Aurorarama [Hardcover]

Aurorarama, by Jean-Christophe Valtat, is a surreal new release from Melville House. Despite combining hedonism, political philosophy and the surreal, Aurorarama manages to avoid being in any way ponderous or prententious. Instead, it is a gripping and often beautiful fantasy.

Perhaps more importantly, despite the fantastical urban setting and steampunk trappings, Aurorarama also avoids being in any way trendy. This is a contemporary fantasy classic - not another fly-by-night book with an airship on the cover.

The city of New Venice adorns the frozen north. Founded by explorers and settled by wealthy immigrants, it is a tiny attempt at utopia, separated from the rest of the world by miles of frozen wasteland.

The city is governed by a ruling council, a small (but efficient) corps of secret police ("The Gentleman of the Night") and a tidy military presence ("The Subtle Army"). Due to technological trickery, the necessities of life (food, warmth, etc) are all well taken care of. With that out of the way, the people seem to spend most of their time writing pop singles, sampling new drugs and engaging in political upheaval.

It seems that, despite the (or perhaps "because of the...") relative prosperity and isolation, the people of New Venice are constantly under threat. A mysterious black airship hovers over the city, anarchist bombers are at loose, there's constant bickering with the native Inuit population, the secret police are cracking down on the drug trade and the ruling council are up to something very sinister.

Aurorama follows two prominent citizens, Brentford Orsini and his friend Gabriel, as they try to preserve their beloved city and sweep away all the plotting. One of Valtat's most stylish, and admirable, decisions was to create the impression that this was one of many adventures for the pair. Orsini and Gabriel frequently allude to previous adventures - battling a mad scientist, chasing polar kangaroos, falling madly in love. Very little explanation is given, but this, in no way, hinders the enjoyment of the book. Sherlock Holmes and his Sumatran rat have nothing on Orsini's connection with the oft-cited and never-seen "Helen".

This is only one of the author's many distinctive stylistic maneuvers. New Venice itself is a world of surprises, with every nook and cranny possessing some sort of unique trait. Valtat skims over entire neighborhoods, but then lingers for pages detailing Gabriel's mezzanine library. As the protagonists zip around the frosty north, the reader gets tantalizing peeks into the local fortress, the forgotten subway system, the dingy nightclubs... all, again, punctuated with cryptic references to other venues that are never seen or described.

The adventure, such as it is, is more of a series of vaguely-organized wanderings. The two heroes (well, the rakish Gabriel is distinctly un-heroic), rarely control their own destinies. Orsini, perhaps, will set forth with a plan in mind, but very swiftly will find events spiraling madly out of control. It doesn't help that half the time the two decide to do nothing: choosing to delay investigating something mysterious in favor of a night out on the town or perhaps an intriguing new concert. Trouble always finds them, of course, but still - fans of proactive protagonists will find Aurorama a very frustrating read.

The core conflict is between a vaguely dictatorial, vaguely sinister government and a fragmented, philosophical resistance. Combined with the extremely odd, but captivating, urban setting, comparisons with China Miéville are inevitable. New Crobuzon and New Venice are, without a doubt, very similar. Valtat's commitment to stylish prose is also reminiscent of Mieville's, although the two certainly do not scan in the same way. Valtat's writing is more immediately accessible than Miéville's, but also slightly more superficial.

As a final note, Aurorarama has airships, machine guns, top hats, frock coats, pneumatic whatnots and even a bustle or two. None of this, I'm sad to say, is particularly uncommon anymore. However, Aurorarama doesn't just capture the veneer of Victoriana, it also, incredibly, captures the society - the decadence, the arrogance, the inquisitive spirit and the relentless desire for self-improvement. This is what steampunk ought to be - not just varnishing traditional fantasy in brass, but looking beyond the cogs to the culture. Steampunk is a fusion of two words, and this is often forgotten. It is easy to add an airship, much harder to capture the revolutionary spirit.

Aurorarama is an engrossing, entertaining book with a brilliant setting, a good story and a distinct style. Readers looking for the next steam-powered Serenity will invariably be disappointed, but I suspect, in twenty years, when we critically examine the steampunk era, this will stand out as something truly notable.

Also, the cover is gorgeous.

Most steampunk stories take place in familiar cities, such as London, New York or Seattle. But Jean-Christophe Valtat's exquisitely frosty "Aurorarama" takes a different approach -- his story is set in New Venice, an arctic city full of technology, social clashes and odd citizens. Valtat's writing is like an exquisite ice sculpture -- chilly, pretty and fascinating.

The year is 1908 AB, and a mysterious black airship is hovering over the city of New Venice. The Inuit say that undead soldiers are plaguing them, a "polar pop" star is stirring up suffragette sentiment, the local economy is is in trouble, and a genial secret police force known as the Gentlemen of the Night are searching for whoever wrote a popular anarchist book, "A Blast on the Barren Land."

In the middle of all this is Brentford Orsini and his friend Gabriel d'Allier -- and the Gentlemen suspect that Orsini may be responsible for "A Blast on the Barren Land." Something is horribly wrong with the ruling council of New Venice, and it's up to these two men to try to keep their beloved icy city from completely imploding.

Valtat's imaginary city is a pretty engrossing one -- a silvery ice-encased little world bedecked with jewels, marble and golden lights, with a hefty dose of steampunk technology like aerosleds and airships. There are countless little quirks to New Venice and the way it works (the Inuit ice palace), and they add to the feeling that this is a real -- albeit fantastical -- little world.

And Valtat mixes in social commentary, politics, romance, neo-Victorian rock'n'roll, and some psychedelic adventure. His writing style is laced with poetry ("a radiant sprite made out of glinting eyes, frothy silk and luminous skin") and haunting glimpses of the raw, stark beauty of the Arctic. Even better, he adds an arch, wry twist to many of his observations of the world.

It takes awhile to warm up to the lechy Gabriel and the cerebral Brentford, simply because it takes Valtat awhile to fully introduce them and their lives to us. As the characters slowly take shapes, you find yourself intrigued by their past adventures, and the question of where Valtat will take them next. And he peppers the story with countless quirky characters -- the arctic-pop rebel, Gabriel's crazy girlfriend, the dignified and elusive Inuit, and even the jolly but sinister Gentlemen.

"Aurorarama" is a cleverly-plotted, exquisitely written novel that gently unspools like a ball of silver yarn. It takes a while to get into the characters, but the book is a future steampunk classic.

This is a "literary adventure novel"; the first book of a planned trilogy by Valtat. Taking place in the far North, we're given a minimal description of the city of New Venice. We're also given sketchy descriptions of the characters, history and events (old and new). I guess that's part of the "literary" element of the book and sets things up for us to discover somewhere in the three volumes. This start to the book is sufficiently mysterious and unique to capture the imagination of the reader. The frozen environment, seemingly corrupt government (well, that's not exactly unique), and unusual characters promise something quite fun.

The story is centered around those who want a better deal for the native inhabitants of the area and those who don't (weak plot element by itself and a poorly disguised tip that tells us the author's agenda will follow). With lots of attempts to create an environment most often seen in a noirish mystery, we are led in circles to meet various other characters who will play presumably key roles in what is to follow; and this tips us off to upcoming plot elements as well. Among these, we have the group of ne're-do-wells whose politically correct leanings will supposedly cause us to overlook the fact that they are crooks.

The first couple of hundred pages develop the line that we will learn the story behind the city and the reason for its being where it is and how the Inuits and residents are going to work out their differences. There is the steampunk theme and speculative fiction elements that hold promise of a twist to the normal book of those genres. Then, it's as if the author decided to tell an entirely different story. Some of the characters continue on with us, but the new locations and additional characters are now more from the world of fantasy. Since we are nearing the end of volume one of three, I am growing concerned.

When the publishers use the description "unlike anything you've ever read before", they are absolutely correct. The question then becomes: Underneath the trimming of multiple genres, just what is this really? Beneath all the other literary styles, genres and story elements, Valtat has written a fantasy.

Too often the literary devices left the story behind and at other times the elements of every other sub-sub-sub genre makes an appearance and the combination just doesn't work consistently throughout the book. Think of the type characters of every popular fantasy novel of the last decade. Most make an appearance in this supposed "literary novel". From ghosts to zombies to magicians to palace guards with halberds against anarchists with rifles and bombs, we are bombarded with the many to the detriment of the few. And, when those undead showed up (for no known reason, at least in this volume), the book nearly hit the trash can; though I merely groaned, shook my head and read on.

For some reason we take a trip with two of the main characters and through unbelievable coincidence we end up in a place totally not in keeping with the rest of the book to that stage. Even though this is the first of a planned trilogy, Valtat really needed to give the readers more than he did.

If he has so few story elements for the next two books that he has to be this stingy with things, then he should have just written a larger one volume book. Due to the length of time that's normal between segments of a series, the subtle story lines will be long forgotten by the readers before they see them actually developed.

When the metaphysical changed to the fantastical, I was very disappointed. The science fiction and steampunk build-up had been betrayed by throwing in elements that apparently the author couldn't explain without adding fantasy. Writing yourself into a corner can't be any more fun than painting yourself there; but the method of extraction is the mark of the pro. Conveniently changing the story direction is not the recommended method.

The best speculative fiction is that which makes few changes to the real world and develops the story from there. Constantly adding changes to solve story problems is not true to any genre. It's also not sufficient reason to try to invent a new genre.

I love literary fiction; read and enjoy science fiction and steampunk; and truly enjoy books that try something different or unique. In this instance Valtat tried to do too much. The mixture caused the book to be uneven. His talents aren't equal across all the types of thing he attempted. Thus the book went from five stars to one star and each step in between depending on the chapter or even the page.

While I can admire his desire to do so much, I wish his final product had been able to match it. Had this volume ended at page 250, I would be looking forward to volume 2. As it is, though, the remaining pages seemed to be from an entirely different (and not nearly as good) book; and though the ending took a small step in the right direction, it was too little, too late.

Trying to write a book that includes elements from various genres means the author should be equally accomplished in all of them. That would be a tall order for veteran authors, and perhaps near impossible. For a less experienced author to try it is not really advisable.

Can Valtat write? He can write very well. It's a shame his first big step was so large. As it is now, he's trapped in this story for two more volumes. Hopefully, those will show more consistency, and his future efforts will be more constrained; something that will better show his talent. Though I probably will not read the next volumes of this trilogy, I might try him again for the one after that.

I have given this one four stars. I think this volume standing alone is not really worth that many stars as a whole. However, the first portion was quite good and I am in hopes he will use his writing abilities to regain the strength of that in the other volumes.

(Disclosure: I received a "Corrected Complete Galley" from the publisher.)