Customer Reviews

Quincey Morris, Vampire

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I've read Dracula. A few times. And every time I read it, I become angry at the death of Quincey Morris, the only American. It seems such a shame that so excellent a character had to pay the ultimate price to destroy Dracula. However, it was not until a few years ago that I was introduced to the notion that he might not be dead. It was a short story called "The Wind Breathes Cold." It's author was P. N. Elrod. I admit to being something of a fan of hers. After all, this was the author who brought the vampire world Jack Fleming, a detective/vampire who was one of the best, if not the earliest, supposed "Good guy vampires." I fully believe she's done more for Vampire fiction than some other authors who are more interrested in blood and guts. Now she's allowed Quincey Morris to tell his story, so to speak, picking up right after his own death. And she does it with the traditional Elrod humor, and quite a suspenseful moments. From finding himself a vampire in the forests of Transylvania to returning to his friends, who may think he is now damned and want to "Save" his soul with a stake through the heart. It is well worth the time spent on it. If you're a vampire fan, and wonder if Dracula really does end the story, pick this book up for your answer. I promise you, it will not disappoint.

P.N. Elrod is one of our more prolific vampire novelists. Always, her vampires have been unique and non-traditional in the behavior and powers. I have always wondered how these entertaining creatures were related to the grand tradition of Dracula and his equally horrific cousins. In "Quincey Morris, Vampire," Elrod gives us a fascinating answer as she begins what will hopefully be a new series.

Morris, you may remember, died in the process of destroying Dracula, who had fled back to Transylvania when his plans for establishing a British homestead failed. To Morris' great dismay he awakens in the night to discover that, as the result of an old affair, he has become a vampire. Worse, Dracula was there to welcome him into the club. After considerable discussion and argument, Quincey returns to the castle with Dracula, for introductory and advanced vampire classes.

It turns out that Quincey is a different breed of vampire than Dracula was. Dracula was the soulless, evil, turn into animals, bite people on the neck and damn their souls to hell breed. Quincey was the mild mannered, sleeps by day, drinks blood from animals sort of vampire. Quincey's soul was still intact, and he had no problem with crosses, garlic and other anti-vampire paraphernalia. Both can disappear at will and hypnotize people. In short, Quincey is the classic Elrod vampire.

Having graduated from vampire school, Quincey heads off, first to Paris and then on to London. In Paris Quincey discovers that sex and neck nibbling go well together. With a little hypnosis, the young lady is none the wiser, but suitably impressed. It's quite clear that, if Quincey is going to hell, it won't be because he had to sleep during the day. Once back in London Quincey meets Bertice Godalming, the sister of Quincey's best friend Arthur, Lord Godalming, and by far the most interesting character in the book.

Bertrice is the scandal of the Godalming clan, an actress, a painter, bohemian and wearer of bloomers. To which may be added intelligent, capable and very good looking. Quincey, vampire powers and all, is totally overwhemed. The rest of the book is occupied with this explosive relationship and Quincey's efforts to let Arthur and his other friends in on the secret of his return from the grave. Quincey find's himself in a struggle with Dr. Van Helsing for his very survival as Elrod develops all these threads into a tremendous climax.

Quincey and Bertrice offset each other very well, so hopefully Elrod will be inspired to continue the series. Victorian England is a more diverse setting than Gangland Chicago, that should provide material for many plots to come. I do have to wonder why Elrod's lead roles are always held by male vampires. In any case, Bertrice is not the kind of woman who will take second place to any man, immortal or not. We shall have to see.

This book begins where Bram Stoker's _Dracula_ ends, with the death of Count Dracula and Texan Quincey Morris in the Carpathians, in the very shadow of Castle Dracula. From there, however, the story takes some amazing twists, which I would hate to spoil by including too much detail. Quincey Morris, one of Dracula's original hunters (and if you can name the other four, you will *definitely* enjoy this book) does not die, but wakes up as a vampire, which is a great surprise to him and to Dracula, who survived Quincey's attack.

The thank-yous at the beginning of this book are led off by Fred Saberhagen's name, and it's soon clear why. Like Saberhagen, Elrod picks up on Stoker's story, and runs with it; and her interpretation of Dracula's character bears a striking resemblance to Saberhagen's, with a couple of minor twists, including one that seems to be inspired by the popular Forever Knight TV series. Elrod reveals that there are actually two "breeds" of vampire--Dracula's wilder, more dangerous type, and the less powerful, more domestic strain that Morris & Elrod's Jack Fleming belong to.

The rest of the story is an engrossing tale of what he does with that knowledge, and his effort to pick up the lost threads of his old life. There is lots to keep habitual vampiromanes and newcomers to the genre thrilled and enchanted from beginning to end. Elrod's Morris is remarkably true to Stoker's character, no mean feat, since Morris was fond of colourful Texan expressions and had some unorthodox behaviour. It would have been easy downplay this, or to go over the top, but Elrod treads a remarkably fine line, bringing Morris fully to life.

A great book for fans of Fred Saberhagen, Bram Stoker, Tanya Huff, Forever Knight, and (of course) Elrod. Might not be so appealing for fans of Ann Rice or Kindred: The Embraced.

Whenever I read at alternative history (e.g., "Guns of the South") or a parallel novel (e.g., "Mina," "Ender's Shadow"), I am always curious to uncover the author's motivation for writing their story. In P. N. Elrod's "Quincey Morris, Vampire," I was surprised to learn that the motivation had to do an intense dislike of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Elrod--okay, her characters--are royally ticked off that the vampire hunter forced Arthur, Lord Godalming, to "kill" his beloved Lucy when she had turned into a blood-sucking fiend. The more the characters think about it, the more they agree that this was going to far and that Van Helsing should have spared the grieving man by doing the dirty deed himself. This is an interesting new perspective to consider, to be sure.

This "sequel" to "Dracula" is not too much of a departure for Elrod from her Vampire Files, in that Quincey Morris has become a "vampire" in that mode, significantly different from the Dracula archetype. Elrod explains this as their being different "breeds" of vampires, which is a legitimate and interesting idea ("Buffy the Vampire" arrived at the same conclusion, albeit implicitly, when Dracula appeared in the premier episode of the show's fifth season). Those who have read Elrod's other vampire novels will better understand exactly what those differences happen to be. However, this fascinating idea is pretty much ignored for most of the novel, although Morris does discuss it with Dracula in the opening of the novel and tries to explain it to Van Helsing, Art and Jack Seward at the end, when he is trying to convince his friends not to kill him. Most of this novel deals with the title character getting used to his life and romancing Art's sister, Lady Beatrice, who has been living the bohemian high life as an actress in London.

I must admit I am not sure what I think of Van Helsing in light of Elrod's take on what happened in "Dracula." I do know that I enjoyed Quincey trying to reason with the learned doctor, who explains away the vampire's ability to hold the host and recite the Lord's Prayer with the blanket declaration that they are being hypnotized and that the insistence that the absence of evil actions on Quincey's part still proves he is evil because he is being subtle. Certainly Elrod's counter-perspective on the "Dracula" novel is provocative and while I would have liked to have had all of the original vampire hunters reunited at some point, the more important thing is that this is a thoughtful "sequel" that makes good use of Elrod's particular "breed" of vampire. Of course, if you have not read the original "Dracula," do not start this novel until you have, otherwise you will never appreciate Elrod's points of divergence, both great and small.

I loved this book. There aren't many that can drag me through from beginning to end like this one did. The characters are always distinct and individual. I find more development of the characters in general than I've read in other series, be they non vampire or not.

This, and all her other books, read easy, but in no way insults the reader's intelligence. The figures in the book feel like they're people you'd meet on the street, in a bar, or the local Starbucks. Granted, some of them don't drink. Coffee or liquor, that is.

I highly recommend this, and any of her books to anyone. Even those who find the vampire lores gory will have their minds changed after a first read of Quincey Morris, Vampire.

How many books are out there that one can truly say you wished never ended, even though one wanted to know the ending?

Quincey P. Morris helped Professor Van Helsing, Mina and John Harker, and the rest kill Dracula. Or so he thought.

The quest also killed Quincey. Or so he, and everyone else, thought.

Quincey woke to the night, surrounded by hungary wolves. One of them, the leader, was Dracula ... quite alive, figuratively speaking.

Quincey had become vampire. However, he was a different breed than Dracula. Quincey still had his soul. To survive Quincey must quickly adapt to his new type of life. Once done, he planned to return to his group of friends who still grieved over Quincey's death. But he was not sure they would accept him in his new state. And Professor Van Helsing believed the only good vampire was a dead vampire!

***** This book ROCKS! P.N. Elrod has done an excellent job continuing the story. I fully expect this book to win awards. Highly recommended reading! *****

Texan Quincey P. Morris was the one who finally killed Dracula. He brought an end to the battle between the Prince of Darkness and Van Helsing's hunters. But in the end Quincey was also killed.
NOW Quincey is a vampire. He finds himself trying to adapt to his changes. Where will he get the blood? And how will his friends deal with his condition? Greet him with open arms or with wooden stakes?
P.N. Elrod links all her series together with the Great Prince. In the book we meet Count Dracula, Lord Richard d'Orleans from her 'Forever Knights' tie-in books, and find out that Quincy once met Nora Jones, who created the vampire Jonathan Barrett (who is the grand sire of Jack Fleming from the 'Blood Files' series).
Now all she needs is werewolves!

Looking at this book in the bookstore made me grimace. Like any dime-store horror novel, it had the tell-tale handsom vampire and the bleeding, half-naked heroine with her head thrown back for some reason or another.

Oh, and the foreboding castle didn't help either.

But since it was Elrod, I gave it a second chance, and since I didn't find anything better that day, I bought it. Having read both Bram Stoker's Dracula and Fred Saberhagen's Dracula novels (The Dracula Tapes, Old Friend of the Family, etc.) I've already seen a different view on the character of Dracula, but this examination of Quincey Morris was rather interesting.

I liked the book.

It was fun exploring the "ever after" of the story, and while I found the little "vampire breed difference" thing to be a little bit of a leap so that the author could work with her favorite twist on the myth, I still liked it (though that Nora has sure been AROUND!) and found that Quincey himself was different enough from her other characters (Jack Fleming and Jonathon Barrett) to be very interesting.

I felt that the characters were played very true to themeselves in this book. Many people might want to point out the attitude of good Dr. Van Helsing as being too much of a zealot, but I feel that he was played just right, and that the doctor's stubborn nature in the original novel lead to this insane stubborness in this book. I especially enjoyed when John told him, to paraphrase "I understand how you feel, but your arguement makes absolutely no sense." Reminded me of Saberhagen's own comments about the good doctor. (don't mind me if I root for the vampires...)

All in all, I liked the book, but I won't give it a 5 since I reserve that for her best stuff: Jack Fleming and Jonathon Barrett. I love those series.

Oh, and if you're looking for perhaps another little "ever after" story in the area of DVDs, may I suggest "Hellsing", one of the best new series coming out this July. You can find it here on amazon.com and I seriously suggest you check it out. Great series!

Once again P.N. Elrod shows that vampires are human, too. Despite his changes, Quincey Morris remains a man of integrity - almost frustratingly so at times, but that's what makes him believeable. The only problem with this book is that I didn't get any sleep - a real page turner!

Having enjoyed a somewhat chance reading of "I Strahd", I heard about this book before its release and much anticipated it. When I got it, however, I was in for a disappointment.

I have tremendous esteem for Bram Stoker's original "Dracula" novel, in particular the character of Abraham Van Helsing (my favorite literary character, in fact). I enjoy reading about noble vampire hunters as much as "good" vampires. So, though I was satisfied alright with earlier sections of "Quincey Morris, Vampire", I was very much displeased with the portrayal of Van Helsing as an unreasoning zealot. Given the characterizations in "Dracula", I don't think there was any more grounds for attributing such behavior to him than to any of the other original vampire hunters. And I don't like it, at least within the framework of this story.

Quincey's romancing of Arthur's sister (watch that one coming from a mile away!) wasn't really great with me, either. A bit too convenient, maybe?

I've since discovered Elrod's "Vampire Files" series, which have become numbered among my favorite books. I enjoy her writing tremendously and admire her skill. But in this case, I'd just as rather she didn't devote her time to a sequel. Her own characters suit her far better.