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153 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.63 AVERAGE
153 reviews for:
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula
Bram Stoker, John Edgar Browning, Dacre Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Meticulously researched. This was three stars *for me* because about halfway through I realized that my world doesn't need an alternate edition of Dracula. This isn't a flaw with the actual book - it's just that my actual reading experience needs no more.
Supposedly an Icelandic translation of Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula. I say "supposedly" because there are significant portions that appear to be the same, or similar. However there are so many differences, mainly in tone and structure (narrative rather than story told in diaries). Small odd changes include a beautiful woman in the Dracula Castle from the Dracula family, a sacrifice of a woman that included Dracula as high priest along with 150 participants, very little involvement of Van Helsing, and no extensive search for the Count. It still had some of the Bram Stoker Dracula excitement, but it felt watered down with less build-up of tension. It was a worthwhile comparison read to Stoker, but it felt much more like literary theft than translation. The introduction and forward were interesting to give the work context, and the extensive footnotes comparing the work with the original were there for anyone who wished to do those detailed comparisons (which I didn't).
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While the tone of the story is more compelling than the original Dracula, in my opinion, it's still overall quite dull. It is written mainly as a series of events without a lot of focus on the emotion impact upon the characters, which is something I enjoy. I like to feel things along with the characters. So while it wasn't terrible and incredibly mindnumbing, it wasn't something to write home about either.
A rollercoaster of a book: highs and lows and WTFs.
I think reviewer Sean Chick sums this book up very well: "This is the Lusitania of novels. It is fast and lovely but when the end comes it is quick and terrible."
Great book for book club. There was so much to discuss and speculate about.
I think reviewer Sean Chick sums this book up very well: "This is the Lusitania of novels. It is fast and lovely but when the end comes it is quick and terrible."
Great book for book club. There was so much to discuss and speculate about.
If the OG Dracula is 5 stars from me this would’ve been 6 if the last half of this book had been properly completed and not just a brief and quick ending. Lacking the zeal of the first part of this book. I loved this. And I’m devastated that the ending is lacking so completely because this is just a sexy sordid version of Dracula. And whether or not Stoker intentionally released this racier version or if it’s a embellishment of the translator I loved it. But I can’t in good conscience give it 5 stars because it’s virtually unfinished. I do recommend, if you’re a lover of Stoker’s Dracula this is a must read even just as a comparison study!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3-1/2 stars. An interesting, slightly alternative version of Dracula written by an Icelander who was Stoker's contemporary. Apparently for over a hundred years this was thought to simply be a translation, and is very similar in all main points, but deviates in a number of ways.