A review by kumipaul
Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula by Bram Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson

2.0

Supposedly an Icelandic translation of Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula. I say "supposedly" because there are significant portions that appear to be the same, or similar. However there are so many differences, mainly in tone and structure (narrative rather than story told in diaries). Small odd changes include a beautiful woman in the Dracula Castle from the Dracula family, a sacrifice of a woman that included Dracula as high priest along with 150 participants, very little involvement of Van Helsing, and no extensive search for the Count. It still had some of the Bram Stoker Dracula excitement, but it felt watered down with less build-up of tension. It was a worthwhile comparison read to Stoker, but it felt much more like literary theft than translation. The introduction and forward were interesting to give the work context, and the extensive footnotes comparing the work with the original were there for anyone who wished to do those detailed comparisons (which I didn't).