“Sisters of the Shadows: The Cagliostro Curse” is another great collection of interconnected short stories by Rick Lai.
These are “Wold Newton” stories that spins out of Rick’s Shadows of the Opera series. This “side sequel” focuses on the conflict between Josephine Balsamo, the Countess Cagliostro, who is a member of the Black Coats (a criminal empire in France in the 1800s in a series of novels and republished by Black Coat Press), and Irene Tupin/Chupin/Irina Putine, who is the sister of Arsene Lupin and based on a character from a horror movie, who becomes Josephine’s enemy and a detective.
“Wold Newton” is a reference to a concept put forth by Philip José Farmer, that tries to link together various fictitious characters into a consistent universe (I am way oversimplifying it). Some don’t care for the concept. And all the characters and hints can be confusing to many not familiar with the original stories that come from (which includes me to a degree). This can be off-putting to some (instead of leading them to read the originals, which is what usually happens in my case).
As noted, this volume is part of a “side sequel” to the “Shadows of the Opera” series. One more volume is planned in this side series.
The basic setup of the series was actually started in the last two stories in the “Shadows of the Opera: Retribution in Blood.” But you get information in the stories here that help set it up.
As young girls, both Josephine and Irene had been sent to a harsh boarding school. Josephine had, in the first “Shadows of the Opera” volume, sworn to her mother to take vengeance on Lupin and his family. Thus Josephine tormented Irene, and set things up for her to be killed (you’ll have to read the stories to learn how she was to be killed). However, she survived. Josephine soon joined the Black Coats along with several other fellow students from this school, who continued to torment each other.
This is not a novel, but a collection of 12 short stories that proceed in chronological order. While they more or less stand alone, they should be read in order, as they progress the story of Irene, Josephine and their associates, who become important in the series. Many of the stories, however, start in the past to give background on various characters who are important in that story. Seven stories are reprints, but revised. Six of those are from the first six “Tales of the Shadowmen” volumes.
Also included is an afterwards that explains the origin of the various characters, and a list of characters and their creators. This helps greatly in understanding many of the characters and their origins.
At present the first book in the “Shadows of the Opera” series is published by Wild Cat Books, but don’t know if it will be reprinted by Black Coat Press. This book and the main sequel to “Shadows of the Opera” are from Black Coat Press. As noted, at least one more book is planned in this side sequel line. I look forward to it.
