High Vaultage by Chris and Jen Sugden (book review).
When an idea switches media formats, there is always a question as to whether the adaptation will be as successful in the new format. The idea behind ‘High Vaultage’ originated in audio podcasts under the name of ‘Victoriocity,’ and here it is translated into a print format.
The setting for both the podcasts and the novel is 1887 and an alternative England. The Industrial Revolution has escalated beyond control. The Brunel Corporation is constantly redeveloping most of the southern third of England as a result of the development of mechanisation. Clockwork has replaced many of Queen Victoria’s parts, making her more machine-like than human.
The principal characters are a familiar pairing of a male ex-police inspector and a female who comes to London to be a crime reporter and together run a detective agency. Archibold Fleet is the male partner. The reason he left the police is because the authorities are unsure of his status. The Royal Medical Engineers, who keep Victoria functioning, revived him after he died in the course of his duties. The other half of the agency is Clara Entwistle, hailing from Yorkshire. The agency operates out of an upstairs room in a somewhat seedy coffee shop. Typically, they don’t have many clients at the moment. Mostly, they deal with small cases, but they allow Clara to continue to write a crime column for a newspaper.
The big story of the day concerns bank strongrooms being broken into but nothing being actually stolen, though some of the boxes had been tampered with. Fleet and Clara, though, have lesser mysteries to deal with, such as finding the landlady’s dog. Kathleen Price approaches Clara, who has just concluded a case of fraudulent identity. As a scavenger operating on the frozen waters of the Thames, she witnesses the abduction of a man. The man in question has been waiting nightly for a woman who doesn’t turn up. The hunt for the missing man and/or his girlfriend via an advert in the newspaper Clara works for leads them to discover that he is a Brunel employee and that he is not the only one who has gone missing.
Their investigations continue to reveal more about the workings of the Brunel Corps. There is a power struggle at the top of the Corps, and not all of their developments are benevolent.
Anyone who has enjoyed the podcasts will probably like this book, as they will be familiar with the landscape. While the premise of engineering works getting out of hand and covering the landscape is at times amusing, it is also terrifying as it takes away from the populace any sense of ownership in the place where they live and adds the fear that their home will have disappeared next time they come home from work. At the centre of this is a decent mystery thriller, but there are too many distractions, probably inserted for added humour, that do not work for all readers. A tighter script would be far more effective. The podcasts may encourage listeners to read the book, but for this reader, it doesn’t work the other way around.
It is only a minor thing, but it is very off-putting that the authors and/or proofreader don’t know the difference between a plane and a plain. This is a problem with allowing spell-checkers to loosen their prose.
Pauline Morgan
January 2025
(pub: Gollancz, 2024. 383 page hardback. Price: £22.00. ISBN: 978-1-399-60416-1).
check out website: www.gollancz.co.uk