Reviews oF POWERS OF DARKNESS"I collected some reviews of Powers of Darkness here. As could be expected, most reviewers were intrigued by the discovery - how they actually liked the story, the annotations and the essays, largely depended on their expectations and personal taste. Taken althogether, though, the amount of interest shown in these high-ranking publications demonstrates that my discovery tickles the curiosity of nearly every fan of Gothic fiction |
New York Times"The Icelandic translation, by Valdimar Asmundsson, allowed Stoker the opportunity to make the book “unique and more relevant to Icelandic interest,” Dacre writes. “ ‘Powers of Darkness’ — a different title for a different book.” You can read the complete review here. Times Literary Supplement"As for Powers of Darkness, although it does not stand up as a novel in its own right, it is an invaluable extension to our knowledge about Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Now we just have to wait for more." THE GUARDIAN"We may never know who – Stoker or Ásmundsson – was responsible for what is in Makt Myrkranna. Regardless, our familiar, beloved count has a wintry doppelgänger, thanks to this strange, pleasing curiosity of a book. Almost makes you wonder, in proper vampire fashion, if there are others out there." The complete text of the review is here. Further reviewsGINGER NUTS REVIEW OF HORROR writes: "An exceptional work.... Hans
CorneelDe Roos, quite possibly the foremost expert on Stoker’s creation, has provided copious annotation
throughout, and the book is laden with illustrations and photographs
[which] give exceptional insight... a beautiful volume and I can’t
recommend it highly enough." THE LADY concludes: “[It’s]
difficult to overstate the significance of this remarkable literary
discovery… presented here, in de Roos’s English translation, in a
majestic hardback edition… [A] fascinating and erudite project.” THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:
"'Powers of Darkness' does intrigue, if only by adding layers of
hearsay to the original. It's as if one more set of transcripts had been
found, rumoring a new world order in which our problems are much, much
bigger than one rogue count. THE SMITHSONIAN: "The preface was what got English-language scholars interested in the Icelandic book, but still, nobody thought to compare the actual text of Makt Myrkranna to the original Stoker novel, assuming, as Dalby wrote, that it was “merely an abridged translation of Dracula,” de Roos writes. Finally in 2014, de Roos writes that he went back to the original text of Powers of Darkness to verify something, and discovered that the Icelandic story diverged from the English original." http://smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/icelandic-translation-dracula-actually-different-book-180963346/ PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY states: De Roos’s
abundant annotations are insightful, and the translation, although
pulpier than Stoker’s original, is a fascinating gloss on a literary
classic." THE SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW
concludes: "Powers of Darkness is a completely new look at this
classic text that fans of the book and genre won’t want to
miss." By Alex Teander. GOODREADS offers hardly any new
information, but shows comments from readers. SEATTLE BOOK REVIEW tells us: "Powers of Darkness is a completely new look at this classic text that fans of the book and genre won’t want to miss." https://seattlebookreview.com/product/powers-of-darkness-the-lost-version-of-dracula/ BIBLIOKLEPT states: "The resulting narrative is one that is shorter, punchier, more erotic, and perhaps even more suspenseful than Stoker’s Dracula." https://biblioklept.org/2016/10/31/powers-of-darkness-the-lost-version-of-dracula-book-required-appropriately-on-halloween-2016/ NY JOURNAL OF BOOKS states:
Well-informed and balanced review by Toni V. Sweeney, with clear appreciation of the
story; reviewer think that some notes on the original Icelandic idiom
are superfluous. WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS: Rather a
no-review, by M. Bartley Seigel: After quoting the text of Overlook and other reviewers, the
reviewer observes that vampires are an omni-present subject.. which
probably is the reason that my book caught the reviewer's attention FULL STOP concludes: Well-researched
review by Eleanor Gould., but a bit disappointing, as Eleanor does not quite share my
enthusiasm for the story... DEN OF GEEK states: "As a whole, Powers
of Darkness appears incomplete, but that will only add to
its mystique for the most devout fans of Dracula and Bram Stoker. It is
both a probable glimpse into Stoker’s early ideas and a wild deviation
by a foreign author that offered the first reinterpretation of
Dracula" STARBURST MAGAZINE tells us:
"10/10, calling it “really something to celebrate… hugely
entertaining… we enjoyed every moment of it. The design of the book is
quite gorgeous as well.”
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