Drakulya [Paperback]

Earl Lee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this murky version of the vampire legend, we are given the "lost" journal of Mircea, older brother of Vlad, who reveals himself as the true count. The undated entries describing his life as one of the undead are interspersed with long quotes from Stoker's classic, Dracula, along with selections attributed to Van Helsing, Seward, Mina, and other Stoker characters. In an attempt to integrate all of this into a cohesive narrative, Lee shuffles characters and motivations and then throws in snippets of spiritualism, religion, and folklore for good measure. The result is a confused and confusing first novel. For a much better version of the "lost, true story" of Dracula based on Stoker's novel, see Jeanne Kalogridis's Covenant with the Vampire (LJ 10/1/94).
Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: See Sharp Press (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884365027
• ISBN-13: 978-1884365027
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,073,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A literary -- too literary? -- retelling of DRACULA, April 12, 1998

By 

Catherine B. Krusberg ([e-mail]) (Athens, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drakulya (Paperback)

Purporting to be the truth behind the highly edited falsehoods published as the classic novel DRACULA by Bram Stoker, DRAKULYA uses the events, even the words of DRACULA to tell a more frightening and sinister tale. Here Dracula is not Vlad but his brother Mircea; Von Helsing (not Van Helsing, Von Helsing) is researching a disease that will cure all other diseases (but at what cost?); and Jonathan Harker is an amalgam of himself and ... Drakulya.

Readers who have more than a passing familiarity with DRACULA may find DRAKULYA a confusing read. Many of John Seward's journal entries have become the words of Mina Harker, now Von Helsing's loyal assistant. Also complicating reading of this book is its sheer density of reference. Reflecting the author's twenty years of research and writing, DRAKULYA is at times literarily allusive to the point of ponderousness. Hints and symbols that imply connections between characters give the novel its shape; the fibers that bind character to character form narrative threads almost incidentally.

DRAKULYA is literature rather than storytelling, at best a work for the brain rather than the heart, and often truly WORK to interpret. Scholars who feel that DRACULA has never received the artistic-critical attention that it deserves may consider Earl W. Lee's novel long overdue. For an entertaining retelling of DRACULA, however, THE DRACULA TAPE by Fred Saberhagen is a better choice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary, but good., July 10, 2007

By 

S. Fenton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drakulya (Paperback)

What I particularily liked about this novel is that it incorporated a vast wealth of vampire literature, fokelore, and gypsy lore as well, without setting the novel in a cultural vacuum, which so many vampire novels tend to do. I especially appreciated the chance to puzzle out those things to which Lee eluded without saying in a manner that would insult the reader. Of course, as I read it before the original Stoker Dracula, I just might be a bit biased.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extra Ordinary Book, April 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Drakulya (Paperback)

Generally I do not like this kind of books,but aweek ago, when I was alone at home,I wanted to be excited.I just looked for an interesting book in my father's library.The title was interesting, the dracula was a legend.This book is a legend too.