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clairedrinkstea's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting and really rather good upon reflection. I listened to the audio version read by William Gaminara.
Kim Newman has wonderful ideas well put forth in Anno Dracula.
The story is set in 1888 and Queen Victoria has married Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula). The story includes familiar characters from 'Dracula' as well as Victorian writers, poets, fictional characters and persons from history however it follows Geneviève Dieudonné (a Vampire) and Charles Beauregard (a 'Warm' Investigator working on behalf of the Diogenes Club) as they look into the Jack the Ripper murders.
Newman's twists and turns with history and familiar literary persons is very well done. He remains faithful to the characters and our understanding of them and slots the changes into the story seamlessly. For example, the Ripper victims are Vampires and the context of their murders and Jacks reasons why makes sense both to Anno Dracula and what we know of the actual events from Whitchapel and the Police investigation. Also how Dracula became the Prince Consort fits with Stokers original text for Vlad's coming to Britain.
We hear from past events such as Van Helsing's journal to flesh out this 'dark kiss' twist on history. Sometimes these flash back sequences became a little confusing or seemed a little long but the story gets back on track. This is possibly due to the audiobook medium, and if read may not be an issue.
Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard are wonderful characters. It takes a little while before they meet face-to-face but it is worth it. They have a good partnership built on respect. Charles understands Geneviève is an old Vampire with knowledge and understanding he does not. Geneviève sees that Charles has emotions and an intelligence worth taking note of. They find something in each other that they both needed.
Main frustration with the book is the ending. Not the events that transpired - those were great! But it's left on a cliffhanger!!
Defiantly worth a go if you're interested in non-sparkly vampires, Victorian set dramas (not a steampunk book but could be well appreciated by those who enjoy them) and a nice murder mystery where it's not who did it but why.
Kim Newman has wonderful ideas well put forth in Anno Dracula.
The story is set in 1888 and Queen Victoria has married Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula). The story includes familiar characters from 'Dracula' as well as Victorian writers, poets, fictional characters and persons from history however it follows Geneviève Dieudonné (a Vampire) and Charles Beauregard (a 'Warm' Investigator working on behalf of the Diogenes Club) as they look into the Jack the Ripper murders.
Newman's twists and turns with history and familiar literary persons is very well done. He remains faithful to the characters and our understanding of them and slots the changes into the story seamlessly. For example, the Ripper victims are Vampires and the context of their murders and Jacks reasons why makes sense both to Anno Dracula and what we know of the actual events from Whitchapel and the Police investigation. Also how Dracula became the Prince Consort fits with Stokers original text for Vlad's coming to Britain.
We hear from past events such as Van Helsing's journal to flesh out this 'dark kiss' twist on history. Sometimes these flash back sequences became a little confusing or seemed a little long but the story gets back on track. This is possibly due to the audiobook medium, and if read may not be an issue.
Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard are wonderful characters. It takes a little while before they meet face-to-face but it is worth it. They have a good partnership built on respect. Charles understands Geneviève is an old Vampire with knowledge and understanding he does not. Geneviève sees that Charles has emotions and an intelligence worth taking note of. They find something in each other that they both needed.
Main frustration with the book is the ending. Not the events that transpired - those were great! But it's left on a cliffhanger!!
Defiantly worth a go if you're interested in non-sparkly vampires, Victorian set dramas (not a steampunk book but could be well appreciated by those who enjoy them) and a nice murder mystery where it's not who did it but why.
8797999's review
5.0
I have to say I didn't know what to expect with this and in truth I can't remember why I bought it. I think it is a case of judging a book by its cover. I'm not one for vampires and that sort of stuff but this was a top quality read.
Lighter on the gore and blood than I was expecting but thoroughly enjoyable and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. This gist of this is a London with Vlad the Impaler as Prince Regent to Queen Victoria and vampirism on the rise with the population becoming wurned from 'warms' to 'newborns'. In the background of the warm/vampire struggle is Jack the Ripper and his murders.
A fanatstic plot and flows very well, a nice melting pot of fiction and reality with real characters like Queen victoria, Inspector Abberline, Vlad the Implaer, Oscar Wilde and of course Jack The Ripper mashed in with fictional characters like Inspector Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes, Dr Jekyll and the charcaters for this book Charles Beauregard and Genevieve Duieudonné.
I'm glad I took a chance on it, it was great fun.
Lighter on the gore and blood than I was expecting but thoroughly enjoyable and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. This gist of this is a London with Vlad the Impaler as Prince Regent to Queen Victoria and vampirism on the rise with the population becoming wurned from 'warms' to 'newborns'. In the background of the warm/vampire struggle is Jack the Ripper and his murders.
A fanatstic plot and flows very well, a nice melting pot of fiction and reality with real characters like Queen victoria, Inspector Abberline, Vlad the Implaer, Oscar Wilde and of course Jack The Ripper mashed in with fictional characters like Inspector Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes, Dr Jekyll and the charcaters for this book Charles Beauregard and Genevieve Duieudonné.
I'm glad I took a chance on it, it was great fun.
psoglav's review against another edition
3.0
UKUPNA OCENA (overall rating) ★★★✫ 3.5/5
* Radnja (story) ★★★✫
* Okruženje (setting) ★★★★
* Pripovedanje (writing style) ★★★★
* Likovi (characters) ★★★✫
UTISAK (summary) - lako čitljiv i interesantan triler smešten u alternativnu istoriju sa gomilom istorijskih i likova iz poznatih književnih dela.
* Radnja (story) ★★★✫
* Okruženje (setting) ★★★★
* Pripovedanje (writing style) ★★★★
* Likovi (characters) ★★★✫
UTISAK (summary) - lako čitljiv i interesantan triler smešten u alternativnu istoriju sa gomilom istorijskih i likova iz poznatih književnih dela.
nimue0fiana's review against another edition
It's good, I'm just not feeling it right now.
the_reading_vampire's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
rui_leite's review
4.0
Anno Dracula really was a delight to read, a fun and clever book, packed with references to the brim, but still very well plotted and with a consistent passing and tone throughout. The setting, an unstable 1888 London under the rule of Price Consort Dracula is, indeed, as fascinating as it should, and it manages to pull off quite well the mix of an historical London with its many imaginary counterparts. Newman’s city, with a growing population of vampires crossing paths with real and fictional characters of the period, is two parts fantasy and one part history, in a combination that really works. The case of Jack The Ripper who, in this reality, is a vampire prostitute serial killer, was a very smart choice for a guiding thread to show us this very carefully crafted world and it is very effective at keeping the reader engaged, jumping from scene to scene.
Also as I’ve said it in my review of “Mysteries of The Diogenes Club”, Newman seems to me a very competent writer, his style is simple, not showy, but remarkably effective at times. The best examples of this is a chapter in which we see everything from the point of view of a newborn-vampire, or the entries in Dr Seward’s diaries… those worked, oh, so remarkably well.
I was also very glad to meet Genevieve Dieudonne, the vampire, and Beauregard, the agent for the Diogenes Club, yet again. I liked them in their alternate versions in the universe of “Mysteries of The Diogenes Club”, and I grew even fonder of them here. They just prove you can have a romance with a vampire and a human and do it decently, without watering down vampire lore. And make no mistake, in Anno Dracula vampires are monstrous, ruthless killers and predators like they always have been, some of them just deal with it better than others, that’s all.
I still have a few issues with the ending, which seemed maybe a bit too…well… too neat, clean, and over the top, but it’s nothing particularly damaging and doesn’t make all the rest of the book any less fantastic.
Also… there was an armadillo crawling about in Buckingham palace during that last scene, so it gets forgiven just for that! (Yes, I have odd fascinations, that particular reference just made my day…)
All in all a very solid four stars, with an added pair of fangs, just for decent vampirism.
Also as I’ve said it in my review of “Mysteries of The Diogenes Club”, Newman seems to me a very competent writer, his style is simple, not showy, but remarkably effective at times. The best examples of this is a chapter in which we see everything from the point of view of a newborn-vampire, or the entries in Dr Seward’s diaries… those worked, oh, so remarkably well.
I was also very glad to meet Genevieve Dieudonne, the vampire, and Beauregard, the agent for the Diogenes Club, yet again. I liked them in their alternate versions in the universe of “Mysteries of The Diogenes Club”, and I grew even fonder of them here. They just prove you can have a romance with a vampire and a human and do it decently, without watering down vampire lore. And make no mistake, in Anno Dracula vampires are monstrous, ruthless killers and predators like they always have been, some of them just deal with it better than others, that’s all.
I still have a few issues with the ending, which seemed maybe a bit too…well… too neat, clean, and over the top, but it’s nothing particularly damaging and doesn’t make all the rest of the book any less fantastic.
Also… there was an armadillo crawling about in Buckingham palace during that last scene, so it gets forgiven just for that! (Yes, I have odd fascinations, that particular reference just made my day…)
All in all a very solid four stars, with an added pair of fangs, just for decent vampirism.
payolac52's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Absolutely exceptional book. Great reimagining/continuation of the Dracula story with a great cast of characters
mh_2796's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book difficult to get through; the writing style is strange and the ending was bizzare. I felt this had a lot of potential and although it was quite an atmospheric story with a clear plot, it was difficult to make it to the end.
haileyldavidson's review against another edition
1.0
so disgustingly dry i wished to be buried alive in the cold, parched earth rather than read about a man ripping open yet another woman's bodice.
vorpaldormouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror and Murder
Minor: Sexual content, Homophobia, Torture, and Child abuse