Anno Dracula

[indiana_j]

Anno Dracula is enjoyable so far but seems far too pleased with itself.  After all, Newman did manage to fit in 90+ fictional characters from something like 70+ sources (ranging from Dracula to Salem's Lot), plus 30+ historical figures, on top of any original characters.  It just seems a little bit too much, too full of itself and far too pleased with its own cleverness.

Overall, it does detract from the novel - every time I see a name, I pause to see what book / story they're from or if they're a historical figure or original.  And it seems that there's a shit ton of names popping up every few pages!

When it gets away from that, it's fun and I'll probably get the others (in eBook format this time; I could knock someone unconscious with this physical copy) but, damn, is it really necessary to stuff that much 'cleverness' into one book?

Comments

[calliopes_pen]

You'll be getting even more of that in the sequels, too. I'm currently on the third novel, and in this particular section alone I've spotted people from James Bond, The Addams Family--where they sat down for a brief chat with Morticia and Gomez in a group of other vampires--Bride of Frankenstein (an ancient Dr. Pretorious), and The Re-Animator.

I keep checking Wikipedia, to make sure I've got all the nudging references.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

I really appreciate the occasional name drop and I do, actually, quite like seeing well-known historical / fictional characters in stories (see: Teddy Roosevelt in The Alienist) but ...

Too much of something can really detract from the story. I'm a little -.- to find out he keeps doing it, too.

[calliopes_pen]

To the point where I think the second book had a cheat sheet in the back, telling each character you find in each chapter at great length. The third book feels like even more references are thrown at you.

Getting stuck on the fact that Gomez and Morticia just wandered through the story, and looking out for the Munsters just in case sort of takes away from moments that should have more impact. (Which I won't spoil for you.)

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

*sputters a little bit* I have a hard enough time dealing with Game of Thrones where there's a character glossary for the original characters but one to keep up with all the 'honorable mentions' ... *head desk*

o.O Yeah, that's a bit - much, really. And, yes, I've found that the slip ins take away so much from the pacing of the story that it outweighs some of the fun ones that do fit in.

[calliopes_pen]

Just went back to check--the annotations telling all the characters in The Bloody Red Baron goes from page 551, through 563, with another two pages worth of acknowledgements. Plus another 18 pages of notes that follow that. I think this is just something he's compelled to do, at this point.

I read a novel of his starring Sebastian Moran from the Holmes stories, and while there aren't as many cameos wandering through as the Dracula books, it's still a lot.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

Aw, hell, we're actually reading fanfiction, aren't we?

[diamond-dust06.livejournal.com]

I just read that a couple of months ago, too. It was okay, but since they tell you who Jack the Ripper is in the first chapter, there's not much suspense. The journey for the other characters to discover his identity isn't all that exciting, IMO.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not too terribly impressed by that, either. I think they could have masked it but still done the 'diaries' - gave us the idea that it was one of the original heroes from Dracula but led us along as to which one.

I'm growing less impressed as I slog along.