Anno Dracula: Book 1

With the premise of Count Dracula being married to Queen Victoria, and many other Victorian characters, real and fictional being present, I was expecting Anno Dracula to have some humour about it. Actually, it's not a funny book, and it doesn't need to be, because it's a really entertaining gothic crime mystery. The main story revolves around the pursuit of 'Jack the Ripper', with subplots revolving around relationships between the vampires and the 'warm', set in a period of change as England gets used to accepting vampires into high society, even preferring them, and making everyday decisions over whether to 'change' to get ahead in life - after all, immortality, acute senses and impressive strength can be useful.

The dark setting of Victorian London is brilliantly depicted, as are the really graphic accounts of the murders, and visceral actions of the vampires. All of this gives a wonderful filmic quality, where the vivid imagery is quite horrible, and would be a challenge for the best special effects departments. The cameos from names you recognise serve to add colour, and allow you a rye smile as names like Oscar Wilde, Jekyll and Hyde, Dr Moreau and even Bram Stoker are all given a context. Brilliantly narrated by William Gaminara, who really captured the characterisation of upper class London.

Think you know about Jack the Ripper? Kim Newman in his inimitable way weaves the dark tales of Dracula and London's first serial killer into a strange alternative thread of reality that sees the undead as social superiors, Queen Victoria married to the infamous Count and Fu Manchu in charge of the vicious underbelly of the capital's crime. Exquisite, erotic and enthralling this macabre tale is brilliantly read by William Gaminara and stands out as an unusual, shadowy and occasionally, horrifying gem. Highly recommended and hope to see the sequels added soon!

I read this book many years ago and i must say i enjoyed it even more with William ( silent witness) Gaminara narration.

It's an inventive slant on the Victorian period with many cameos from villians in that era. I so hope someone will make this into a mini series or better yet a film.

I bought this after Professor Moriarty and the Hound of the Durbervilles, which was excellent.
I didnt enjoy this one just as much but it is still very good and well worth the credit.
The way the story is woven in with history and fictional characters from different stories is very skillful and I would recommend this author highly.

Brilliantly put together, Bram Stoker himself could have penned a large portion of this one its that well written and is very gripping in places. William Gaminara brings the characters to life with their different voices. If you love the original Dracula novel you'll love this one, lots of well known characters roped in add interest and background. Well worth the credit, 5 stars.

This is an interesting exploration of how the book Dracula may have continued if Van Helsing's efforts had failed, and the what implications of profligate vampirism might have been on the London of the era.



As in the best traditions of modern takes on the monster genre, the vampire is used effectively to magnify the obsessions, fears and power struggles of Victorian society. Humanity and inhumanity are displayed by vampire and 'warm' alike.



There is plenty of action as well, and the story proceeds at a good pace. The narrative details make sense and work together to give the reader the strong feeling that events are building towards some inevitable confrontation.



Many fictional personae of the era appear or are mentioned, and part of the fun of the book is in spotting them and enjoying Newman's treatment of how these lives might have been affected by this alternate history.



The book is very well read and each character's dialogue distinctive.

This is the fifth audio book I have listened to since joining Audible and the first one I have been disappointed in. Perhaps the mistake I have made is listening first to the original unabridged Dracula read by Greg Wise which I think is the absolute best of all the audio books I've heard so far. This is just a parasitic pastiche and I wish I had listened to the sample first. The narrator does a pretty good job but the text itself lacks context and depth in its sense of place and character development is dropped in favour of a who's who of late Victorian London with a lot of other people's fictional characters fed off for good measure (Dr Jekyll, Sherlock Holmes, etc) I've taken to listening to it in the car in traffic - marginally less boring and as I've paid for it determined to get through it.

Only recently discovered Kim Newman through Audible. Loved this book. Brilliant story with lots of fun references from charachters from others books, like Sherlock Holmes etc.

William Gaminara is the perfect actor and his narration is spot on. A credit really well used.

I can't help feeling slightly tainted how Kim can produce a novel made from other peoples characters, just leaves me with a slight discomfort, especially the Sherlock Holmes references (but that's probably because I'm a bit of a SH fan).

But it was an amusing storyline and I'll probably download the next installment for some light listening over the xmas break.