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Reviews

Bram Stoker's

Dracula

A story for all vampire lovers. I read the book after I had seen the movie by Francis     Ford Coppola, which I adore. Of course like all movies based on books the book is usually better. "Usually" being the key word there. In this case I thought both were really good. In the case of the book it was really well done in terms of characters and setting.in terms of characters, I noticed the biggest difference in the terms of Dr. Seward's part in the story. In the movie he played a more minor role whereas in the book he ws the one that took us through Lucy's  "illness" and the correspondence between the characters. This was also seen with Mina's journals, which played a bigger role. One thing that I missed the most when comparing the movie and the book was the romance between Mina and Dracula. It was so beautiful in the movie that I thought it must have come from the book. Obviously if you have read the orginal Dracula you know that it was only  hinted on by Mina's empathy towards the hunting of Dracula. A final criticism I have for the book is that the death of Dracula was so quick that you     did not have the drama you would have liked to have seen for the title character. However, Coppla gives us that in his movie.

Nancy Baker's

The Night Inside

Having read     this after series of Anne Rice novels I tend to compare     Baker's writing to the style of Rice's. If you like your     vampires more on the human side then you will like this book.     It deals with the relationship between a vampire who has     awaken in present day Toronto after about a centuary sleep     only to be captured. Ardeth the main female character in the     story finds herself in a life and death situation where she     is the "food" for the captured vampire.

They form a     special bond that leads to her becoming a vampire. The story     ends off leaving Baker room for a follow up, Blood and Crysanthiums. The story has alot of good action     and vampiric romance. There is also good use of flashbacks     that give you a unique view on the plot of the story.

Anne Rice's

Vampire Chronicles

The books that     started it all for me I would say. Having read everyone of     the chronicles up to Mnenoch     the Devil ( which I     have yet to finish ), I can safely say these are the books     that I use to measure everything else that I read. The reason     being that I love that sense of understanding Rice can create     in the reader so that you feel you are in the story itself.     The character Lestat is so intriguing that you learn to love     him as you divirge yourself into his "savage     garden".

The Chronicles     start with Interview     with the Vampire, which     was made into a movie by by Neil Jordan. Here you are     introduced to the characters Louis, a vampire made by Lestat,     Lestat, Claudia, a child vampire, and Armand, a 400 year-old     vampire. The story is basicallyt the title, an interview with     the vampire Louis and his perspective ont eh events of his     birth into "darkness".

The second     novel, The Vampire     Lestat, deals with the     history of Lestat from the time before he was a vampire till     he was and on to the period where Interview takes place. I find that this novel     gives you a good perspective on Lestat's reasoning in the     first novel. You also get a chance to find out the unique     development of Lestat's life of a vampire compared to other     vampires.

The third     novel, Queen of the     Damned, brings on an     idea developed in the second novel of how vampirism started.     The setup of this novel reminds me of Rice's Witching Hour, as she uses the perspective's of     many people which eventually come together as one. Here we     are introduced to variety of older and younger vampires as     well as an organization called the Talamasca which gathers     information on phenomina such as vampires and witches. I     found that this more heavier reading material when compared     to the previous two. Nonetheless, this novel is very     intriguin and brings up some very creative ideas along with a     mixture of history.

The fourth     novel, The Tale of the     Body Theif, really is a     novel on its own as it really dose not connect to the others     as first three wound around each other. In this novel Lestat     is once again the main character. He is joined by David from     the Talamasca. Here we have Lestat faced with the chance to     be human again by using another body. The predicament is that     he has to give up his body and powers. The problem becomes     what if the guy dose not give Lestat his body back? Is being     mortal again what Lestat really wants?

Finally we     come to the supposed "last" edition to the     chronicles, Mnemnoch     the Devil. Well I finally read it and I loved it... though there a few things that made me a little isappointed...( don't worry it sdosen't have to do with the book per sekjust kind of what happens...but I guess you'll have to read it to find out...=)) anyways... In this Chronicle we have Lestat once again faced with a challenge, only this time it could determine whether his soul could be saved or damned. In the the novel we first get to know who "this Devil" is and what connection he has to Lestat and his latest kill. Then Rice as she usually does , gives us some interesting insight as to where we as humans came from . And to put the Cherry on the top we get the Devils point of view at Gods creation. Very intriguing and a must read.

If YOU have any books you've read involving vampires and loved it please let me know so I can read them/ it!!!! =)

NB:All of the reviews here were done by myself, Victoria Moonsteel.