Review: Angels of Music

Most people today know “The Phantom of the Opera” via Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. That’s not bad per se, even though the original novel offers a little more - and doesn’t turn the phantom from ‘villain’ to ‘misunderstood genius forced to wear a mask’, although he’s a genius in the novel, too. “Angels of Music” by Kim Newman, however, is not just a retelling of the novel - it’s a crossover between “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Charlie’s Angels”. Which, to be honest, makes me wonder whether, instead of another reboot of Charlie’s Angels, they should try to make a movie or two (or five, there’s five distinct stories in there) out of this book instead.

I had my eye on the book before, while I was diving into the “Anno Dracula” series, but discarded it from my wish list at Amazon when I got stuck in “The Bloody Red Baron”. Unlike that one, however, I can imagine to reread “Angels of Music” at some point. It has a great premise and, above all, is filled with women who have agency and act for themselves - not what you’d expect to come out of a book which was, beneath all pretence of being a mystery, a pulpy adventure story with an ingénue damsel.

Kim Newman is known for making use of characters which are in public domain for his stories (which is why Dr. Fu Manchu, not yet in public domain, is always referred to as ‘the Lord of Strange Deaths’). In this one, he pulls out all the female leads which could in some way be connected to the Phantom’s France (from the 1870s to 1910) and casts them as Angels of Music at different times. There’s always three of them at any given time, but they change through the ages and through the stories.

“The Marriage Club” comes with the three first angels: Christine Daée (no surprise there), Trilby O’Farrell, and Irene Adler (yes, that Irene Adler). They’re up against someone who makes the perfect wives for high-ranking men - out of clockwork. In this one, the phantom still keeps a very close control over two angels (not Irene), but he changes his strategies later. The overall tone is also introduced: the supernatural exists and the angels can definitely get into dangerous situations. It’s a very pulpy one.

“Les vampires de Paris” introduces three new angels and is more of a mystery story. In it, the Grand Vampire, master of the criminal group known as ‘Les Vampires’ in Paris, hires the angels to find a vampire preying on specific victims and putting blame on his group. It’s also the story in which we learn that, while Dracula was busy in London, his three brides were in Paris, having fun and making some money.

“Guignol” is nothing more or less than a thriller with murderous psychopaths who enjoy maiming and killing. It seems suitable that one of the angels at that time is ahead of the curve when it comes to torturing (not all angels are nice and none is a classic ‘good girl’). It’s also the story where we learn that Lady Snowblood took a little trip to France during her revenge mission.

“The Mark of Kane” is a heist story when all’s said and done. The three angels do not try to fight their way through a French town usurped by an American millionaire set on making a real war in Europe so he can make more money - they trick everyone, making the members of the group preparing for war fighting each other.

“Deluge”, finally, is the swan-song for Erik; first the Persian (who was the Bossley to Erik’s Charlie) is killed, then angels from various sets are endangered, finally, it ends with a fight to the death between the Daughter of Cagliostro (now claiming to be the Queen of Atlantis) and the Phantom of the Opera, who threw in with Les Vampires to destroy her network of henches.

The Opera Ghost Agency doesn’t end with his death (or seeming death, if you read to the very end of the book). One of the angels takes Erik’s place, another the place of the Persian. New angels will come, new missions will be tackled (perhaps including a trip to the Île des Monstres). The Agency could very well still be operative today - at least in this version of reality.

“Angels of Music” is a surprisingly feminist book which manages to pass the Bechtel test over and over again. The angels are often talking among themselves and rarely about men, unless they’re either clients or targets of the mission. They form friendships with each other, they help each other, they work together seamlessly when necessary. They’re not always the same types - each of the trios is, of course, created to be useful for the case told. The first three angels are performers first and foremost - three singers and actors. The next set are a detective, an assassin, and a witch - which brings together all needed for this case. The set afterwards are a journalist, a torturer, and an avenging fighter. The set after them is made up of three people who can do a heist - two women who can fake identities and a small, agile bird-girl with a quick mind. The final set has a female homunculus, a mute acrobat, and a clockwork woman. Each of the women has her own title - Kate Reed (who is also in other Kim Newman novels), the journalist, is the Angel of Truth. Irene Adler is the Angel of Larceny. Olympia is the Clockwork Angel (and, strictly speaking, the longest-serving angel, being around from the end of the first to after the last story).

Given the original story - which still does give Christine a little more agency than many women in pulp have, giving her the choice of her fate - is pure pulp, so that is also what I expected from the book. It’s what I got, too, but it’s feminist pulp to a degree. The angels aren’t fearful women in danger, damsels in distress. Erik might lend a hand twice (in “The Marriage Club” and “Guignol”), but it’s only from afar; the angels do their own saving most of the time. They save each other as well. Even in the end, they’re not just standing there to be saved; as soon as the Phantom appears, the angels also jump into action, fighting the army of the enemy with considerable success.

It seems fitting that, with the Phantom presumed dead and the Persian really dead, the angels decide to take over the agency, one of them replacing the Opera Ghost and another taking the place of the Persian as the person to approach about engaging the O.G.A.

“Angels of Music” is an entertaining take on the source material which introduces a lot of female characters from public domain and gives them something they’re often sorely missing in their original stories: agency. It’s a good read, very entertaining and well-written. If you have some time, perhaps this summer, I can only recommend the book to you.