What’s It About
Lizzie Borden meets the Cthulhu mythos. Lots of axe wielding and slimy monsters from the sea. And mind controlling, stinky jellyfish.
Should I Read It?
According to Annalee Newitz from i09, yes you absolutely should. (She calls Maplecroft the best “damn” Cthulhu novel you’ve read in ages”). And, I agree that if you’re in the mood for a bit Lizzie Borden / Cthulhu action, then this book will definitely meet your needs. It’s competently written, moves at decent clip and, most of all, is entertaining. Lizzie, her sister Emma and Doctor Seabury – our point of view characters – are engaging and sympathetically drawn.
If the novel has a weakness it’s that it never breaks free of the novelty of having Lizzie fight Cthulhu’s minions. This might have something to do with Maplecroft being Book One of a series. In anycase I’m not compelled to read the second novel in the series.
Representative Paragraph
Observations of the squamous horror from the well-meaning Doctor Owen Seabury
But the thing. It was the shape of a human being, provided that the human being had been horribly emaciated, his bones stretched, his skin blanched, and his head both swollen and misshapen. I would use the word “encephalitic,” but it doesn’t feel quite right. I’ve never heard of an encephalitic with a forehead sloped and pinched, eyes that were covered with the same membrane I’d seen before on other corpses in Fall River (so there’s one point in Lizbeth’s favor, or in favor of her revolting theory). The thing’s eyes were also shaped strangely, oversized and elongated, drawn back to a point that aimed at the forehead, almost as if they’d been turned on their sides. No, that’s not what I mean. It was more the shape of a raindrop, landing on the face and sliding downward. It was . . . . . . I am no good at this.
Commentary
I wasn’t a huge fan of Cherie Priest’s well-regarded and popular novel Boneshaker. I’ve never been that keen on steam-punk or zombies and Priest’s by-the-numbers prose did little to convince me otherwise. Five years later, and with Maplecroft nominated for a PKD Award, I can say that Priests’ writing style and pacing has improved immeasurably.
On the face of it, there’s something inspired about mashing together the urban legend of Lizzie Borden with the Cthulhu mythos. Both mythologies are rich with speculation and deep mystery. And as has been pointed out by others more geographically inclined than myself, Ms Borden and Howard Lovecraft lived about twenty miles from each other.
Priest, fully aware of the geographical and mythological links, is clearly having a great deal of fun mixing Lizzie and Cthulhu together. The novel revels in all the slime and gore and insane Professors from Miskatonic University possessed by evil, mind-controlling jelly fish. Priest also solves the mystery of Lizzie Borden’s crime by explaining that she killed her father and step-mother because they were slowly transforming into something otherworldly. Added to that, Priest tweaks and modifies Lizzie and Emma’s history. While the Borden murders did occur in 1892, the appearance of Nance O’Neil – Lizzie’s lover – is anachronistic. According to Wikipedia they didn’t meet until 1904 – ten years after the event of the novel.
But all that is part of the fun, and this is certainly an entertaining book to read. Lizzie, her ailing sister Emma and Doctor Owen Seabury are sympathetic, engaging characters. In particular, I appreciated the strength of will and intelligence exhibited by Lizzie and Emma. Their relationship is a highlight of the novel.
But because this is Book One in a series, Maplecroft never really breaks free of the novelty of having Lizzie fight Cthulhu’s slimy minions. The second half of the book is begging for a scene where Lizzie, Emma and the hapless Doctor come face to face with ancient, cosmic evil. But Priest disappointingly pulls back from this, swapping an apocalyptic and insane climax for a house under siege narrative that becomes fairly predictable once it’s clear that the jelly-fish possessed Professor Zollicoffer is on his way to Falls River.
Other than a few enigmatic hints left by the mysterious Simon Wolf, the ending is self-contained enough that I feel no compulsion to read the sequel. As far as I’m concerned, Maplecroft fills whatever need I had for Lizzie Borden and Cthulhu shenanigans.
I’m in the midst of it right now. Interesting that you couldn’t get into the boneshaker series because I had trouble with it too. The ideas were cool but the prose didn’t sparkle enough to make me want more. I really love the idea of this one as well, but I’m having the same problem. There were points in Lizzie’s early narrative where I was getting annoyed by what I felt was an attempt to stretch it out, as if – oh I think this can be a series I’d better get the word count up. I know there’s a stylistic pastiche attempt going on but it feels padded. I’m a little disappointed.
You’re right about Boneshaker, the prose never sparkled.
As I note in the review, I was far more engaged with Maplecroft, but that might have been more to do with the subject matter then the prose (though I do think it is an improvement on the stodge that was Boneshaker).
The book never really gets out of second gear. And I definitely think that’s to do with it being Book One. I don’t see why this couldn’t have been a neat and tidy stand-alone with a story that ratchets things up rather than just plods to a predictable ending.