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knittingchaos's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the book over all, but it is not as good as the 1st 2 books. I did not really care about the murder mystery in the background.
8797999's review against another edition
4.0
Am enjoyable read, Sracula and vampirism alive and well in Rome. A fun cast of characters with a return for Genevieve who was missing in the previous book.
Perhaps not as good as the previous two books but very enjoyable. Some funny moments and characters like all the books.
Charles will be very much missed by me, I found him to be my favourite character of the series so far, followed closely by Genevieve.
One tidbit in this gives away the title of the next one and I wouldn't have seen it even though it is staring me in the face Alucard ...
Perhaps not as good as the previous two books but very enjoyable. Some funny moments and characters like all the books.
Charles will be very much missed by me, I found him to be my favourite character of the series so far, followed closely by Genevieve.
One tidbit in this gives away the title of the next one and I wouldn't have seen it even though it is staring me in the face Alucard ...
mabusecast's review
5.0
God Kim Newman must of had so much fun writing this! One of the most clever and fun pieces of mashup/crossover fiction I've read! Any book that has director Fritz Lang getting to direct a film about Jason and the Argonauts in late 1950s Italy is a good book in my opinion!
mollyridley's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
On the whole I really enjoyed this book, the first in the series continues to be my favourite but this is by no means a bad addition. I loved the focus on the three female characters, on their complex relationship to each other and the world they find themselves in. I thought the plot was interesting enough and was a good vessel to explore these characters through.
I thought Penelope's monologue at the end was a little long winded and ultimately unnecessary, I'm not sure it really added anything to the plot or characters for me but I appreciate the need to tie up loose ends.
Unfortunately I ended up DNFing the short story at the end: Aquarius. It's not necessarily bad but it drops a lot of information incredibly quickly and I felt like between the onslaught of names and 60s slang I wasn't really getting sucked into the story, a story of only 130ish pages needs to have me hooked pretty much from the off but it didn't make the impact it needed to keep me reading, which is a real shame because I looooved the Novella at the end of Blood Red Baron.
I thought Penelope's monologue at the end was a little long winded and ultimately unnecessary, I'm not sure it really added anything to the plot or characters for me but I appreciate the need to tie up loose ends.
Unfortunately I ended up DNFing the short story at the end: Aquarius. It's not necessarily bad but it drops a lot of information incredibly quickly and I felt like between the onslaught of names and 60s slang I wasn't really getting sucked into the story, a story of only 130ish pages needs to have me hooked pretty much from the off but it didn't make the impact it needed to keep me reading, which is a real shame because I looooved the Novella at the end of Blood Red Baron.
wyrmdog's review
4.0
Newman's take on vampires integrating into society continues to be one of the smartest, most insightful, most creative implementations to date. The writing continues to be top-notch; engaging and compelling.
This is the book for the girls. The three primary female protagonists (Genevieve, Kate and Penelope) take center stage here, each of them getting significant time in the spotlight. The 60s and second-wave feminism loom and here the women of the character roster step up and are passed the torch from the boys.
Sadly the elders continue to be unnervingly easy to dispatch and it takes a lot from their mystique that they are. The additions to the supernatural roster are fun but seem a tad underused and more subject to the whims of the narrative than given an honest exploration.
The best part of the book are the moments where Mr Newman completely catches me off-guard, and he managed it several times. From a particularly spectacular murder to the way a protagonist's death was handled, to the way the resolution and arc of this book isn't what it seems when you first settle into it.
In all, I think if a cable company is looking for a property to turn into a new series with a supernatural angle, Anno Dracula would be a first-rate choice. The exploration of how Dracula and his ilk affect and change the world while also not changing a great many things is a lot of fun to delve into and given the expansive canvas of cable television, would probably be more fun than a lot of the properties that are given the green light.
The story at the end I'm a bit less sure about, yet it still entertained me greatly.
The staccato prose is intended to evoke the times, no doubt. More often than not it feels like an excuse to name-drop and info-dump with alarming intensity. I am not familiar enough with the late 60s for a lot of it to matter to me, but I caught enough that the story always made sense and I always had context. I still felt like the brevity of each statement (particularly early on) got to be both tiring and jarring at times.
However, Kate is at her best here. She is also at her most seemingly inconsistent. She is both victim and vampire and the swings between the two are wide enough that I occasionally found myself wondering how both extremes could be the same character. I enjoyed seeing a bit of her evolution, to be sure, but given the resolution, I was a little surprised at her naive pliability and swooning weakness at certain points.
Lest you think I am merely complaining, let me just reiterate that Kate largely shines and it's a lot of fun to see how she's evolved and grown and is on the cusp of becoming an elder herself. It's fun to see how her view of herself has changed with the years. It's also fun to see Mouse return, and in top form herself.
I have caught wind that there are complaints about this volume, that a lot of people didn't like it. I think I know why but those reasons seem largely to be the same reasons why I enjoyed the book. The shocks, the changes, the upset expectations. As with the others, it is unlike any other vampire book you'll read...and that's a good thing.
This is the book for the girls. The three primary female protagonists (Genevieve, Kate and Penelope) take center stage here, each of them getting significant time in the spotlight. The 60s and second-wave feminism loom and here the women of the character roster step up and are passed the torch from the boys.
Sadly the elders continue to be unnervingly easy to dispatch and it takes a lot from their mystique that they are. The additions to the supernatural roster are fun but seem a tad underused and more subject to the whims of the narrative than given an honest exploration.
The best part of the book are the moments where Mr Newman completely catches me off-guard, and he managed it several times. From a particularly spectacular murder to the way a protagonist's death was handled, to the way the resolution and arc of this book isn't what it seems when you first settle into it.
In all, I think if a cable company is looking for a property to turn into a new series with a supernatural angle, Anno Dracula would be a first-rate choice. The exploration of how Dracula and his ilk affect and change the world while also not changing a great many things is a lot of fun to delve into and given the expansive canvas of cable television, would probably be more fun than a lot of the properties that are given the green light.
The story at the end I'm a bit less sure about, yet it still entertained me greatly.
The staccato prose is intended to evoke the times, no doubt. More often than not it feels like an excuse to name-drop and info-dump with alarming intensity. I am not familiar enough with the late 60s for a lot of it to matter to me, but I caught enough that the story always made sense and I always had context. I still felt like the brevity of each statement (particularly early on) got to be both tiring and jarring at times.
However, Kate is at her best here. She is also at her most seemingly inconsistent. She is both victim and vampire and the swings between the two are wide enough that I occasionally found myself wondering how both extremes could be the same character. I enjoyed seeing a bit of her evolution, to be sure, but given the resolution, I was a little surprised at her naive pliability and swooning weakness at certain points.
Lest you think I am merely complaining, let me just reiterate that Kate largely shines and it's a lot of fun to see how she's evolved and grown and is on the cusp of becoming an elder herself. It's fun to see how her view of herself has changed with the years. It's also fun to see Mouse return, and in top form herself.
I have caught wind that there are complaints about this volume, that a lot of people didn't like it. I think I know why but those reasons seem largely to be the same reasons why I enjoyed the book. The shocks, the changes, the upset expectations. As with the others, it is unlike any other vampire book you'll read...and that's a good thing.
enbyglitch's review
4.0
This installment didn't quite take me to the same chilling heights as 'Bloody Red Baron', but certainly surpassed my expectations and proved Newman's skill once again.
It was nice to get the story directly from the female characters this time around (especially given the antagonist), and also to see the difference between people like Charles and Bond in how they respond to vampirism.
It felt like there were fewer references to be gleaned here, but I'm not up on my 1950s/60s Italian fiction so they probably just flew over my head.
Interested by the direction taken with Dracula himself, especially with how widely it departs from the end of the last book. Curious if it sticks!
Really nothing wrong causing me to take a star off in this case - maybe just not quite enough right.
It was nice to get the story directly from the female characters this time around (especially given the antagonist), and also to see the difference between people like Charles and Bond in how they respond to vampirism.
It felt like there were fewer references to be gleaned here, but I'm not up on my 1950s/60s Italian fiction so they probably just flew over my head.
Interested by the direction taken with Dracula himself, especially with how widely it departs from the end of the last book. Curious if it sticks!
Really nothing wrong causing me to take a star off in this case - maybe just not quite enough right.
bellisk's review
5.0
A charming thriller set in glamorous 1959 Rome, this book (as expected) includes many cameos from contemporary vampires of literature and screen, as well as a very handy notes section at the back. The plot hangs together nicely, with an unexpected extra-supernatural turn; it doesn't feel pieced together, despite Newman's many good-humoured borrowings. Likewise, the many jokes don't impede the effect of the real emotional moments in the book.
I also greatly appreciated the fact that the book's central relationships were between three memorable, well-drawn and very different female characters, Geneviéve, Kate and Penelope.
I really enjoyed this book and will probably read it again.
I also greatly appreciated the fact that the book's central relationships were between three memorable, well-drawn and very different female characters, Geneviéve, Kate and Penelope.
I really enjoyed this book and will probably read it again.
jonmhansen's review
3.0
Eh. Good, but dragged in places. Also there were a number of places where the font failed in the printing, leaving a random accented letter nothing more than a box.
hannah_mayflower's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25