DRACULA: MAN AND VAMPIRE || Day 4 ~ P.S. I love that book!

In my bookshelf there is one entire shelf dedicated for Dracula books. Not just Stoker stuff either. And, to be honest, it doesn't fit in that one shelf, so it already leaked into other ones too. But not all are worth the time, so let me just break it down for you to the must-reads in both fantastic fiction like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was, and the historical fiction too which does indeed exist.

Only 7 days till Halloween!

Alright, so, let's start easy with the pure vampire fiction that is fun, and possibly doesn't have the hairy palms or smell of rot and death to it.

"Dracula vs. Hitler" by Patrick Sheane Duncan. It's a great book for those who liked the Hellsing manga, because Vlad Dracula here is very much a supernatural creature, bound to serve the Helsings. It just happens that the Helsing daughter wakes him up again, requesting his help with the upcoming war. Vlad, waking from his slumber merely sighs with "again?" to the "we need you to defend Europe!" request. It's a great action packed book that I am very happy to recommend to anyone willing. Not even because of Dracula, it's simply a fun book to read to begin with.

"Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron" by Kim Newman. Kim Newman has a very peculiar writing style I can only compare to a... Well, if Neil Gaiman and Anne Rice wrote a book together - this would be it. Descriptions are great and mighty, from the silver gleaming moon above, to a giant bat-dragon monster in the sky, among the lead clouds, ripping to shreds the opposition planes. From history lessons we likely all know of Red Baron. So, imagine someone so skilled with a plane becoming one after he gets turned by Dracula himself. But it is not the only reason I loved this book. The other reason being it was mostly written from Edgar Allan Poe's perspective, and if he didn't have a man-crush on Dracula, then I am reading too much into the "whirlpool of a man" and "susurrus of whispers: Dracula" all over the place. But, mind you, this is second book in the series. The first one, called simply "Anno Dracula" will surely tell you whether you'll be able to bear through this one. These are not light reads, and not because they offer heavy topics either. It's heavy for same reasons Anne Rice books are heavy.

And the historical fiction. For Vlad Draculea wasn't always known as the vampire Stoker immortalized him as. There was a time when he fought for his land not in a red cape, but in metal armor.

"Vlad: The Last Confession" by C.C. Humphreys. I want to say this was the first historical book I read about Dracula, but that's likely not true. I possibly read Kostova's "Historian" first, but that book won't get on this list exactly because of it. This book portrays Vlad Draculea from the young age when he was merely trying to survive the Ottoman captivity, to an old age and, let's say, final strokes he made. To say he's impressive would be an understatement. I always loved survivors, and here he clings to life to a point of insanity. There are break points where stories change, because he was so broken, he himself changed. As for historical accuracy, it's pretty damn good. Not perfect, not by a long shot, but there's not many out there that are, mostly because what we know of Dracula is either written by enemies or fiction seekers. This is a great book if you don't think "monster" automatically, when you think of Vlad Dracula, the historic figure.

"Vlad Dragwlya: Son of the Dragon" by Timothy E. Rodrigue. And if you do think "monster" when you think of Vlad Dracula, then this is what you need to read. Historically surprisingly accurate book portrays the warlord (I use the term lightly, knowing it is too modern to describe what they were) as, well, almost a psychopath. A calculated, cold man who did what he had to do, and then some. There's a lot of great points in this one too, but it is much harder to read, because author really did his homework on history, dates.

BONUS: Romance, because wooh, winter is coming, let's stay warm with these vampires of ours!

"Once Burned" by Jeaniene Frost. This is the first book in four book series. And oh boy are they good! And this is not Bram Stoker's book based either, this is beautifully author's own creation, making the vampire man out of the historical figure, with a touch of "well, since we think he's a vampire anyway". There's great twists on the plot, and I loved a lot how he explained his family too. As for character himself, well, let's just say Erik Northman has been dethroned in my books. As story progressed I was very impressed by authors way to write men in general. There was such strong trust everywhere, that I've not found equal people or men in any of the books before or after as of yet. There are, of course, downsides to the whole romance of it, but if you take it as that, as a romance urban fantasy book, you'll have a good enough time, if not just great time.

"Dracula, My Love" by Syrie James. This is not my favorite book, and I merely offer it as an idea of what sort of books are out there. The Mina perspective Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Another one I read was "Dracula in Love" by Karen Essex, and the only reason I'm putting this one on the list, and not that one, is because the other one confused me with mythology too much, and I feel like I should re-read it before I judge it again. So, "Dracula, My Love". Basically what Stoker's men told you wasn't the full truth. And they treated their women poorly too, soon in believing them insane, or at least, in Lucy's case, hoping to make them insane enough to take over the great name, and great income that came with it. Dracula is... Well, at points I liked it, at points I didn't. I liked the whole "but people will look, and judge" of Mina's that he answered with "So what?", a beautiful gesture that would've been impossible to make, seeing how woman's reputation was all she had in those times. So could I recommend Syrie James and Karen Essex? Yes. But only if you seek a love story + drama, with some historical fiction to make it spicier. Not my cup of tea per say, but as time went by, I decided they were not as bad as I fumed them to be at first.