Darkwing Duck
I always bring several books with me when I travel. This trip, the one that I've been reading is The Vampire Genevieve by Jack Yeovil. It is set in the Warhammer universe, which means I would normally never read it, because while I love roleplaying games, I've found 99 percent of the fictional tie-ins to be complete and utter crap. But I decided to give these a chance for one reason: I discovered that Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for Kim Newman.
Sometime in the 1990s I read a great trilogy called Anno Dracula, by Newman. If you enjoyed The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you'd love this. The first book is set in a Victorian England, where Van Helsing has failed to kill Dracula, and the Count turns Queen Victoria into his bride and takes over the British empire. In addition to Dracula, it's got Fu Manchu, Moriarty, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Jeckyl, Gilbert and Sullivan, and many other real and unreal characters. And one of the main characters is a vampire named Genevieve.
A couple of months ago, I learned that Newman had first written about her for Warhammer, and liked the character so much he used her in a non-Warhammer book.
The Vampire Genevieve collects Newman's novels written in the Warhammer universe. For those who don't know, it's not quite a standard D&D-esque fantasy world. It's got a heavier influence from Michael Moorcock and H.P. Lovecraft. It's sometimes described with the phrase "grimdark." It's very clearly set in Europe with the serial numbers filed off. For example, Genevieve was turned into a vampire 600 years ago, when she was a teenager in the land of Bretonia, which is very obviously Brittany.
The prologue of the book opens with Genevieve and a group of heroes on a quest to slay the evil archfiend. This immortal wizard had killed her father when she was still a mortal, and the prince who recruited her thought she would go along on their quest for vengeance. However, that didn't interest her; she knew he'd have been dead six centuries even if the big bad hadn't gotten him. Then the prince appeals to her need for something interesting and a change of pace, and she finds that a reasonable excuse to go adventuring.
Against great odds, they defeat the wizard. The main action in this story takes place 25 years later, and involves writing a play. I was rather happy to see that. In a world where the dark gods of chaos and destruction threaten humanity daily, it's nice to see a story about actors. Of course, the play is about the events of a quarter century before, and horrible deaths start happening during the rehearsals...
The second story also involves plays. That play is clearly Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, though the names are given a Slavic twist. It also involves a phantom of the opera, who is much more disturbing that just a guy in a mask.
Another involves what I can only describe as a soap opera performed by a twisted version of the Adams Family. Yet another involves unicorn hunters, blackmail, and assassination attempts.
What I respect about the heroine is that she does not sparkle. She isn't quite the classic vampire that turns to ash in the sunlight, but she doesn't angst about how horrible it is to have the strength of 20 men, or never grow old. She can be a crazed, unpleasant killer, but she isn't always the nastiest thing in the room. Some men do fall wildly in love with her, but others are indifferent, and her relationships tend to be complex.
So this book is definitely a good vacation read. It's got lots of action and excitement, but it's also got nods to classics and cultural references.
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