A review by anna_hepworth
Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts
5.0
A slender volume, put out by small press Twelve Planets Press, which the author describes as "...the literary equivalent of spraying offensive graffiti tags all over their area of expertise...". Roberts has taken the material from her Classics PhD and created four captivating pieces of interleaved short fiction that start with the assumption that the descendants of Julius Caesar were monsters in more than just name.
The initial piece, "Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary", introduces a range of beasts -- both fantastic and mundane -- that the family involve in their attempts to acquire and maintain power. In particular, the lamia gets some airtime, particularly in comparison to later vampire myths.
Each of the following stories then comes forward a bit more in time, but takes one or more details from the initial story. 'Lamia Victoriana' follows the seduction of Mary and Fanny by the unnamed Poet and his equally unnamed sister. 'The Patrician' follows multiple visits of an odd stranger to Nova Ostia -- a recreated Roman town in the Australian outback -- each time resulting in the death of another monster.
The final story, "Last of the Romanpunks' investigates what can happen when someone lets their obsession with the past interfere with what good sense they might have had, and investigates that weakness of villains, the idea that some of their decisions are made from emotional rather than rational bases. Reflecting the first story, with the traditions passed through a family at its core, the protagonist (and his assistants) in this last story is the grandson of the young woman who befriended the monster hunter in the previous story.
The first two stories in this book are perfect examples of historical fantasy with both strong women and historical appropriate gender roles. Sometimes, as with Mary in the second story, this is by flouting the mores of the time, but even here it is contrasted with her sister Fanny, who is only where she is because she is trying to redeem the family name. Strength is separated from power, allowing for explorations of other strengths. And sometimes it is by looking at women who truly had power, simply because of how high up the hierarchy they were, even if they were answerable to men higher up said hierarchy.
I love this collection wholeheartedly. I reread it every few years, and it has never failed to disappoint, nor have I remembered its many twisty details so well as to be unsurprised by some of the delicious details Roberts peppers her stories with. Highly recommended.
The initial piece, "Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary", introduces a range of beasts -- both fantastic and mundane -- that the family involve in their attempts to acquire and maintain power. In particular, the lamia gets some airtime, particularly in comparison to later vampire myths.
Each of the following stories then comes forward a bit more in time, but takes one or more details from the initial story. 'Lamia Victoriana' follows the seduction of Mary and Fanny by the unnamed Poet and his equally unnamed sister. 'The Patrician' follows multiple visits of an odd stranger to Nova Ostia -- a recreated Roman town in the Australian outback -- each time resulting in the death of another monster.
The final story, "Last of the Romanpunks' investigates what can happen when someone lets their obsession with the past interfere with what good sense they might have had, and investigates that weakness of villains, the idea that some of their decisions are made from emotional rather than rational bases. Reflecting the first story, with the traditions passed through a family at its core, the protagonist (and his assistants) in this last story is the grandson of the young woman who befriended the monster hunter in the previous story.
The first two stories in this book are perfect examples of historical fantasy with both strong women and historical appropriate gender roles. Sometimes, as with Mary in the second story, this is by flouting the mores of the time, but even here it is contrasted with her sister Fanny, who is only where she is because she is trying to redeem the family name. Strength is separated from power, allowing for explorations of other strengths. And sometimes it is by looking at women who truly had power, simply because of how high up the hierarchy they were, even if they were answerable to men higher up said hierarchy.
I love this collection wholeheartedly. I reread it every few years, and it has never failed to disappoint, nor have I remembered its many twisty details so well as to be unsurprised by some of the delicious details Roberts peppers her stories with. Highly recommended.