Book Review: Romeo & Juliet & Vampires - by Claudia Gabel

To be or not to be- that is the question I asked myself upon first observing the sudden proliferation of classic novels re-hashed and rearranged with added supernatural creatures. (Little Vampire Women? Pride & Prejudice & Zombies?) Romeo and Juliet and Vampires by Claudia Gabel is the second of these monster-tinged adaptions I have read, and as I opened the book I tried my best to allow my feelings about the original play to fade into the dangerous night time shadows, in order to soak up this story with new, blood red ringed eyes. 

Romeo & Juliet & Vampires is an enjoyable read. Following Shakespeare’s classic characters Romeo and Juliet from his most renowned tragedy of the same name, we watch Romeo fall madly in love with Juliet at first sight. He discovers her at a party held by her parents the Capulets; the powerful, rich vampire family with whom Romeo’s family the Montague’s have fought a grizzly war for many years, the vampires feasting on the flesh and blood of their enemies to sustain their vampiric powers. After the imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler, the infamous tyrannical prince of the Capulet family, a newcomer, Prince Radu assumes power over the families’ home of Transylvania, forcing a truce upon the warring clans. Becoming ever-weaker from the lack of human blood, the stern unfeeling Lord and Lady Capulet have a plan to win the Prince’s favour in order to overturn the peace treaty, using an unwilling Juliet as a gambling chip. 

As Juliet and Romeo fall evermore in love, their union becomes more and more unlikely. This is not helped by the upcoming event of Juliet’s sixteenth birthday, upon which she is to either take a human life by drinking every last drop of the victim’s blood to become a full-fledged vampire, or endure a ferocious hunger for blood… and starve to death. Featuring drama, theatrics and mournfully doomed passion aplenty, this novel stays true to William Shakespeare’s sense of outlandish tragedy and woe.

Grammatically the novel may disappoint if you are expecting an emulation and expansion of Shakespeare’s linguistic style. Far removed from the eccentric flamboyancy of his words, you may find yourself stumbling across phrases and expressions which certainly would not have been in use in Shakespearian literature, and admittedly, it does remove some of the charm and throw off the imagery slightly. After all, if you’re going to adapt a play written by the greatest writer in the English language into a supernatural tragedy, you should probably stick with certain admired aspects and idiosyncrasies of that writer in your language. A plus side however is that that, for anyone new to Shakespeare who wishes to immediately capture the essence of this famous play, the simpler language and lack of archaic lexis is not as intimidating or off-putting. This is a book you can read in bed at night or on the train home from work without having to worry too much about absorbing the more challenging linguistic style of classic Shakespeare.

Conclusively, if tales of forbidden love, death and romance with a little of the supernatural thrown in appeal to you, then this just might be the novel for you. It’s entertaining and gripping, and the surprising plot twists contrast the original in just the right subtle manner. If however you are a great fan of Shakespeare and wish to read Romeo and Juliet (with added vampires) in novel form, do not expect the same style of lexis and dialogue as that written by William Shakespeare himself. If you can overlook the modern twist on this classic tale, then Romeo and Juliet and Vampires is a definite competitor for your literary attentions.

Review: Corsets and Clockwork Steampunk Stories

Corsets and Clockwork, edited by Trisha Telep, is a collection of thirteen ‘steampunk romances’ over 400 pages in total length. A sizeable book boasting such versatility as to include ‘magical outcasts, kindred spirits, feisty heroines, inventors, war heroes and supernatural rituals’, this clockwork anthropology has a story for everyone, and generally does not disappoint.

The stories range in page count but are all lengthy enough to enjoy over a steaming cup of tea. While the first story rude mechanicals is a rather slow-paced piece packed full of cogs and gears, it comes to an abrupt (and in my opinion fairly anti-climactic) ending, yet Deadwood and The Clockwork Corset are packed with action, hastily-paced like a steam train trundling purposely through the countryside. This variety typically offers a reading experience that can be enjoyed by fans of both action and romance period novel genres. 

In several of the stories I surprisingly found myself questioning the steampunk aesthetic therein. While all the stories are clearly set in the Victorian period, certain tales within Corsets and Clockwork seemed to be missing the gears, cogs and eccentric gadgetry one associates as steampunk iconography, and seemed rather more at home in the reality of the Victorian era, instead of the ridiculous, sepia-hued world of steampunk. Fans of Steampunk however are inevitably also fans of Victoriana, so the stories are still likely to appeal on that level at least. 

This book should be on the to-buy list of anyone interested in the wacky world of steampunk. Generally good reading with that iconic wacky edge, most of the stories hit the mark and the ones that don’t still take one on an adventure into the past with frivolous manners, tea and ridiculous social norms aplenty.