Fun combo of history with famous fiction

The author did a great job combining historical figures with the prominent characters from Bram Stoker's Dracula (including Stoker himself). If the reader is not very familiar with the story of Dracula or such personages as Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Jack the Ripper, the book may be less enjoyable.

The narrator was perfection. Don't be put off by the accented narrator in the clip that Audible offers - that's only the short preface.

My only complaint was the ending, which seemed to come suddenly, as if the author was tired of the whole thing. Given the excitement of the denoument, which got all my attention, there were more interesting stories to come. And then it was over.

14 people found this helpful

Interesting premise, failed execution

The premise of this book contained a lot of promise, but there is no real development of the story. Everything just sort of happens, without any real development or, quite frankly, point to it. The constant "name dropping" of the author, inserting both real and fictional characters was over the top. In addition the justification for the changes to a Victorian society and the setting required to even try to make this story work fails to be believable. There are a large number of potential plot lines that begin and then either fade out or are terminated without culminating into anything. The end result is that I have the feeling the author was trying too hard to create something brilliant and never really settled on what, exactly, he was trying to do. Even the central plot of solving the "Jack the Ripper" murders really becomes secondary and fails to really develop into anything overly central to the story. To illustrate this, the characters "solve" the ripper murders and the book goes on for another 40-50 minutes.

The narrator is good and does his best with the material so I'd be willing to listen to other books that he reads, but I'm definitely not going to pursue the sequel to this book, or likely anything else Kim Newman does.

8 people found this helpful

Brillant!

I purchased this awhile ago and just got around to listening to it. Now, I am kicking myself for waiting so long. This book is not only a brilliant reinvention of the Dracula world but also an insightful reinvention of the Jack the Ripper story. Kim Newman uses language to its ultimate potential to create a rich Victorian environment. Each character has a fullness and depth that adds to the quality of the story without losing its energy flow. The narration is also wonderful. There are quite a few characters in this story, but William Gaminara is able to give them all unique voices. This is a must-read for paranormal fans.

8 people found this helpful

Great Potential, Confusing Execution

Any additional comments?

I liked this book, but I'm giving it three stars. Why? Because, while the story was compelling and filled with references to Victorian literature and history reshaped by Dracula, I found it hard to follow. There are just way too many characters to keep track of. I listened to this on my iPhone, so perhaps it's easier to keep straight if you are actually reading the book, but I found myself going back several times trying to figure out which character's POV we were in and who belonged to what name (one character confusingly has two names he swaps back and forth - even in his own thoughts). I don't think it helps that the whole thing is written with a 3rd person omniscient narrator. I would also add that the story starts off kind of slowly. I found my thoughts drifting off frequently for the first hour or so of listening. Again, this may not be a problem if you are actually reading. In conclusion, I will definitely be giving the second installment of the Anno Dracula series a listen. I think the idea has a ton of potential and am hoping it will be seen through in book two.

2 people found this helpful

I tried

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I love the premise of the book, but just couldn't manage to make my way through it. The performance was fine, but gave up after repeated attempts.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Would you be willing to try another one of William Gaminara’s performances?

Yes.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

A terrific premise. I'm still curious about other works by Kim Newman.

2 people found this helpful

Great idea for a book, but poorly developed plot

Great idea for a book, but unfortunately a poorly developed plot. Too much time spent with conflicting female characters. Could have developed better the "parallel history" juxtaposed with great fictional characters. Not sure I'll follow the next books.

1 person found this helpful

very well done

Any additional comments?

I thought Anno would be a nice diversion, but I found myself very enthralled by it. I wasn't expecting the combination of alternate history, vampire lore allusiveness, Jack the Ripper, and Victorian manners. If you have a knowledge of vampire lit you will pick up on the many allusions to famous stories. Sherlockiana, ditto. Ripperology, ditto. Victorian lit, ditto. Famous literary characters, historical figures blend and move together. Very entertaining.

7 people found this helpful

A triumph!

Kim Newman, with seeming ease, manages the impossible. He brings together the literary heroes of classic vampire stories, the heroes of what I assume, is his childhood. That kind of pretence could have easily turned out into a mere exercise. An over the top, rather academic (considering Newman's occupation as a historian of book and film) exercise.

Yet it is not. Far from it. It is an unquestionable success. A tour de force of storytelling - fascinating, clever, sharp. The literary references are not just geeky Easter eggs (although, they probably are). They help bring the story to life and build this beautiful world to life. A world of cobble and fog, which Dracula, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Jekyll and Queen Victoria inhabit all at once. A world we all feel easily familiar with. A world brought to life by Kim Newman.

William Gaminara is absolutely perfect for this material (and, I assume, in general). Both his voice qualities and his masterful, versatile yet understated acting skills fit the material like a glove. Or, rather, like a fang fits a young, sensual neck.

Great book. Awesome concepts

Liked this story a lot. I will get to the rest of the series as soon as I can manage it. Great concepts and nicely drawn characters. Talented voice artist!

Deeper and darker than you might expect

Although dragging a bit in places, this seems like an interesting new series. It's not the tongue in cheek horror-comedy I was expecting, but it's entertaining. Think of it more as an alternate history of Dracula.