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A review by wyrmdog
Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman
4.0
The story starts off in Romania and introduces us to the character that headlines the book. His story is almost ethereal in its tragedy of pain and betrayal, but it is also cemented solidly by the presence of a character that has shown up repeatedly in the stories that came before, and it is through him that we set the stage for the entirety of the book, even though for the largest part, that course seems an afterthought until it reveals itself as the primary motivator of everything, all along.
Perhaps the result of being a collection of novellas, the story is a little disjointed and lacks a coherent arc, feeling instead like a sequence of events that rise and fall all on their own, and only together and presented as a novel do they betray any narrative clumsiness.
The stories in and of themselves are largely just as entertaining as Newman's previous outings have been, and include encounters with a Scooby gang with the Punisher (and others) as members and rather condescending takes on both Buffy and Vampirella. I do believe that for every pop culture reference I understood there was at least one I did not. It's dense and smart and almost smug, unapologetic and necessarily so.
The Anno Dracula series has always been a bit of a subversion of popular vampire stories, an excellent and intelligent look at another way vampires might incorporate themselves into the world at large were they to forego keeping themselves a secret, an examination of the world and its history writ large with absurdity and wit. So one must be prepared for those subversions, the skewering of properties and characters that the reader may hold dear. It is more love letter than lampoon.
It feels a bit disappointing that Genevieve must be rescued as often as she is (particularly given her age and one might assume, power), and both she and Kate are largely bit players in the entire arrangement. They remain the heart of the book, though, like planetary bodies continually pulling apart and coming together again in a gravitic dance, Penelope a distantly orbiting dark star.
Far more satisfying than the diversion into the 60s and its compulsively disjointed referents, Johnny Alucard is still plagued with too many easter eggs and script excerpts that do little to enhance the story but if indulged, are entertaining in their own right.
Once again, I four-star a book I spend considerable time picking at. I know I do that and in part it is because I like it so much. Whatever its faults (if they can be said to be such), Johnny Alucard delivers another superb outing that feels as much like a logical extension of the world Newman has set in motion as it does a look back at fragments of the world as seen through a shattered funhouse mirror.
Perhaps the result of being a collection of novellas, the story is a little disjointed and lacks a coherent arc, feeling instead like a sequence of events that rise and fall all on their own, and only together and presented as a novel do they betray any narrative clumsiness.
The stories in and of themselves are largely just as entertaining as Newman's previous outings have been, and include encounters with a Scooby gang with the Punisher (and others) as members and rather condescending takes on both Buffy and Vampirella. I do believe that for every pop culture reference I understood there was at least one I did not. It's dense and smart and almost smug, unapologetic and necessarily so.
The Anno Dracula series has always been a bit of a subversion of popular vampire stories, an excellent and intelligent look at another way vampires might incorporate themselves into the world at large were they to forego keeping themselves a secret, an examination of the world and its history writ large with absurdity and wit. So one must be prepared for those subversions, the skewering of properties and characters that the reader may hold dear. It is more love letter than lampoon.
It feels a bit disappointing that Genevieve must be rescued as often as she is (particularly given her age and one might assume, power), and both she and Kate are largely bit players in the entire arrangement. They remain the heart of the book, though, like planetary bodies continually pulling apart and coming together again in a gravitic dance, Penelope a distantly orbiting dark star.
Far more satisfying than the diversion into the 60s and its compulsively disjointed referents, Johnny Alucard is still plagued with too many easter eggs and script excerpts that do little to enhance the story but if indulged, are entertaining in their own right.
Once again, I four-star a book I spend considerable time picking at. I know I do that and in part it is because I like it so much. Whatever its faults (if they can be said to be such), Johnny Alucard delivers another superb outing that feels as much like a logical extension of the world Newman has set in motion as it does a look back at fragments of the world as seen through a shattered funhouse mirror.