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A review by chasmofbooks
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
5.0
The whole idea behind Stoker’s Manuscript was really intriguing for me. I started reading this around a time when I was kind of sick of a lot of books told in first person. I went into it thinking it would probably be written in third person, so I was surprised when it turned out to be first person. This was in no way detrimental though. In fact, one of the reasons why I loved it so much was because I was reading first person without feeling like I was reading it. It had the flow of first person but the quality of third person writing, which I’ve always felt is usually of higher quality.
There were many echoes of Dracula all throughout Stoker's Manuscript without it feeling like a knock off. It truly felt like Mr. Prouty was paying homage to Stoker's original novel by including small details like how the vampire's fingernails were filed and (my personal favorite) the quote, "The dead travel fast." Like Mr. Harker, Mr. Barkeley is kept at Bran Castle on the pretense of business, well... at first that is. Even the smell was almost the same. Mr. Prouty's vampires smelt worse, but even a detail like that was kept. There were even some things I noticed that I'm not sure were intentional or not but were very interesting. When Dracula drives Mr. Harker up to the castle, he placed plum brandy under the seat for him; and, at the end of Stoker's Manuscript, Mr. Barkeley is given plum brandy.
Stoker's Manuscript definitely carried a feel to it that reminded me a lot of when I read Dracula. The writing felt very precise, much like the characters. The mix of historical fact and fiction was fantastically done! As for the dialogue, I actually found myself reading it aloud just so I could get the full of effect of what the characters were saying and how they said it. Or, rather, how I imagined them saying it. It was definitely awesome trying (and failing) to mimic the Romanian accents.
One thing that really struck me was the explanation behind vampires. It was unexpected but the concept was very interesting and intellectually stimulating for me. And it was written in a way that made it easy to understand. Loved it.
Mr. Barkeley’s past was very interesting. I really enjoyed the preludes in the beginning of some of the chapters. They gave you more information about Mr. Barkeley and really painted a picture of him (and whatever else they were about). I was always secretly worried that they were going to be boring but they never were. I found them very interesting.
Mr. Prouty did an excellent job creating the setting. I could perfectly see the mud-caked, dirty streets as the rain poured or after it had finished.
As a fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I felt Royce Prouty paid homage to this amazing novel while still making Stoker’s Manuscript his own story. I was a little worried it might in some way be a kind of rip off and disgrace to Dracula but I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. All in all, this is a novel I would recommend to anyone whose read Dracula or who is just looking for a good old-fashioned vampire novel. The vampires we were able to get to know, were both different but sinister in their own way.
There were many echoes of Dracula all throughout Stoker's Manuscript without it feeling like a knock off. It truly felt like Mr. Prouty was paying homage to Stoker's original novel by including small details like how the vampire's fingernails were filed and (my personal favorite) the quote, "The dead travel fast." Like Mr. Harker, Mr. Barkeley is kept at Bran Castle on the pretense of business, well... at first that is. Even the smell was almost the same. Mr. Prouty's vampires smelt worse, but even a detail like that was kept. There were even some things I noticed that I'm not sure were intentional or not but were very interesting. When Dracula drives Mr. Harker up to the castle, he placed plum brandy under the seat for him; and, at the end of Stoker's Manuscript, Mr. Barkeley is given plum brandy.
Stoker's Manuscript definitely carried a feel to it that reminded me a lot of when I read Dracula. The writing felt very precise, much like the characters. The mix of historical fact and fiction was fantastically done! As for the dialogue, I actually found myself reading it aloud just so I could get the full of effect of what the characters were saying and how they said it. Or, rather, how I imagined them saying it. It was definitely awesome trying (and failing) to mimic the Romanian accents.
One thing that really struck me was the explanation behind vampires. It was unexpected but the concept was very interesting and intellectually stimulating for me. And it was written in a way that made it easy to understand. Loved it.
Mr. Barkeley’s past was very interesting. I really enjoyed the preludes in the beginning of some of the chapters. They gave you more information about Mr. Barkeley and really painted a picture of him (and whatever else they were about). I was always secretly worried that they were going to be boring but they never were. I found them very interesting.
Mr. Prouty did an excellent job creating the setting. I could perfectly see the mud-caked, dirty streets as the rain poured or after it had finished.
As a fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I felt Royce Prouty paid homage to this amazing novel while still making Stoker’s Manuscript his own story. I was a little worried it might in some way be a kind of rip off and disgrace to Dracula but I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. All in all, this is a novel I would recommend to anyone whose read Dracula or who is just looking for a good old-fashioned vampire novel. The vampires we were able to get to know, were both different but sinister in their own way.