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A review by dantalion_xi
Dracula the Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker
4.0
Just like many other Dracula-fans, I really wanted to like this book.
And...somehow, I did it.
I was higly confident that it would not be THE sequel I wanted.
But I thought it could surprise me, and it did, somehow.
There's a long theory about Dracula being not that evil, the peak of which I found in an essay written by Alessandro Baricco at the end of an italian tranlsation of the book - yet, this theory being 'confirmed' and re-written by a direct descendant of Stoker somewhat thrilled me.
Of course, a 4 star rating instead of 5 has some reasons behind.
There are many things Dacre and Ian could have done better.
We have:
-too many character
-too intrigued plot
-an un-necessary obsession with making it real, which gave the opposite effect.
I could bear Bram Stoker being one of the characters thanks to Seward's revelations, but Jack the Ripper was really excessive.
Dacre should have focused less on research and more on narration and on the background-feeling the story had to have.
Too many elements are barely mentioned, just to disappear on the next page.
The best ideas he got writing the book were basically:
1)making Dracula a violent but good Crusader, whose purpose in the ''first'' novel was to defeat another, truly evil enemy - though Dacre hasn't been able to melt agreably this concept with the 'prince of darkness'' one
2)having Quincey (whom Harker himself hoped to bear some of Morris' heroic spirit)as new, dynamic main character
3)making us dream of a different conception, a different ending...
But sadly, though I personally enjoyed the book, I understand this is all it has to offer.
Dacre and Ian should have written two or three books, giving the story more time, more pages; as it is, it includes a great bunch of ideas which have been too much compressed - and this is particularly evident where Dracula himself appears as a character.
They could have written the sequel we may have felt as official...but they haven't been able. (At this point, Jeanne Kalogridis represents a better alternative)
I hope you may enjoy it, though, as a stand alone novel, and I recommend it anyway to Dracula's fans.
And...somehow, I did it.
I was higly confident that it would not be THE sequel I wanted.
But I thought it could surprise me, and it did, somehow.
There's a long theory about Dracula being not that evil, the peak of which I found in an essay written by Alessandro Baricco at the end of an italian tranlsation of the book - yet, this theory being 'confirmed' and re-written by a direct descendant of Stoker somewhat thrilled me.
Of course, a 4 star rating instead of 5 has some reasons behind.
There are many things Dacre and Ian could have done better.
We have:
-too many character
-too intrigued plot
-an un-necessary obsession with making it real, which gave the opposite effect.
I could bear Bram Stoker being one of the characters thanks to Seward's revelations, but Jack the Ripper was really excessive.
Dacre should have focused less on research and more on narration and on the background-feeling the story had to have.
Too many elements are barely mentioned, just to disappear on the next page.
The best ideas he got writing the book were basically:
1)making Dracula a violent but good Crusader, whose purpose in the ''first'' novel was to defeat another, truly evil enemy - though Dacre hasn't been able to melt agreably this concept with the 'prince of darkness'' one
2)having Quincey (whom Harker himself hoped to bear some of Morris' heroic spirit)as new, dynamic main character
3)making us dream of a different conception, a different ending...
But sadly, though I personally enjoyed the book, I understand this is all it has to offer.
Dacre and Ian should have written two or three books, giving the story more time, more pages; as it is, it includes a great bunch of ideas which have been too much compressed - and this is particularly evident where Dracula himself appears as a character.
They could have written the sequel we may have felt as official...but they haven't been able. (At this point, Jeanne Kalogridis represents a better alternative)
I hope you may enjoy it, though, as a stand alone novel, and I recommend it anyway to Dracula's fans.