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[bjornwilde]

The White City by Elizabeth Bear   My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very good read if a bit short. I've had a hot and cold relationship with Elizabeth Bear. Other books I have picked up have been written marvelously but with such beautiful language that I had trouble following the plot. The book was not like that at all.

The basic plot is a murder mystery set in two different times in Moscow, 1897 and 1903. The characters were at first familiar cliches which get fleshed out as the story progresses, my two favorites were a vampire detective (similar to Sherlock Holmes in philosophy) and a forensic sorceress. What I really liked about the book was that the vampires were inhuman and at times monstrous which was *very* refreshing in this age of Twilight.

My only regret about this book is its length. I felt the characters and their histories could have been fleshed out much more but I am still left liking them. In fact if a sequel is ever written I will be sure to pick it up if only for the chance to get to know more about the characters.

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Now onto After the Golden Age.