dilupus's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
hannah_mayflower's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
standardman's review against another edition
4.0
This took me a while but only because I got distracted, no fault of the book.
I find the period of World War I (and its fiction) inherently less interesting than Victorian England so this had to battle for my initial engagement.
Once the period of wanting to look up all the characters and references passed (curse of the meta novel), I found myself engaged with the characters and how natural the setting felt for monsters winged and otherwise.
No-one spins other people's fiction and history into something fresh like Kim Newman. Whether battle scene or breakfast scene, he smartly builds world and character without having you feel the strings.
I find the period of World War I (and its fiction) inherently less interesting than Victorian England so this had to battle for my initial engagement.
Once the period of wanting to look up all the characters and references passed (curse of the meta novel), I found myself engaged with the characters and how natural the setting felt for monsters winged and otherwise.
No-one spins other people's fiction and history into something fresh like Kim Newman. Whether battle scene or breakfast scene, he smartly builds world and character without having you feel the strings.
spestock's review against another edition
4.0
Very fun sequel to Anno Dracula, taking place during WWI. Again, it's a trip figuring out who the various characters are - originals? From other vampire properties? Real people? Definitely a book that rewards the vampire aficionado. A brief scene with a vampire called Isolde was as visceral and disgusting a bit of horror as I've read in awhile; I held the book out at arm's length, as though that would help.
unwrappingwords's review against another edition
5.0
Red Baron moves forward from Anno Dracula, taking the reader to the First World War, delving into the trenches with a few familiar faces and some new, fresh ones. Just like the first novel, there are a lot of characters drawn from existing literature and film, as well as a few historic figures - I didn't pick up on a lot of them, but some would be familiar even from general pop culture (Caligari, Bigglesworth, Herbert West and even Edgar Allen Poe makes an appearance). Like the first novel, the writing draws you completely into the world inhabited by these characters, and through characters such as Kate Reed and Edwin we get the viewpoint of characters new to war.
As well as this we get to see the Red Baron and his elite squad of pilots, both from the allies' view and from the view of characters such as Poe, who is brought in to write the Baron's autobiography.
There's a lot to get your head around in the book - always something going on, something to uncover, some peril the characters find themselves in which must be untangled. And in the setting of the First World War it works really well. No death goes un-mourned, even if the characters have only had a few moments page-time.
Overall, the novel works really well, and just as in Anno Dracula, Newman keeps the suspense up right until the end. But the real gem of this is the novella at the end; Vampire Romance brings back Geneviève Dieudonné from the first novel. She attends a meeting of vampire elders as they try to decide who will rule the vampires in England. The meeting takes place in a large manor, where a young girl obsessed with vampires lives - she dreams of meeting one, falling in love with and becoming one, and with the meeting thinks her chance to do all this has arrived.
It brings up some interesting elements, and feels much more like a teen novel, with the 'teenagers' banding together to try to solve what is happening in the manor. Characters are well written and, as if with any satisfying story, grow and develop as the plot moves on.
Both Bloody Red Baron and Vampire Romance were well written, engaging, and served as brilliant sequels to Anno Dracula.
As well as this we get to see the Red Baron and his elite squad of pilots, both from the allies' view and from the view of characters such as Poe, who is brought in to write the Baron's autobiography.
There's a lot to get your head around in the book - always something going on, something to uncover, some peril the characters find themselves in which must be untangled. And in the setting of the First World War it works really well. No death goes un-mourned, even if the characters have only had a few moments page-time.
Overall, the novel works really well, and just as in Anno Dracula, Newman keeps the suspense up right until the end. But the real gem of this is the novella at the end; Vampire Romance brings back Geneviève Dieudonné from the first novel. She attends a meeting of vampire elders as they try to decide who will rule the vampires in England. The meeting takes place in a large manor, where a young girl obsessed with vampires lives - she dreams of meeting one, falling in love with and becoming one, and with the meeting thinks her chance to do all this has arrived.
It brings up some interesting elements, and feels much more like a teen novel, with the 'teenagers' banding together to try to solve what is happening in the manor. Characters are well written and, as if with any satisfying story, grow and develop as the plot moves on.
Both Bloody Red Baron and Vampire Romance were well written, engaging, and served as brilliant sequels to Anno Dracula.
matosapa's review against another edition
3.0
Spring-boarding off of actual events and characters of World War I, Kim works his magic and deftly retells the story of this tragic war but with undead on both sides. Focusing mainly on the Western front and plenty of new characters with a few well-known persons from the first book, it's a great read. Looking forward to more twisted history from Newman's imagination.
ramonnogueras's review against another edition
4.0
Una brillante continuación de Anno Dracula, en la que muchos de sus personajes y protagonistas se reencuentran en los ensangrentados campos de Francia en la Primera Guerra Mundial. Dracula ha huido de Inglaterra y, asesorando al káiser, ha provocado la Primera Guerra Mundial, donde cálidos y vampiros son igualmente masacrados. Se prepara una nueva ofensiva, y debe ser detenida.
Como su antecesor, el libro está brillantemente escrito y bien documentado, con un ritmo que no decae y una sorpresa nueva en cada página. No parece que al autor se le acaben las ideas originales o la capacidad de reinterpretar un personaje ficticio o histórico de maneras inesperadas. El horror del vampirismo y el horror humano de la guerra de trincheras chocan de frente, y uno no sabe qué es peor.
Excelente novela de género, muy recomendable. Vamos a por la tercera.
Como su antecesor, el libro está brillantemente escrito y bien documentado, con un ritmo que no decae y una sorpresa nueva en cada página. No parece que al autor se le acaben las ideas originales o la capacidad de reinterpretar un personaje ficticio o histórico de maneras inesperadas. El horror del vampirismo y el horror humano de la guerra de trincheras chocan de frente, y uno no sabe qué es peor.
Excelente novela de género, muy recomendable. Vamos a por la tercera.
tikipoupower's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
eddied's review against another edition
3.0
After Anno Dracula I was hoping for something just as good. All I got was, meh! Quite a weak plot in comparison.
Kate is the best character and I admit I continued reading for her story rather than anyone else.
The novella was like an Agatha Christie and I suppose that was the point. Enjoyable and a welcome return of Genevieve
Kate is the best character and I admit I continued reading for her story rather than anyone else.
The novella was like an Agatha Christie and I suppose that was the point. Enjoyable and a welcome return of Genevieve
markyon's review against another edition
5.0
The second novel in this series sees us move on from the events of England in 1888 and Jack the Ripper.
It is now 1914. The Great War is underway between Germany and the rest of Europe. Count von Dracula has fled England after The Terror (in Book One) and is now Graf von Dracula, commander in chief of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Fighting against England and his old enemies Charles Beauregard and the secret Diogenes Club, vampires and humans (‘warm bodies’) are dying in the trenches though the latest technologies mean that the conflict is fought most keenly in the air. The Flying Circus, a vampire squadron, led by Baron Manfred von Richthofen, The Bloody Red Baron, seem unstoppable. Beauregard’s young protégé Edwin Winthrop, and vampire reporter Kate Reed try to defeat the German onslaught. But will they succeed?
In this second tale, the set up of Anno Dracula becomes international. We spend most of our time here not in England but in France, following the actions of heroic pilots, both vampire and human, as they struggle to cope with the stresses and slaughter of such desperate battles. When not flying, the pilots would live life almost as dangerously on the ground trying to make their sacrifices worth it.
The cold calculating Baron is pitted against English vampires, such as Albert Ball. Though in the real world Richthofen was killed, there is no such guarantee here in this alternate-world meta-fiction. The use of vampires in combat has had some unusual developments, such as night flights with their enhanced vision, for example.
Attempts to find out the reasons for Richthofen’s success in killing Allied pilots are dealt with so effectively that there are usually no survivors to tell what happened. Victims’ corpses are often discovered totally drained of all bodily fluids. It is clear that the Germans have a big secret at the headquarters of the Vampire Circus and that Richthofen and his men are more than human. There’s something creepy going on at the Chateau de Malinbois, and for the sake of the Allied survival it is up to the Diogenes Club to find out.
Kim here steps it up a notch. The story is as detailed and yet at the same time as much fun as ever. Anyone who has thrilled to stories of WW1 aerial combat and the heroic actions of aviators on both sides will love this, as such events are described in brilliant action sequences. We have dogfights, Zeppelin raids and trench battles which tell in thrilling detail how deadly such fighting must have been. Elsewhere, on the ground, the effect of the War on the French civilians and their towns and cities are told but with the added effect of the war being fought with some un-human elements.
As ever, though, with Kim’s work it is the mixing of people, both real and fictional, that provided me with most fun. From the exiled vampire Edgar Poe, who finds himself helping the Germans by writing the autobiography of The Red Baron, to the sad demise of secret spy Mata Hari and the exploits of imaginary character Bigglesworth (W.E. Johns’ legendary Biggles) not to mention Doctors Caligari and Mabuse, there’s enough of these little ‘easter-egg’ style touches to keep the knowledgeable reader entertained.
If that wasn’t enough, this re-imagined ‘Director’s Cut’ version includes a new novella, Vampire Romance, authors annotations showing where some of characters both real and imagined have originated from, and a film script outline for a film called Red Skies written for Roger Corman. Though never used, it is interesting to see how a film version of Red Baron could have turned out.
Vampire Romance, written especially for this edition, tells of the events of vampire Genevieve Dieudonne, last met in Anno Dracula, as she encounters a vampire group whilst working for the Diogenes Club in 1923. In comparison with the main novel, it is a deliciously dark tale of romance and death, just as much fun as the wartime tale. Though written over fifteen years later than the original novel, it dovetails nicely between The Bloody Red Baron and what will be the next novel, Dracula Cha Cha Cha, to be published later this year and set in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Both Bloody Red Baron and Vampire Romance are recommended. You don’t have to have read Anno Dracula to enjoy this one. But if you did, and enjoyed it, you’re going to love this one as much, if not more, as I did.
Bravo to Titan for republishing this underrated series.
It is now 1914. The Great War is underway between Germany and the rest of Europe. Count von Dracula has fled England after The Terror (in Book One) and is now Graf von Dracula, commander in chief of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Fighting against England and his old enemies Charles Beauregard and the secret Diogenes Club, vampires and humans (‘warm bodies’) are dying in the trenches though the latest technologies mean that the conflict is fought most keenly in the air. The Flying Circus, a vampire squadron, led by Baron Manfred von Richthofen, The Bloody Red Baron, seem unstoppable. Beauregard’s young protégé Edwin Winthrop, and vampire reporter Kate Reed try to defeat the German onslaught. But will they succeed?
In this second tale, the set up of Anno Dracula becomes international. We spend most of our time here not in England but in France, following the actions of heroic pilots, both vampire and human, as they struggle to cope with the stresses and slaughter of such desperate battles. When not flying, the pilots would live life almost as dangerously on the ground trying to make their sacrifices worth it.
The cold calculating Baron is pitted against English vampires, such as Albert Ball. Though in the real world Richthofen was killed, there is no such guarantee here in this alternate-world meta-fiction. The use of vampires in combat has had some unusual developments, such as night flights with their enhanced vision, for example.
Attempts to find out the reasons for Richthofen’s success in killing Allied pilots are dealt with so effectively that there are usually no survivors to tell what happened. Victims’ corpses are often discovered totally drained of all bodily fluids. It is clear that the Germans have a big secret at the headquarters of the Vampire Circus and that Richthofen and his men are more than human. There’s something creepy going on at the Chateau de Malinbois, and for the sake of the Allied survival it is up to the Diogenes Club to find out.
Kim here steps it up a notch. The story is as detailed and yet at the same time as much fun as ever. Anyone who has thrilled to stories of WW1 aerial combat and the heroic actions of aviators on both sides will love this, as such events are described in brilliant action sequences. We have dogfights, Zeppelin raids and trench battles which tell in thrilling detail how deadly such fighting must have been. Elsewhere, on the ground, the effect of the War on the French civilians and their towns and cities are told but with the added effect of the war being fought with some un-human elements.
As ever, though, with Kim’s work it is the mixing of people, both real and fictional, that provided me with most fun. From the exiled vampire Edgar Poe, who finds himself helping the Germans by writing the autobiography of The Red Baron, to the sad demise of secret spy Mata Hari and the exploits of imaginary character Bigglesworth (W.E. Johns’ legendary Biggles) not to mention Doctors Caligari and Mabuse, there’s enough of these little ‘easter-egg’ style touches to keep the knowledgeable reader entertained.
If that wasn’t enough, this re-imagined ‘Director’s Cut’ version includes a new novella, Vampire Romance, authors annotations showing where some of characters both real and imagined have originated from, and a film script outline for a film called Red Skies written for Roger Corman. Though never used, it is interesting to see how a film version of Red Baron could have turned out.
Vampire Romance, written especially for this edition, tells of the events of vampire Genevieve Dieudonne, last met in Anno Dracula, as she encounters a vampire group whilst working for the Diogenes Club in 1923. In comparison with the main novel, it is a deliciously dark tale of romance and death, just as much fun as the wartime tale. Though written over fifteen years later than the original novel, it dovetails nicely between The Bloody Red Baron and what will be the next novel, Dracula Cha Cha Cha, to be published later this year and set in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Both Bloody Red Baron and Vampire Romance are recommended. You don’t have to have read Anno Dracula to enjoy this one. But if you did, and enjoyed it, you’re going to love this one as much, if not more, as I did.
Bravo to Titan for republishing this underrated series.