The Vengeance

One of the joys of this year’s Eastercon was finding a new Emma Newman novel in the Dealers’ Room. Newman has been busy doing other stuff for a while, but I’m pleased to see that she hasn’t lost her touch.

The Vengeance is not a book in the Planetfall series. Indeed, it is fantasy. There are werewolves and vampires, and it is set in France in the 17th Century. Newman makes no secret of her love for the works of Alexander Dumas, and this is very much a book inspired by his output.

Morgane is the daughter of the notorious pirate queen known as The Scourge (Anna-Marie to her friends). Or at least she thinks she is. When Anna-Marie is assassinated by a ship deliberately sent to trap her, her dying confession is that Morgane is actually her niece, whom she rescued from her evil sister.

However, amongst her captain’s possessions, Morgane finds letter from her real mother begging her to come home. Who to believe: a pirate captain, or the wife of one of the richest men in France?

We all know, of course, that oligarchs are arseholes, but young Morgane has very little experience in the world and has to learn some lessons the hard way. She hasn’t been in France since she was a baby, and she has no idea how French society works. Fortunately she is contacted by a man who claims to be her father, and he finds her a governess.

Ah, now here is the story. At first Morgane and Lisette despise each other. The former sees no value in learning manners, and the latter is appalled to be put in charge of someone so uncouth who can’t even read. But it is soon very clear that their skills are highly complimentary, and they will grow to like each other. There may even be kissing.

I thought there was something of a Xena and Gabrielle vibe to the relationship, though it is a long time since I saw any of that show so I could be wrong.

If I have one complaint about the book it is that I waited patiently through 330-odd pages waiting for D’Artagnan to turn up, and he never did. This is sad because, regardless of what may have happened in any TV shows or movies, I am convinced that his part should be played by Charles LeClerc. I want that version.

The good news is that, while The Vengeance is complete in itself, the book is subtitled The Vampires of Dumas – Book I. Which means that Newman has future books in which to put right this egregious omission. Get with it, Em, please…

Title: The Vengeance
By: Emma Newman
Publisher: Solaris
Purchase links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Bookshop.org UK
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