The novella “Victoria” by Paul Di Filippo was published for the first time in 1991. It was also published in the “The Steampunk Trilogy” anthology.

Cosmo Cowperthwait conducted various experiments on newts ending up obtaining a human-looking one that has a curious resemblance to Queen Victoria. That’s why British Prime Minister William Lamb asks for his help: the queen has disappeared, nobody can find her and the newt is the only double available. The scientist agrees to help his country but the fake queen has an insatiable sexual appetite and that’s a huge problem.

In this novella Paul Di Filippo imagines that biotechnologies were already developed in the 19th century with the consequence that the scientist Cosmo Cowperthwait was able to create a human-looking newt. This anachronism is an excuse for the author to have a truly unique double for Queen Victoria, who disappeared without leaving any trace on the eve of her coronation.

The scandal that would derive from the revelation of that event would be a blow to the monarchy so the Prime Minister uses deception to hide it. However, that’s a temporary solution while he’s secretly conducting the search for the queen and must handle the double, with her sexual appetite.

Involved against his will in the mystery around Queen Victoria’s disappearance, Cosmo Cowperthwait and his assistant Nails McGroaty conduct their research in London’s slums in a story that from the beginning shows its strong satirical intent with a vision far from romantic of that era.

Among the characteristics considered typical of the Victorian age there’s an attitude towards sexuality of total repression so “Victoria” includes a double of the queen with a huge sexual appetite and visits to London’s most infamous brothels until an ending that’s totally iconoclastic.

That’s the central theme of “Victoria” but Paul Di Filippo uses the story to create a merciless satire of the society of the time and ridicules other of its elements as well. In my opinion the author managed to create a good balance between characters who are over the top but not too much who get involved in events that are funny in a plot that keeps a good pace with various twists.

In the end, “Victoria” can be considered above all a humorous novella in which Paul Di Filippo used the steampunk element to build his satire. Labels aside, it’s a brilliant work for the way the reader is entertained.