She's put the spell on me, that Elizabeth Bear, with her tersely modulated prose and bitter lovemaking. All the Windwracked Stars, a cyber-norse apocalypse story, and the tragic prequel, By the Mountain Bound... Good Stuff! My favorite scene? Glistening toadstools in a barren land.

Also occult sorcery, wampyr, steampunk, and Victorian politics collide in New Amsterdam, a fetching novel that sets a stage of mystery and intrigue that leads to Seven for a Secret.