From /tmp/sf.4258 Tue Feb 1 02:46:23 1994 Xref: liuida rec.arts.sf.reviews:442 rec.arts.books:71860 alt.books.reviews:1837 alt.history.what-if:2976 alt.fan.holmes:1622 Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: Evelyn.Chimelis.Leeper@att.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books,alt.books.reviews,alt.history.what-if,alt.fan.holmes Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: ANNO-DRACULA by Kim Newman Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <9312121134.ZM5139@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com> Date: 12 Dec 93 23:27:11 GMT Lines: 45 ANNO-DRACULA by Kim Newman Carroll & Graf, ISBN 0-88184-967-7, 1993, US$21. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1993 Evelyn C. Leeper What if Van Helsing had not been successful and Dracula had survived and gone on to marry Queen Victoria? Okay, it sounded like an unlikely premise, but let's face it: those readers who can't accept the premise aren't going to read the book in the first place. Newman has postulated a London split into two factions: the undead and the "warm." Gradually the undead--now living openly--are taking over society. Those who speak or act against them are sent to concentration camps or impaled upon stakes. Sherlock Holmes, for example, has been incarcerated in Devil's Dyke on Sussex Downs. (I should warn Holmes fans who hear of this book that while Lestrade is a genuine character in the action, Holmes is merely mentioned a couple of times. And, no, he is *not* "the vampire Lestrade," as one wit asked me.) In addition to Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, we also have Dr. Moreau and Dr. Jekyll, as well as Jack the Ripper and a plethora of vampires, both historical and fictional. All these well-known characters tend to get in the way of the story at times, which is actually quite engrossing without the "spot-the- reference" game. (The Jack the Ripper subplot is critical to the book, however.) I initially picked this up because it was both an alternate history and a Sherlock Holmes novel, but its strengths lie in neither of those areas, but in its craftsmanship as a vampire novel in the spirit of Bram Stoker's DRACULA, as well as John Polidori's VAMPYRE and James Malcolm Rymer's VARNEY THE VAMPIRE. Its closest resemblance to a Sherlock Holmes story is in its capturing the feel of Victorian London, albeit a somewhat transformed Victorian London. If you find this description at all intriguing, I recommend you seek out ANNO-DRACULA. %T Anno-Dracula %A Kim Newman %C New York %D 1993 %I Carroll & Graf %O hardback, US$21 [1992] %G ISBN 0-88184-967-7 %P 359pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | ecl@mtgpfs1.att.com / Evelyn.Leeper@att.com From new Thu Jun 16 18:57:02 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Newman: Anno-Dracula Message-ID: Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 2 May 1994 17:46:21 GMT Lines: 52 Kim Newman's "Anno-Dracula" is alternate fantasy-history fantasy: In Newman's world, Van Helsing and company botched their efforts against Dracula. Now (1888) Dracula is the Prince Consort, having persuaded Queen Victoria to accept youth and immortality (by becoming a vampire) and his hand in marriage. Vampirism has become respectable in England. Indeed, as more and more vampires take over key positions, vampirism becomes the key to advancement, and more and more of the living seek it out. This brings an attendent set of problems. The living are becoming increasingly restive as their freedoms, livelihoods, and circulatory systems come under attack. The newly undead aren't doing much better: The life of the new vampire tends to be squalid and unsafe. A wealthy and cautious vampire may ease into his new life, for instance, but a gin-soaked prostitute with a poor life-expectancy, upon turning into a vampire, becomes a gin-soaked undead prostitute with a poor life-expectancy. Then the Ripper begins to strike, surgically murdering vampire call-girls. The murders start out as a matter for the police, but as they continue, they catalyze the growing vampire/living tensions, provoking everything from rioting in the streets to armed insurrection. Among those brought into the case are two unofficial participants. Genevieve Diedonne has been a vampire longer than Dracula, and is currently doing charity work in Whitechapel. Charles Beauregard is an agent of the Diogenes Club, a semi-secret society that looks out for what it considers to be Britain's best interests. They are the main viewpoint characters through whom we see England in the throes of its change and growing unrest. This view of an altered England is the 'point' of the book, more than the subplot of catching one serial killer. It's an enjoyable book, with enough story to keep the pages turning, and enough vision to make the turning worth-while. What I found weakest about the book (given its unlikely premises, including Dracula's ability to use his position as Prince Consort to radically change England so quicly) was Newman's insistance on including *everone*, historical or fictitious. Among his vampires, for instance, are Lestrade, Rupert of Hentzau, Varney the Vampire, and Oscar Wilde. Mycroft Holmes, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau, and George Bernard Shaw are still living. This sort of thing clearly afforded Newman a good deal of amusement, but it gets tiresome after a while. If this is the sort of book you like, buy it in paperback. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com Who didn't melt down, but whose computer did. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Nov 30 16:48:05 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed.tip.net!peroni.ita.tip.net!t500.vol.it!news.sprintlink.net!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken.llnl.gov!simtel!news.kei.com!uhog.mit.edu!news!nobody From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Subject: FAMOUS MONSTERS by Kim Newman Message-ID: <9511211248.ZM13711@mtgppc04> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Keywords: author= Evelyn C Leeper Sender: news@media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 23:07:05 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 44 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:870 rec.arts.books.reviews:1047 FAMOUS MONSTERS by Kim Newman Pocket Books, ISBN 0-671-85300-7, 1995, 448pp, L4.99 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper This collection of fifteen horror stories isn't available in the United States yet, but I assume it will be soon, because it's so much *about* the United States, and in particular, about Hollywood. Whether he's writing about Lovecraft Great Old Ones surfacing off the southern California coast, or what might have happened to history if Fatty Arbuckle hadn't made it to that party with Virginia Rappe, or what became of Charles Foster Kane's Xanadu, Newman is focused on Hollywood. Even the few non-Hollywood stories are about Hollywood in a way, with one about Superman and one about another, more offbeat, superhero. Not all the stories are compelling. In particular, while "Where the Bodies Are Buried" had some interest, "Where the Bodies Are Buried II: Sequel Hook" seemed to fulfill the promise, or rather the curse, of sequels. And "The Pale Spirit People" may have had some promise, but somehow all I could picture it when reading it was that it seemed perfect for being made into a boring movie with the second-stringers from "Saturday Night Live." Now that's real horror. Still, the majority of stories here are fresh and involving, and I would recommend this. (I do hope that some American publisher will pick this volume up, especially since I think only "Ubermensch" has appeared over here, but I fear it unlikely. Newman is too British for Arkham House, and too little known for Bantam. I suppose the one hope is that Tor picks it up for either its horror or its Orb line.) %B Famous Monsters %A Kim Newman %C London %D 1995 %I Pocket Books %O paperback, L4.99 %G ISBN 0-671-85300-7 %P 448pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "Why are women reading romances presumed to be any more idiotic than men watching football?" --Beth Kolko From rec.arts.sf.written Mon Feb 5 00:05:18 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!fizban.solace.mh.se!nntp.uio.no!news.kth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!boulder!ucsub.Colorado.EDU!brock From: rickk@flash.scruz.net (Rick Kleffel) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Review of The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman (SF/horror) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 31 Jan 1996 16:02:50 GMT Organization: University of Colorado at Boulder Lines: 71 Approved: brock@colorado.edu Message-ID: <4eo3ra$g2p@peabody.colorado.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsub.colorado.edu Originator: brock@ucsub.Colorado.EDU Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.books.reviews:1257 rec.arts.sf.written:131199 The Bloody Red Baron Kim Newman ISBN 0-7867-0252-4 Carroll & Graf $21.00; hard cover; 358 pages by Rick Kleffel, copyright 1996 Despite its premise that vampires came out into the open when Dracula invaded England in the late 1880's, Kim Newman's 'Anno Dracula' was more of an 'alternate history' than a 'vampire novel'. This is even more true of 'The Bloody Red Baron', a sequel set in the same world nearly 30 years later, in 1918. On the other hand, this is certainly an alternate history with teeth, and enough of the red to more than live up to its title. As an alternate history, it's filled to the brim with a mixture of fictional and real characters. Every scene is embroidered with recognizable names, and as the novel begins, it seems at times distracting. But, as in 'Anno Dracula', Newman manages to invest his main fictional and real characters with enough verve and artistry to bring them alive beyond the printed page, to make them real beyond the myriad associations they hold for the reader. And his plot-driven wonders go far beyond the thrill of seeing familiar personalities in ironic situations. Newman's strife- filled alternate Europe is remarkably reminiscent of today's map of despair, and his quick tour of Bosnia and Serbia is especially chilling. Newman's protagonists in this novel are Edwin Winthrop, a 'warm' (living) young intelligence agent drawn to become a vampire but unwilling to go the length, Kate Reed, a radical journalist who became a vampire 30 years ago and helped send Dracula packing out of England, and Edgar Poe, hired by Dracula to write the glorious biography of Baron Manfred Von Richtoven. While Winthrop and Reed risk their lives to find out exactly what the Bloody Red Baron's secret is, Poe is ushered into the heart of Dracula's obscene experiment, whining continuously and entertainingly about his state. Throughout the novel, whether he's describing a battle between World War I vintage aircraft, or recounting the sad, sordid history of Mata Hari, Newman's historical research rings resoundingly true. He seamlessly interlaces fictional characters into realistic settings, and in doing so, creates some incredibly horrific scenes. Edwin finds Doctor Moreau with his friend and student, Doctor Herbert West, operating on wounded vampires in a subterranean emergency ward just behind the front lines. Newman is certainly not one to let his history lessons get in the way of splatterpunk-style scenes of horror. But more importantly, he's not one to let either his familiarly with history or his flair for the grotesque get in the way of his story or his characters. Dracula's experiment with the Red Baron is truly majestic, but it is Edgar Poe's perceptions and personality that carry the narrative. And, while Edwin's sleuthing unearths the monstrous and the profane, it is his struggle to overcome the monster within himself that grips the reader and keeps the pages turning. Surprisingly, Newman is even able to finish his story in a relatively modest amount of space, no mean feat in this day of seemingly endless novels and series. 'The Bloody Red Baron' is best read after Newman's earlier 'Anno Dracula', but thankfully doesn't end on a cliffhanger for the next novel set in Newman's fabricated universe. It's self contained and satisfying, the perfect way to slake any reader's red thirst. %T The Bloody Red Baron %A Kim Newman %G ISBN 0-7867-0252-4 %I Carroll & Graf %P358 pages %O $21.00; hard cover -- Rick Kleffel*System Administrator*E-Mu Systems*rickk@emu.com* *Not representing E-Mu*Representing myself only*