Kim Newman, Alan Moore, Lavie Tidhar: what do they have in common?

The answer is a superb ability to throw the actual history of the Victorian age up in the air alongside the popular fiction of that era and allow the whole lot to fall down together in new and interesting shapes. Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula put the undead Count on the throne of England. Alan Moore crafted a superhero team from people like Captain Nemo and Allan Quatermain. Lavie Tidhar has written The Bookman [buy isbn=”9780007346585″].

As recounted in Coleridge’s famous play, The Ancient Mariner, the explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, on an English-sponsored voyage to the new World discovered a mysterious island in the Caribbean that was home to a race of technologically advanced lizard people. Before long the lizards had deposed the English royal family and taken control of the country. Now, hundreds of years later, they control a world-spanning empire, run for them by Prime Minister James Moriarty. In the skies above London, the infamous black airships of the secret service, headed by Mycroft Holmes, strike fear into the hearts of the citizens. But not everyone is cowed. From a small book store in Charing Cross Road a group of left-wing revolutionaries plot rebellion. They include the German academic, Karl Marx, and the determined housewife, Isabella Beeton. The biggest threat, however, comes from a secretive anarchist known as The Bookman who delivers bombs disguised as books.

Our hero is named Orphan because he is, surprise, just that. It is obvious from early on that his parentless state must have some bearing on the plot. Why, otherwise, would The Bookman take such an interest in him? Even Inspector Irene Adler of Scotland Yard is keeping an eye on him. For poor Orphan, however, all this attention simply means that his friends are put in mortal danger. Thankfully the joy of reading the book is seeing what Tidhar has done with his material. Being able to work out who Orphan must be does not mar your enjoyment, of which there will be plenty.