The Dracula Papers, Book 1: The Scholar's Tale

Actor and author Oliver (The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini) has set himself the herculean task of showing how Count Vlad Dracula, a minor 17th-century Balkan noble, became the most famous monster of the Victorian era. In this first of four planned volumes, using the conceit of a lost book based on a manuscript discovered by the inquisitive Van Helsing, Oliver details the picaresque adventures of Martin Bellorius, a scholar who flees religious mobs in 1575 Wittenberg and treks across a chaotic Europe to Transylvania, encountering terrible wonders, bandit queens, murderous aristocrats, and monsters. He finds Castle Dracula threatened by Turkish invasion and divided by dark secrets and ambition, with young Vlad already caught up in courtly intrigues. Antique in its sensibilities yet quite salacious in places, Oliver's rambling tale will entertain the casual reader, but may make Dracula scholars impatient. (Jan.)