Come Hear the Music Play: A Review of Amberlough

Amberlough (2017) 
Written by: Lara Elena Donnelly
Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 11h, 26m (Audiobook)
Series: The Amberlough Dossier
Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Why I Chose It: When I first heard about Amberlough, I was intrigued by its unique, cross-genre premise (the fact that one of my favorite authors narrated the audiobook was a bonus!). When it was nominated for a Nebula award, then I knew that it was time for me to give it a chance.

The Premise:

In Amberlough, amidst rising political tensions, three lives become intertwined with the fate of the city itself.

The Smuggler: By day, Aristide Makricosta is the emcee for Amberlough City’s top nightclub. By night, he moves drugs and refugees under the noses of crooked cops.

The Spy: Covert agent Cyril DePaul thinks he’s good at keeping secrets, but after a disastrous mission abroad, he makes a dangerous choice to protect himself…and hopefully Aristide too.

The Dancer: Streetwise Cordelia Lehane, burlesque performer at the Bumble Bee Cabaret and Aristide’s runner, could be the key to Cyril’s plans — if she can be trusted.

As the twinkling marquees lights yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means — and people — necessary. Including each other.

There are no spoilers in this review.

Discussion: At times, it can feel like there isn’t a lot of new territory left to explore in fantasy fiction. And while die-hard fans like myself may be fine revisiting tried and true tropes over and over again (dragons! magic! games of thrones! fairy tales revisited!), for the genre to thrive, it needs to continue to expand in new directions. This is something that Lara Elena Donnelly’s Amberlough really pulls off.

One of the things that sets Amberlough apart is the fact that it pulls so deeply from other genres. The book has been advertised as “Le Carré meets Cabaret,” and no comparison could be more apt. Much of the time, Amberlough is a spy novel, where morally flexible characters navigate the tricky cloak and dagger world of politics and intrigue. But as someone who is a fan of the stage musical Cabaret, I couldn’t help but connect to this comparison more. Cabaret is the story of a Berlin-based night club (The Kit Kat Club) during the 1930s, and how its performers and other characters are impacted by the Nazi party’s rise to power. Much like The Kit Kat Club, the city of Amberlough is a haven for outsiders, such as LGBT characters (Cyril and Aristide), and performers (Cordelia and Aristide again). The book has a handful of scenes that are basically elaborate performance pieces, filled with glitz, glamor and debauchery. Amberlough may be a fantasy book without magic, but in moments such as these it’s downright enchanting. And while the city surely has its problems, it’s impossible not to fall for Amberlough, and want to stop it from the darkness encroaching on all sides.

After the book’s enchanting setting, I would say that my favorite part had to be the characters themselves. Cyril and Aristide have an intriguing forbidden romance. Cyril, as a government spy is supposed to be keeping an eye on people like Aristide, who moonlights as a smuggler, but he can’t help but be smitten by the glamorous emcee. Their scenes, whether they are working for or against each other, are electrifying. Cordelia took a little longer for me to warm up to, but she really grew on me by the end of the book. Clearly the Sally Bowles of the book (to go back to Cabaret), Cordelia is a tough-minded performer who is willing to do what is necessary to survive. I am particularly interested to see where her journey will take her in future volumes of the series.

One of the aspects of Amberlough that didn’t work quite as well for me was the actual spy elements. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of satisfying twists in here and there, but Amberlough is a book that doesn’t come with a lot of hand holding. It throws you into the complex history and politics of Gedda pretty much right off the bat, and as a result there were a few times where I found myself a little confused by it all. But despite said periods of confusion (and a few “wait-who is that again?” moments), I managed to stay on board enough to make it through to the end.

It’s also worth noting that I experienced Amberlough as an audiobook, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal. Kowal brings in a wide variety of voices to Ambelough, including some that reminded me of classic cinema, which is apt considering the 1930s-inspried setting. The performance was solid all around, which reminded me of why Kowal is one of my favorite audiobook narrators on top of being one of my favorite authors.

A Note on the Nebulas: As previously mentioned, Amberlough is up for a Nebula award this year. Whether I think it should win is tricky to say, as I have only read three of the seven nominees (The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin, Six Wakes of Mur Lafferty, and Amberlough, of course). Out of those three, I’d be happy to see any of them win, as they are all high quality books. But ultimately, it’s hard to beat The Stone Sky, which was one of my favorite books of last year. I would love to see it win.

In Conclusion: Amberlough is not your typical fantasy book. It doesn’t have any magical elements and switches out the typical medieval setting for ones inspired by the 1930s. Because of that, the book may not click with your typical fantasy fan but will work quite well for those looking for something with a different spice. Do you enjoy LGBT characters and situations? Complex spy plots? The glamorous (and at times, not-so-glamorous) life of the theater? Than you should certainly consider checking out Lara Elena Donnelly’s Amberlough. Despite being occasionally caught off guard by the spy elements, I found a lot to enjoy in this debut novel. I know that a sequel, Armistice, is set to be released just next month (May 15th!). I look forward to checking it out.