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A review by kenmooney
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
4.0
As if alternate history wasn't enough, now there's vampires too; Anno Dracula proposes that Dracula wasn't defeated at the end of Bram Stoker's novel, but instead rose through the ranks of the British court, marrying Queen Victoria. On top of this, someone's going around Whitechapel killing wenches. Could that be Jack The Ripper?
Anno Dracula is an enjoyable read, even a romp through the late 19th century, with more than a few nods and winks to other contemporary characters and fictions; you don't need to be familiar with Stoker's text to appreciate the book, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you have.
There's a few things I didn't like: the identity of the ripper is there from the first chapter, leaving us instead with a story that focuses on the characters (and their interactions) and the city of London itself. So why is it that the book's ending feels so flat, like so much of it is cheating us out of an epilogue and closure?
Anno Dracula is an enjoyable read, even a romp through the late 19th century, with more than a few nods and winks to other contemporary characters and fictions; you don't need to be familiar with Stoker's text to appreciate the book, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you have.
There's a few things I didn't like: the identity of the ripper is there from the first chapter, leaving us instead with a story that focuses on the characters (and their interactions) and the city of London itself. So why is it that the book's ending feels so flat, like so much of it is cheating us out of an epilogue and closure?