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A review by dantastic
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
5.0
It's 1888, Dracula hooked up with Queen Victoria, London is crawling with vampires, and a killer called the Silver Knife is preying on vampire prostitutes...
People have been recommending this for years. I should have caved in 20 years ago because this is right in my wheelhouse.
The closest thing I can liken this to is League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, although this is prose and not in comic form, although it would make a kick ass comic. Kim Newman weaves in all sorts of references to Victorian characters, both real and imagined, in Charles Beauregard's quest to find the Silver Knife killer that is soon dubbed Jack the Ripper.
Anno Dracula supposes that Bram Stoker was in cahoots with Van Helsing and company and Dracula did not in fact die at the end of Dracula and instead married Queen Victoria. It makes 1880s London seem pretty bleak with starving vampires and whatnot lurking in the alleys. The setting is inventive enough but the two strong leads, Beauregard and Genevieve, elevate this above most genre fiction. Newman creates a rich culture of humans and vampires coexisting in a world quickly going down the crapper and Beauregard and Genevieve are two beacons in the dark.
I don't really want to reveal anything else for fear of spoilage. I haven't been this wrapped up in a book in ages and I was disappointed to find out the last 20% was annotations, which I skipped since I plan on rereading this every few years. Easy five out of five stars.
People have been recommending this for years. I should have caved in 20 years ago because this is right in my wheelhouse.
The closest thing I can liken this to is League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, although this is prose and not in comic form, although it would make a kick ass comic. Kim Newman weaves in all sorts of references to Victorian characters, both real and imagined, in Charles Beauregard's quest to find the Silver Knife killer that is soon dubbed Jack the Ripper.
Anno Dracula supposes that Bram Stoker was in cahoots with Van Helsing and company and Dracula did not in fact die at the end of Dracula and instead married Queen Victoria. It makes 1880s London seem pretty bleak with starving vampires and whatnot lurking in the alleys. The setting is inventive enough but the two strong leads, Beauregard and Genevieve, elevate this above most genre fiction. Newman creates a rich culture of humans and vampires coexisting in a world quickly going down the crapper and Beauregard and Genevieve are two beacons in the dark.
I don't really want to reveal anything else for fear of spoilage. I haven't been this wrapped up in a book in ages and I was disappointed to find out the last 20% was annotations, which I skipped since I plan on rereading this every few years. Easy five out of five stars.