A review by alexanderp
The Adventure of the Incognita Countess (Conversation Pieces Book 53) by Cynthia Ward
4.0
Originally published here.
This was a fun little novella set in an alt-earth steampunk-esque world, where Martians have invaded and been repelled, yet with the influx of foreign tech have changed the technological landscape. We find Lucy Harker, a dhampir (half human/half vampire) and an agent of the Crown, who been asked to hop on a first of it’s kind ship, the Titanic to ensure the secret plans of the Nautilus don’t fall into a foreign power’s hands.
Told in a the spirit of crossover fiction, where Dracula, Doctor Frankenstein, and Sherlock Holmes are all mentioned in passing. This story is rich in the homages of monsters past. Ward incorporates a nuanced knowledge of Europe to give this novella a fun flavor that defines it. Lucy’s antagonism among humans, while also being charged to protect them is an interesting tension, while it only tightens when Countess Karnstein comes on the scene and an immediate attraction blooms. This only becomes more complicated as Karnstein may be working with the Germans and that is not the only thing that is an obstacle for Lucy…
Pulpy, but refined and knowledgeable, Ward’s story is a romp back in time to a world not too far from our own, yet oh so fantastic.
This was a fun little novella set in an alt-earth steampunk-esque world, where Martians have invaded and been repelled, yet with the influx of foreign tech have changed the technological landscape. We find Lucy Harker, a dhampir (half human/half vampire) and an agent of the Crown, who been asked to hop on a first of it’s kind ship, the Titanic to ensure the secret plans of the Nautilus don’t fall into a foreign power’s hands.
Told in a the spirit of crossover fiction, where Dracula, Doctor Frankenstein, and Sherlock Holmes are all mentioned in passing. This story is rich in the homages of monsters past. Ward incorporates a nuanced knowledge of Europe to give this novella a fun flavor that defines it. Lucy’s antagonism among humans, while also being charged to protect them is an interesting tension, while it only tightens when Countess Karnstein comes on the scene and an immediate attraction blooms. This only becomes more complicated as Karnstein may be working with the Germans and that is not the only thing that is an obstacle for Lucy…
Pulpy, but refined and knowledgeable, Ward’s story is a romp back in time to a world not too far from our own, yet oh so fantastic.