The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is a French film based on the graphic novels of the same name by Jacques Tardi. Adèle Blanc-Sec is an adventurous Victorian-era Parisian reporter who seems a fusion of Nellie Bly and Indiana Jones. She is played by Louise Bourgoin who manages to seem proper and intelligent even in the film’s more comedic moments. Adèle goes to Egypt hoping to find Ramses II’s physician who she believes when revived will be able to heal her sister who is currently in a comatose state due to a tragic hatpin related accident. But upon returning home she finds that the professor she had counted on to bring back the mummy is on death row since he was practicing his telepathic technique by hatching a pterodactyl egg; the pterodactyl is now soaring around Paris causing mayhem. There is also a romantic subplot and lots of humor in this fun French Action Adventure from Luc Besson, the man behind The Fifth Element. If you are a steampunk fan you should love this film as much as I did. You can borrow the DVD of the film and the first volume of the graphic novels it is based on from BCCLS Libraries.
The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
The Eterna Files is the first novel I had read by Hieber, but I had enjoyed her story, Charged, in the short collection Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: A Collection of Gaslamp Fantasy I wrote about in a previous post. I had the opportunity to see Hieber read at the Steampunk’s World’s Fair and with her background as a trained actress, she truly brought the characters to life. You can see her reading samples of her work on her YouTube channel and for those in the area come see her do a special presentation about the Ghosts of New York right in time for Halloween on October 29. The Eterna Files focuses on two teams of scientists and mystics, one in the United States attempting to create immortality and the other in England investigating supernatural events and attempting to stop the Americans from creating an eternal leader. The Eterna Files is set during the Victorian period and the clothes and locations are vividly described. There are a lot of characters to keep of track of but I enjoyed the interweaving of the two teams’ narratives. A few characters are also featured in her other works and I’m interested to check them out as well, but did not feel that I was at a disadvantage having not read them before The Eterna Files. The Eterna Files and several of Hieber’s other novels are available from BCCLS libraries.
Bonus Book:
Insider’s Guide to Steampunk Fashion by Hannah Rothstein
For those inspired by these titles and wanting to get in to some Neovictorian fun, check out Hanna Rothstein’s Insider’s Guide to Steampunk Fashion available to Hoboken and other BCCLS card holders through Hoopla. This short nonfiction work will give you a brief overview of steampunk’s inspiration and the different types of outfits that Steampunk cosplayers (fans that dress up in costume) wear to conventions and meetups. Included are full color photographs and hyperlinks to resources for further information. Some of her prose is a bit on the florid side with concoctions of mixed metaphors, but due to the nature of the topic that seems apt. The publisher Hyperink specializes in creating ebooks based on popular online blogs. Rothstein has a background in fashion studies and art and has written copy for popular hipster retro fashion site Modcloth.
-Written by Aimee Harris, Head of Reference
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 