Take a photo of a barcode or cover
147 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.62 AVERAGE
147 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.62 AVERAGE
This is a tough one to rate because the first part of it (which is over 80% of the book) is SO GOOD! and then the style changes completely and becomes a rushed summary of dracula with a few things changed. the book began with multiple prefaces talking about the theories surrounding this translation and how much of it was written by stoker vs valdimar ásmundsson, and i think that the first part was a straight translation of an earlier draft by stoker, and the second part was ásmundsson summarizing the rest because he got bored of translating it in his newspaper. i obviously can’t say anything for certain and i’m not a stoker scholar or anything, but the drop in quality is REALLY noticeable and kind of comical. I wish this book ended with the end of part one, even though it would imply Thomas died, because it would just make a much better book.
Not only a translation of the Icelandic publication which is significantly different from the English story. Also a fascinating insight into how Bram Stoker wrote and published Dracula, and his notes/stories that he edited into the published novel.
I've been wanting to read this for a few years and was sincerely hoping that Asmundsson had just heard the story of Dracula and completely winged it in making up something new, but, by the end, I was fairly well convinced of the theory that he had somehow gotten ahold of an early draft. Reading this was really really neat.
A good suspensful read but the last third was so incredibly rushed compared to the pacing until then, that I got whiplash.
I loved how the first part was reworked. The time with Jonathan in the Castle was a huge improvement from an already masterwork of gothic horror. It fleshed out Jonathan's mental state, and made an isolation mansion horror. The feeling of being trapped inside a massive castle was real.
Where this falters for me is the second half when Dracula comes to England. It feels rushed, messy, and very scattered. This is especially true when you factor in how well flushed out the first part of the book was. It felt like a mad dash to the finish line instead of flushing the rest of the party out.
I really think this whole project would have worked better if they started with Wilma's account of missing Jonathan, trying to search him out, and Lucia's experience with the Count. Retracing the steps of Jonathan, and finding him and his journal, after Lucia's experiences would have made for a great mystery horror. Upon reading Jonathan's journal, we would now have context for what's happening, and add more horror to everyone's experience. Then it's a race to get back to England and stopping Dracula's grand plan.
But that's just me. I still loved this re-imagining of the classic work.
Where this falters for me is the second half when Dracula comes to England. It feels rushed, messy, and very scattered. This is especially true when you factor in how well flushed out the first part of the book was. It felt like a mad dash to the finish line instead of flushing the rest of the party out.
I really think this whole project would have worked better if they started with Wilma's account of missing Jonathan, trying to search him out, and Lucia's experience with the Count. Retracing the steps of Jonathan, and finding him and his journal, after Lucia's experiences would have made for a great mystery horror. Upon reading Jonathan's journal, we would now have context for what's happening, and add more horror to everyone's experience. Then it's a race to get back to England and stopping Dracula's grand plan.
But that's just me. I still loved this re-imagining of the classic work.
Interesting start that definitely fades by the end.
Really cool to read! I liked the footnotes that provided historical/cultural context and excerpts from the traditional version of Dracula.
The actual story itself was pretty good, though the ending is very condensed. It focuses more on Harker's time in the castle than Dracula actually doing much vampire-y stuff. I thought the scene in the tomb (with the large gathering of people) was interesting.
The actual story itself was pretty good, though the ending is very condensed. It focuses more on Harker's time in the castle than Dracula actually doing much vampire-y stuff. I thought the scene in the tomb (with the large gathering of people) was interesting.
As soon as I found out about this not-a-translation of Dracula I knew I had to read it. At the time, I hadn't yet read Dracula so I went and read that and then read this immediately afterwards. And you know what, I'm just going to say it - I think that this is better. That does come with the caveat that as soon as Jonathon Harker leaves Castle Dracula it's obvious that he got bored and the remaining 130,000 words were cut down to only 9,100. But, honestly, I think that the section in the castle is absolutely the best part of the book anyway (as I wrote in my review of Dracula), so he absolutely had it right where the emphasis should be. Dracula is a much better villain in the version - his motivations are clearly fleshed out; he's a Social Darwinist that believes that he & his bloodline are fundamentally superior and should take over the rest of Europe. He feels much more genuinely evil, which is also highlighted through the virgin sacrifice that takes place in the basement. This is actually the kind of stuff that I can see the Edwardians finding too frightening. There's also a bit where Jonathon opens a mysterious trap door and just sees a chute absolutely full of human bones it's really excellent. Even after Jonathon leaves, while obviously it's massively condensed and also somehow has an even more anti-climactic ending than the original Dracula, I really liked some of the different plot elements. Valdimar adds in this theory about souls getting tied to bodies and then acting out their "true natures" which is cool, and it means that Lucy (or Lucia in this) doesn't actually become a vampire but is still undead and her love for Arthur calls out from beyond the grave and is making him ill. It's cool! There's also much more of an understanding, again, of Dracula's plans once he's in London - he's good friends with a lot of people in various positions of power that you see at a dinner party. I also liked the bit where Dr Seward goes mad but maybe that's just because I hate him and I hope he gets a taste of his won medicine. Valdimar also adds in much more romance & sexuality which make the plot more interesting too. For anyone who's a fan of Dracula I would absolutely recommend this, and honestly if you're not it's a good option to read instead because you get most of the plot and it's way shorter and better written.
A WILD ride, terrible pacing, should probably only be ready aloud at parties.
This was a wonderful vampire story. I actually prefer it to the original Dracula story. Well written and a fantastic adventure.