens, Don Sebastien and his companion, a young mortal named Jack Priest, cross the Atlantic by dirigible, solving a crime on the way. Don Sebastien becomes probably the first wampyr in America. Don Sebastien is unconventional for his kind, cultivating real relationships with his "court", instead of using them as servants and sources of blood. His court, small for a wampyr, includes only Jack Priest, then Garrett, and also an American novelist, Phoebe Smith. He is indifferent, for the most part, to human politics (due to his long life), but in this book he is forced to take an interest. Jack is an agitator for home rule - both for the Irish and, once in America, for the colonials. Abby Irene is originally a loyalist to her King, and especially to Prince Henry, but the way the corrupt British government treats the various villains she unmasks drives her to what she considers treason. And finally Don Sebastien meets another wampyr, one he himself turned, and sees him mistreated by the authorities.
All this leads to a concluding section, after war breaks out with France - a war which might be turned to the benefit of the independence movement. But Don Sebastien and Abby Irene must first solve another terrible series of murders, now in Paris, and they must deal with another wrenching loss. And come to a decision involving their personal accommodations, as well as their political position.
This is quite an enjoyable book. As I said, in then end it works as a novel, with an overarching plot that holds together. But at the same time the sections are worthwhile independent stories, each with a murder mystery for Garrett and/or Don Sebastien to solve. So I suppose we must call it a fixup, or perhaps a "braided novel". Bear does a good job with the magical elements - the nature of the wampyr is well-used, and Garrett's magical abilities work well and consistently. Some of the mystery plots are strong though a couple are rather slight. But more important than the plots is the growth of the main characters. Abby Irene must resolve her conflicted relationships with the various men in her life, and grapple with her multiple loyalties. Don Sebastien's main issues are loyalty-based as well - what does he owe his "court", and former members of his court - and what does he owe "mortals"?
Creative and fantastic alternative history 2007-09-29
For those familiar with the Lord Darcy series by Randall Garrett, this book is something of a tribute to that earlier set of tales with "forensic sorcery" and alternative history where modernity didn't quite happen. Even the heroine's name is homage to Garrett. Other wonderful throw-ins, such as the appearance of scientist Tesla and his fanatical devotion to pigeons, just make this a wild, fun read.
Fantasy does have a future--in an imaginary past! 2007-08-11
What if the Americans lost the Revolutionary War? Think of the politics of a Victorian America, still ruled by the British crown. Then add necromancers, vampire courts and a feisty female dectective--a woman of a certain age.
Well, actually, MY age! Crown Detective Abigail Irene is around the mid-century mark, and trust me, she is NOT on a quest to find herself, or discover her lost heritage. Thank goodness. Abigail Irene is a mature and self-confident woman whom men find very attractive. She attracts the the attention of an ancient vampire...don't roll your eyes! Wait--this vampire is much better written than most. There is a charming self-awareness about all the vampire stereotypes that makes the mysterious, "Spanish" vampire a lot more charming than most. And, more interesting.
This book is presented as a series of interlocked short stories. The stories build in drama and tension.The relationships between the primary characters develops to a very moving crescendo, as they work togother to solve crimes in a very different "New Amsterdam". HIghly recommended!
New Amsterdam 2007-06-23
I started New Amsterdam because I live in New York, and because I was hoping to see some of those Iroquois war mages who kept the British back. I thought that would be interesting. The war mages don't appear in the book, but it's very good nevertheless. The vampire is passing as a European nobleman, an upper class amateur detective, kind of like Poirot. The forensic sorceress is a possibly alcoholic hard-boiled civil servant, who doesn't like some amateur messing with her case, and possibly implying she's not good enough. The vampire, of course, is fannishly eager to get involved in another mystery, as they're one reason he keeps alive (or undead). It was neat to see the two kinds of detectives juxtaposed. But they end up friends & associates anyway by the end of the 2nd novella. The book is made up of novellas about the same people; they start out semi-linked, and get more and more linked as they go on. There is actually an original (and scary) monster in one of the novellas, which was neat. It took me about half the first novella to get into the book, but I ended up loving it, and wanting more about the characters. The character interactions are a strength, and the writing is very good. There's also a nice orange cat named El Capitan, and very cool ghost wolves.
