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Dracula: The Modern Prometheus

Rafael Chandler (Goodreads Author),

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Bram Stoker

3.75 · Rating details · 20 ratings · 12 reviews

A monstrous woman flees across Arctic sea ice, pursued by an implacable nemesis. Three shadowless brothers prowl through wolf-haunted forests in search of fresh victims. And in a subterranean laboratory, an undead Countess conducts a gruesome experiment...

Mina Harker’s journey to Transylvania is supposed to advance her career, but instead, it plunges her into a war ...more

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Kindle Edition, 266 pages

Published October 5th 2015 by Neoplastic Press

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· 20 ratings · 12 reviews

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Mar 13, 2018 Lucy Banks rated it really liked it

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

What a peculiar idea... but oddly engaging nonetheless!

As someone who reads a lot of gothic horror, I was naturally intrigued by the concept of this book. A mash-up of the two behemoths of Gothic literature, you say? My interest was piqued, and so I commenced reading.

It's about the Countess Dracula (yes, you read that correctly), who invites Mina Harker to her castle in Transylvania. She's got a dastardly plan to I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

What a peculiar idea... but oddly engaging nonetheless!

As someone who reads a lot of gothic horror, I was naturally intrigued by the concept of this book. A mash-up of the two behemoths of Gothic literature, you say? My interest was piqued, and so I commenced reading.

It's about the Countess Dracula (yes, you read that correctly), who invites Mina Harker to her castle in Transylvania. She's got a dastardly plan to move to the UK, and Mina is just the solicitor to help her achieve it. Meanwhile, back in Blighty, Mina's friend Lucy is choosing her husband from Arthur, Dr Seward and Quincy; that is, until a certain vampire takes a shine to her neck. Cue the next bride of the undead, who duly has to be slain to stop her evil doings.

Sound familiar? Yes, that's because until this point, the story basically is Dracula, with whole sections being virtually identical. Strange...

Anyway, here's where the mash-up commences. Countess Dracula wants to breathe life into her old sister Elizabeth, so she starts messing with nature, creating a monstrous creature through the power of electricity. This unholy bride horrifies her so much that she flees, leaving the monster to wreak havoc in her stead. As for the rest, well... I won't spoil the ending, but needless to say, the clues are already there in the original texts.

Okay. Deep breath. So what was good about this? Well, let's face it, the original texts lend themselves to cracking storytelling, and the author's approach felt vibrant and passionate. I can always sense a fellow Gothic horror fan from a mile off. Initially, the mash-up didn't work for me at all, but once the monster was created, it suddenly fell into place, and I found myself reading with a lot more urgency. Yes, I admit it, I was gripped!

However, I felt that as a whole, it was too rooted in the originals. There were also moments where I questioned the author's decisions. For example, turning Dracula into a woman didn't really add much; it didn't twist anything on its head at all, and it certainly didn't feel like a feminist statement. Ditto erasing Jonathan Harker and getting Mina to fill his boots (though I did like her character).

Overall though, an entertaining read. And I LOVE that front cover.

...more

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Mar 11, 2018 Bandit rated it really liked it

Well, finally I’ve tired one of these genre mash up stories. I must admit to be somewhat skeptical of the concept, taking two classic works of fiction and squishing them together in an attempt to produce something new. Or newish technically. Or just different. But then again popular entertainment never met an idea they didn’t wish to bastardize, sequelize, remake, revisit or just mess with, so here we are. And reading this one was also sort of inspired by the somewhat disappointing new Well, finally I’ve tired one of these genre mash up stories. I must admit to be somewhat skeptical of the concept, taking two classic works of fiction and squishing them together in an attempt to produce something new. Or newish technically. Or just different. But then again popular entertainment never met an idea they didn’t wish to bastardize, sequelize, remake, revisit or just mess with, so here we are. And reading this one was also sort of inspired by the somewhat disappointing new Frankenstein tv show on Netflix. Turns out this book was much easier to get into than the show. The author squished Dracula and Frankenstein together with a distinctly feminist angle, so that all the main protagonists are female. Mina, the intrepid slayer, Countess Dracula and Eve, the creature. Countess Dracula is obsessed with bringing back to life her dear dead sister Elizabeth, so she turns to modern science of reanimating corpses by the means of galvanism and electricity. Dracula is still a vampire too, she’s just a regular Jill of all Trades, a versatile monstress. So you know the stories, you know just how they’ll play out, but it’s still pretty fun. And what a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be. The language was modernized just enough so that the story wasn’t dragged down by the antiquated narration, although the book does maintain a good amount of it for authenticity. The writing was uniformly good, no idea how creating these sorts of stories works exactly, obviously a good amount of the text was borrowed and the rest heavily inspired, but some work must have gone into remixing it all. Still not sure if I’m sold on the value of mash ups, but if it gets readers excited about classics, that’s something. Maybe it isn’t meant to have an inherent value, maybe it’s just pure entertainment. Either way I liked it, it was a very enjoyable spin on the old prototypes, not sure how one might discuss originality with these sorts of things, but it is a different perspective with a gender switch up. Enjoyable quick read. Thanks Netgalley. ...more

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Mar 02, 2018 David Watson rated it really liked it

Dracula: The Modern Prometheus is a retelling of both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stroker's Dracula with a few new twists by Rafael Chandler. I'm not going to spend time describing the story here because if you've read Frankenstein and Dracula you already know it. The reason you would want to get this book is to find out how the author put an original spin on these two literary classics.

I got this book off of Netgalley, what drew me to it was seeing that it was a combination of two Dracula: The Modern Prometheus is a retelling of both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stroker's Dracula with a few new twists by Rafael Chandler. I'm not going to spend time describing the story here because if you've read Frankenstein and Dracula you already know it. The reason you would want to get this book is to find out how the author put an original spin on these two literary classics.

I got this book off of Netgalley, what drew me to it was seeing that it was a combination of two horror classics that I love. I also thought it was interesting that the author put the names of the original writers on his book followed by his own. When you first start reading this book it's obvious that Rafael Chandler wrote it as a labor of love and he has great affection for the source material along with the time period both books were written in. The language used, the way the characters are presented and the way the book is written makes it feel like the book was written in the 1800's.

The best part about this book was that it reminded me how much I love the source material and I loved seeing the changes to both that Rafael made. The worst part of the book is that some parts are too close to the source material. There were points that I felt bored reading it because I felt like I've heard it before and knew what was coming. A lot of the dialogue between the characters could have been cut and more time should have been spent on Dracula and the monster.

All in all though if you love these two classics then Rafael Chandler's book is something you are going to want to read. I enjoyed the fact that Harker, The Monster and Dracula were all female. I also liked the changes Rafeal made to the material and how he blended both stories. The book may have benefited a little by having the author put more of an original spin on it but there was enough of his own voice here to keep me reading. When I finished this book I felt the need to go reread Dracula and Frankenstein and look for an original work by Rafael Chandler. ...more

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Nov 28, 2019 Soukyan Blackwood rated it liked it

all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu

About the Book: Mina Harker had no clue what nightmare her life will become when she ventured out into Transylvanian mountains, to visit her firm’s client, Countess Dracula in her secluded castle. An older, eccentric, scientist greeted her into her home that soon became Mina’s prison. But true dread for her life miss Harker only felt upon finding Dracula’s laboratory where she seemingly tried to raise the dead. Driven by ...more

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Mar 19, 2018 Devann rated it really liked it

Shelves: z-18-netgalley, 4-0-star, a-adult, c-arcs, cr-vamps-weres-zombies, g-historical-fiction, sg-retellings

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley

So I finally read Frankenstein for the first time last year and I thought it was okay. Dracula I read ...sometime in high school and it was honestly until a few years ago the longest most absolutely boring book I had ever read. I love vampires but I haaate the original Dracula book. Actually I ended up giving this book more stars than I gave to either of the originals, but I also had a lot more fun reading it.

This book is a kind of mash-up of ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Kristian Köhntopp rated it really liked it

Ok. So I read earlier works from Rafael Chandler and while they have been grim und bloody they also have been light and funny. This one is different.

Chandler does a weird and impossible thing - he takes Frankenstein and Dracula and mixes and genderbends the two tales to create something else, which is unique - strangely depressing and entertaining at the same time. Reading this was no fun at all, and yet I was entertained. I knew the characters showing up, and yet they were new and different, ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Heather rated it liked it

I wanted to give this book a full five (5) stars, but the more I think about it I realize I can not do that. The book was good, but just like the original Dracula & Frankenstein it was so hard to read. Rafael Chandler kept the style of writing that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Bram Stoker did in their books and just like those books it was very hard to read. The story line and plots were very well written, but the style of writing is not to my taste. So in such it made it very hard for me ...more

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Jan 01, 2019 Kevin Cannon rated it liked it

I've read Bram Stoker's Dracula but not Mary Shelley's Frankenstein so was interested in how this 'mash-up' would deal with the different stories.

The gender reversals on the main characters gave the narrative a new perspective and this is an easier read than the originals.

This is well worth a read whether you have read the originals or not and might even whet your appetite for the source material

If you've ever been curious about Dracula or Frankenstein but didn't feel up to reading the gothic ...more

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Mar 12, 2018 Kristine rated it liked it

Shelves: amazon-reviewed

Dracula: The Modern Prometheus by Rafael Chandler is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late February.

Chandler takes from the best of both Stoker and Shelley to portray gender-flipped Dracula who has a Transylvanian laboratory and a vengeful, empowered Mina Harker who becomes a vampire hunter after the wrongful death of both her friend, Lucy, and Van Helsing.

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Apr 04, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it

I really liked how this novel managed to blend some of the most famous horror novels and still managed to find a new and fresh angle to explore.

I really enjoyed reading the original Dracula (I enjoyed Frankenstein far less) and loved the author's fresh take on the characters, especially its re-writing of Mina.

The monsters were interesting, I liked the conflict between Eva and her creator, and would have loved to see more.

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Dec 28, 2015 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it liked it

Mina Harker, newly qualified solicitor, was just going to Transylvania to aid in the transfer of property – the Countess is certainly a little unusual but she is also educated and worldly and she certainly appreciates that

Until it becomes clear she’s stumbled onto something very unworldly, one she barely escapes – but when that threat follows her to London she gathers her fellows and is determined to fight

Even while the Countess’s grizzly experiments rise from the grave with her own desperate Mina Harker, newly qualified solicitor, was just going to Transylvania to aid in the transfer of property – the Countess is certainly a little unusual but she is also educated and worldly and she certainly appreciates that

Until it becomes clear she’s stumbled onto something very unworldly, one she barely escapes – but when that threat follows her to London she gathers her fellows and is determined to fight

Even while the Countess’s grizzly experiments rise from the grave with her own desperate purpose.

This book has that very elaborate writing that is quite common with a lot of books set in the Victorian era. This does a lot to convey a greater sense of time and place – which did work very well to create that sense of place that these books needed. But it does make for a book that is quite long winded – it does slow the plot down.

This slow speed is a particular problem because, certainly in the beginning, we kind of know what the story is going to be like. Yes, bits have been changed and the book combines both Dracula and Frankenstein. We all know when Mina Harker arrives at Countess Dracula’s castle roughly how this plot is going to play out. Elaborate and beautiful language may be good for the setting – but we know this setting – and it may set the tone but it makes the book very slow to start and get past the basic plot lines we don’t already recognise.

Once we do get past that beginning it develops excellently, weaving the two stories together into a coherent whole. The Countess and her drive to bring back her beloved sister resorts to any means she can – both mystical and “scientific” – regardless of the cost and with her obsessive focus and brilliant intellect, leading to both vampirism and the monster being created.

How the heroes came together to oppose her was decently done, though I do think it was convenient that the poor, discarded Lucy had 3 separate fiances ready to recruit for the cause and that two of them were so well placed to be useful.

Still the group worked really well together – extremely well. And they fought the Countess with dual not so much of might and magic but cunning and traps and resources trying to push each other into a trap without facing the strengths either had (the Countess’s mystical might and all the religious defences the Van Helsing’s group could bring together in response).

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Mar 21, 2018 C.C. Hrivnak rated it really liked it

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinion nor review in any way.*

I've read various classic mashups (i.e. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Little Vampire Women, etc.) and each has their own flair to our beloved classics. This one, though, combines both Dracula and Frankenstein while gender swapping the characters. Lady Dracula is seeking out Mina in order to resurrect her sister Elizabeth through the reanimation of ...more

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About Rafael Chandler

Rafael Chandler

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Rafael Chandler writes novels (The Astounding Antagonists, Hexcommunicated), video games (SOCOM 4, Rainbow Six: Lockdown), and tabletop role-playing games (ViewScream, Pandemonio). He's a metalhead, kaijuphile, gamer, and gorehound.