Anno Dracula

by Kim Newman

Overview

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781167502
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Series:	Anno Dracula , #1
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	1,053,566
Product dimensions:	4.00(w) x 6.80(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Kim Newman is a well known and respected author and movie critic. He writes regularly for Empire Magazine and contributes to The Guardian, The Times, Time Out and others. He makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. He has won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards and been nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Stephen King assumes we hate vampires; Anne Rice makes it safe to love them, because they hate themselves. Kim Newman suspects that most of us live with them… Anno Dracula is the definitive account of that post-modern species, the self-obsessed undead.” — The New York Times

“Compulsory reading...Glorious” – Neil Gaiman

“A brilliantly witty parallel-world saga… builds sure-footedly to bravura climax which entirely redefines ‘Victorian values’” — Daily Telegraph

“Anno Dracula will leave you breathless... one of the most creative novels of the year.” — Seattle Times

“Politics, horror and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realised novel. Newman's prose is a delight, his attention to detail spellbinding” — Time Out

“ A tour de force which succeeds brilliantly” — The Times

“A marvellous marriage of political satire, melodramatic intrigue, gothic horror and alternative history. Not to be missed. “ — The Independent

'A ripping yarn, an adventure romp of the best blood, and a satisfying… read' – Washington Post Book World

'Powerful... compelling entertainment... a fiendishly clever banquet of dark treats' – San Francisco Chronicle

“The most comprehensive, brilliant, dazzlingly audacious vampire novel to date. ‘Ultimate’ seems an apt description... Anno Dracula is at once playful, horrific, intelligent and revelatory... Newman’s prose will remain gloriously unique.” — Locus

“Anno Dracula couldn’t be more fun if Bram Stoker had scripted it for Hammer. It’s a beautifully constructed Gothic epic that knocks almost every other vampire novel out for the count.”
— Christopher Fowler

“Bloody excellent. Kim Newman has exsanguinated the best of fact and fiction and created a vivid vampirous Victorian world uniquely his own.  This clever, delicious extravaganza – Hammer Horror meets True (Blue) Blood – is just the tonic for the year of a Royal Wedding.” — Stephen Volk

“Anno Dracula is the smart, hip Year Zero of the vampire genre’s ongoing revolution.” — Paul McAuley

Editorial Reviews

Stephen King assumes we hate vampires; Anne Rice makes it safe to love them, because they hate themselves. Kim Newman suspects that most of us live with them… Anno Dracula is the definitive account of that post-modern species, the self-obsessed undead.” — The New York Times

“Compulsory reading...Glorious” – Neil Gaiman

“A brilliantly witty parallel-world saga… builds sure-footedly to bravura climax which entirely redefines ‘Victorian values’” — Daily Telegraph

“Anno Dracula will leave you breathless... one of the most creative novels of the year.” — Seattle Times

“Politics, horror and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realised novel. Newman's prose is a delight, his attention to detail spellbinding” — Time Out

“ A tour de force which succeeds brilliantly” — The Times

“A marvellous marriage of political satire, melodramatic intrigue, gothic horror and alternative history. Not to be missed. “ — The Independent

'A ripping yarn, an adventure romp of the best blood, and a satisfying… read' – Washington Post Book World

'Powerful... compelling entertainment... a fiendishly clever banquet of dark treats' – San Francisco Chronicle

“The most comprehensive, brilliant, dazzlingly audacious vampire novel to date. ‘Ultimate’ seems an apt description... Anno Dracula is at once playful, horrific, intelligent and revelatory... Newman’s prose will remain gloriously unique.” — Locus

“Anno Dracula couldn’t be more fun if Bram Stoker had scripted it for Hammer. It’s a beautifully constructed Gothic epic that knocks almost every other vampire novel out for the count.”
— Christopher Fowler

“Bloody excellent. Kim Newman has exsanguinated the best of fact and fiction and created a vivid vampirous Victorian world uniquely his own.  This clever, delicious extravaganza – Hammer Horror meets True (Blue) Blood – is just the tonic for the year of a Royal Wedding.” — Stephen Volk

“Anno Dracula is the smart, hip Year Zero of the vampire genre’s ongoing revolution.” — Paul McAuley

From the Publisher

Queen Victoria consorts with Count Dracula in this ingenious historical romp peopled by historic characters. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Sharp on the heels of the critical acclaim for "Jago", Newman turns in yet another masterwork of subtle, surrealistic horror by capitalizing on a brilliant premise: What if the infamous Count Dracula not only escaped fatal impalement but won the heart of Queen Victoria and spread his dark disciples throughout the general population of England? While including a few of the principals from Stoker's original Dracula, such as Godalming (now a vampire) and Dr. Seward, Newman chooses to keep the Lord of the Un-dead securely in the background. Instead, his plot focuses on an investigation of the slaughter and dissection of several un-dead prostitutes as seen through the eyes of Genevieve, a veteran, aristocratic vampiress, and Beauregard, a mortal member of a secret political club. Following their respective trails, Newman navigates a vividly conceived territory of real and imaginary Victorian England in which the likes of Dr. Jekyll, Sherlock Holmes, Oscar Wilde, and even Bram Stoker rub elbows. A delightful, thoroughly entertaining addition to the literature of vampires.

Carl Hays

Newman goes over the top in every novel (Night Mayor, Bad Dreams, Jago), each featuring a monstrous overlord of horror unlikely to be dethroned—but this time he leaps to new heights, drawing the Dracula novel that sets a benchmark for vampire fiction. Warning: the blood, well, you can't say it's overdone, for a vampire novel, but two qualities distinguish Newman's story: the immense physiological detail shoring up the reality of the undead, and the gathering sense of the author's enjoyment in what he does here—among other things, his sheer love of chockablock Victorian detail. The plot: Vlad Tepes, or Dracula, did not die as in Bram Stoker but rather survived and, political genius, rose to marry Queen Victoria in 1885 and become her consort. Dracula rules England, with Victoria doglike in a leash at his feet. What's more, it's now fashionable to be a vampire, especially among the nobility, while among the lower orders the change from "warm" to the immortal undead can be bought from any corner whore for the price of a shot of gin or draft of pig's blood at the pub. Jack the Ripper, however, hates undead whores and knows that destroying any vital organ can kill them. Who is Jack? None other that Stoker's Dr. John (Jack) Seward, who helped drive a stake into Lucy Westenra, Stoker's heroine. Jack's gone round the bend, living among a people who look upon vampirism as, well, pretty nice. The police assign Genevieve Dieuxdonne, a vampire detective, herself a half-century older than Dracula, to chase down Jack, assisted by Charles Beauregard, handsome henchman of Conan Doyle's The Diogenes Club, England's Star Chamber. Also on hand: Mycroft Holmes, Dr. Jekyll, anddozens of famed Victorians from literature and real life, all mingling in a fogbound milieu that rubs like cat fur on the reader's imagination. A bloody delight.

Kirkus Reviews

Gothic horror and alternative history combine just as successfully in Newman's classic take on vampires. Never again will the sun rise on the British Empire once Queen Victoria marries Count Dracula. Meanwhile, Jack the Ripper carves up vampire prostitutes. First published in 1992, Anno Dracula, with its cameos by literary luminaries and fictional characters alike, including Oscar Wilde, Dr. Jekyll, and Sherlock Holmes, paved the way for countless such mash-ups. VERDICT History and horror are balanced perfectly in this original take on the vampire canon; it will appeal not only to the bloodthirsty but to the bookish as well.

Library Journal