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A review by rui_leite
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
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.