Anno Dracula
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4.0 • 50 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
"Kim Newman's Anno Dracula is back in print, and we must celebrate. It was the first mash-up of literature, history and vampires, and now, in a world in which vampires are everywhere, it's still the best, and its bite is just as sharp. Compulsory reading, commentary, and mindgame: glorious." - Neil Gaiman
"Politics, horror, and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realized novel. Newman's prose is a delight, his attention to detail is spellbinding." - Time Out
“Stephen King assumes we hate vampires; Anne Rice makes it safe to love them, because they hate themselves. Kim Newman suspects that most of us live with them… Anno Dracula is the definitive account of that post-modern species, the self-obsessed undead.” - New York Times
“Anno Dracula will leave you breathless... one of the most creative novels of the year.” - Seattle Times
“Powerful... compelling entertainment... a fiendishly clever banquet of dark treats.” - San Francisco Chronicle
'A ripping yarn, an adventure romp of the best blood, and a satisfying… read' - Washington Post Book World
"The most comprehensive, brilliant, dazzlingly audacious vampire novel to date. 'Ultimate' seems an apt description... Anno Dracula is at once playful, horrific, intelligent, and revelatory." - Locus
"A marvelous marriage of political satire, melodramatic intrigue, gothic horror, and alternative history. Not to be missed." - The Independent
"Once you start reading this Victorian-era thriller, you will not be satiated until you reach the end." - Ain't It Cool
"Anno Dracula is the smart, hip Year Zero of the vampire genre's ongoing revolution." - Paul McAuley
"Kim Newman brings Dracula back home in the granddaddy of all vampire adventures. Anno Dracula couldn't be more fun if Bram Stoker had scripted it for Hammer. It's a beautifully constructed Gothic epic that knocks almost every other vampire novel out for the count." - Christopher Fowler
"The most interesting take on the Dracula story... to date. Recommending this one to all those that love Dracula and historical fiction!" - RexRobotReviews
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It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.
Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.
This brand-new edition of the bestselling novel contains unique bonus material, including a new afterword from Kim Newman, annotations, articles and alternate endings to the original novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Queen Victoria consorts with Count Dracula in this ingenious historical romp peopled by historic characters.
Customer Reviews
Brilliant-- Maybe too brilliant
Anno Dracula is a brilliant mash-up of gaslight era monsters and that time period's best known characters, both fictional and historical. In the novel, Count Dracula was not bested by Van Helsing, and marries the queen, becoming Prince Consort of the kingdom of Great Britain. Characters like Dr. Jeklyl, Dr. Moreau, Oscar Wilde, Mycroft Holmes and the surviving cast of Dracula make their return. The main plot concerns the investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders, only this Jack is killing vampire prostitutes, rather than warm blooded women. It's not really presented as a mystery, as the identity of Jack is revealed early in the story, so I suppose it is more a criminal investigation novel, with some horror and romance thrown into the pot. The writing is wonderful, with some very imaginative metaphors and believable descriptions and dialogue from the era. That is also the main problem with this book. The author is so good at bringing that era to life that she makes it somewhat difficult for a modern day reader to wade through the period slang. I had to refer to a dictionary quite often to find out the meaning of some obscure word from that era, and it disrupted the flow of the story from time to time. I also found the ending to be a little over-the-top. It wasn't bad, but it was a little off compared to the rest of the book. However, I was completely engaged with this book and plan to purchase and read the rest in the series, if they are anywhere near as good as this one.