Genre: science fiction: alternate history
Pairings: f/f
Queer Representation: cis bisexual, cis lesbian
Warnings: DRACULA
Review
Another adventure awaits the half-vampire, bisexual Lucy Harker! Dracula’s daughter, still with her lovely lady vampire lover, works as a double agent to steal England’s spaceship plans. But wait! The handoff is interrupted by a mechanical man…no, wait! A mechanical woman! A golden mechanical woman who is far more advanced than her ‘male’ counterparts. Unlocking the golden woman’s emotions may be the key to saving Lucy AND the solar system. Why is the solar system in jeopardy? Something about mechanical people populating the moon? I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter.
Holmes raises his powder-whitened brows in a. rare display of surprise. “A golden mechanical woman, did you say?”
“The mechanical had a feminine shape and the visible portions were made of the alien alloy,” I said. “She–it killed the man and appropriated his portfolio, which holds information intended for SIS. Then the mechanical fled into an alley. I saw no one giving the mechanical orders, but my view was obstructed.”
“Dr. Krüger’s machine-men aren’t capable of independent action,” Holmes says.
“The design of the golden woman was far more advanced than Krüger’s ambulatory tins. And far more aesthetically pleasing.”
Don’t overthink the plot. THE ADVENTURES OF THE GOLDEN WOMAN is the fourth in Cynthia Ward’s ‘vampire hunter falls for a vampire and they have to constantly battle Martian technology and sometimes also Tarzan’ series. Will there be dinosaurs? Yes. Aliens? Probably. Weird beings at the center of the Earth, the Titanic, and Sherlock Holmes? Yup. This book, as with the series, is a consistent delight. I love the well-researched history that is then twisted and deformed into comedic genius. I love the mash up of pop culture and lesbian vampires. I love that Sherlock Holmes is the butt of 50% of the jokes. I love that the world is so weird that literally no one bats an eye at the half-vampire daughter of Dracula is also bisexual and has a lady lover who is a vampire.
This is a short little novella, as they all are. But if you’re looking for a delight of escapism, start with THE ADVENTURE OF THE INCOGNITA COUNTESS aboard the Titanic. Get yourself a helping of dinosaurs in THE ADVENTURE OF THE DUX BELLORUM. Then journey to the center of the earth with THE ADVENTURE OF THE NAKED GUIDE. Then come meet me here with the Golden Woman, who is a well-deserved fourth book in the series. Come for the lesbian vampires, stay for the period pop culture jokes. You won’t be disappointed.