Reviews

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

the_cragis's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

fjsteele's review

4.0

Lots of fun.

lukeb314's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'It is 1888 and Victoria has remarried the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Dracula...' what a concept - a Dracula alternative-history story full of other wellknown characters of the time. I enjoyed it a lot but would have liked a little more substance in either the main characters' personal drama or the political landscape.

jennyreadsalot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

This is good but not great. I think if I had read this 10 or 12 years ago when I was balls deep in my Victorian/steampunk era I would have thought this book was incredible. There’s references to pretty much every major literary figure and many of them are truly alive and kicking (or killing as the case maybe). It’s campy and atmospheric and well written. 

For the reader I am today however I found it teetered into overly silly a few times and felt a little too stuffed with characters and historical figures of that time. I did enjoy it and I think if you like gothic Victorian era story with vampires and Jack the Ripper and maybe a hint of tongue in cheek moments then this is the book for you

mrblonde91's review

5.0

Surprised me that it was able to stand on its own two feet while playing upon such a classic.

thejadedreader's review against another edition

4.0

A fascinating little spin on the Dracula mythos. Anno Dracula gives us a 'what if' on Bram Stoker's original novel, posing the question of what would have happened had Van Helsing and company failed.

All in all, the novel is a pretty gripping crime mystery that brings in players from both fiction and reality. It's incredibly politically driven and the inner conflicts of each character is enough to keep you coming back for more.

What I couldn't fathom however is how bloody long it took some very inquisitive people, (and vampires), to solve a rather simple mystery. Were it to be any more obvious, it might as well have been written in blood.

Still though, a very excellent read.

gaulien's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

joanna_m's review against another edition

5.0

In equal parts thrilling and intelligent, laden with literary, cinematic and historical references. A hefty tome, it manages to gallop along and hardly a page is boring or unimportant.

subbasegirl's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to love this book. Incorporating all of the characters from other Victorian Era/themed novels was genius. But about halfway through this book I realized there was no plot and I couldn't distinguish any of the characters from each other. Ultimately this was just disappointing.

bbabyok's review

4.0

This book has everything in it that I love and I definitely enjoyed it. Strangely I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I am however looking forward to reading all of the others in this series.