A Sharpness on the Neck

Rating:
Summary: Two of my favorite subjects
Review: As a fan of most fiction related to the French Revolution and as a seeker of the perfect Dracula, I was pleasantly surprised that a book I was drawn to more by the guillotine than the vampires may wind up leading me to my answer. I may be at somewhat of an advantage, already being familiar with the historical references and other literary characters, but I find this to be a highly skilled connection of different worlds of fact and fiction. I am highly dissapointed that several books in the series seem to be out of print, although I know they will not share the setting that attracted my attention.

Rating:
Summary: Sickening
Review: At first, I thought this would be a another of Saberhagen's works to be treasured, to be placed on my bookshelf next to his Swords series. However, the believable characters and highly entertaining historical ties were greatly overshadowed by the perverse behavior of many of the book's characters. It would be redundant to call that sort of thing "gratuitous" innuendo. This would have been a great one, were it not for the numerous disgusting passages found therein. My copy of this book will be a helpful firestarter next time I go camping.

Rating:
Summary: Could Be Worse...
Review: I have followed Fred Saberhagen through most of his works, including the Swords and the Dracula series and have usually found him to be a riviting author. Of course, some stories are better than others... I started out the Dracula series a little backwards -- I had some "grave" misgivings about Dracula and Sherlock Holmes ("The Holmes-Dracula File") appearing together. And, although there was a cringe or two, the book was very good. Over the years I have managed to read the rest of the Dracula series, including this latest one. "A Sharpness in the Neck" was not bad but certainly wasn't as good as some of the others in this series. The back cover is very misleading -- it mentions Napoleon, Dupin, the Marquis de Sade and the Scarlet Pimpernel, as being characters in this tale. They are not. Napoleon and de Sade do have a few lines -- none of which is the least important to the storyline -- but the others are mentioned very obliquely in passing. The story itself is not very clear; The Count's immortal, sadistic brother, Radu, is back to revenge himself for Dracula's very imaginative punishment; i.e. leaving Radu in pieces in a grave for a few decades. Why Radu is so hot and bothered about killing a 20th century decendant of a man (Phillip Radcliff) who had helped the Count during the Revolution, is not real clear. For that matter, it's rather vague as to why Radu was so hung up on killing the origional Radcliff, other than a petty annoyance for the Count. The back-and-forth from the 20th century to the Reign of Terror, is also kind of confusing. Was the entire story, as written here by "Mr. Graves", on the tape that today's Radcliff's had to watch? Or was it Dracula's remembrances? The switching of Radcliff -- who thought he was a vampire who had been beheaded -- with a wax dummy was nicely done; it accomplished the goal of being a surprise. But it didn't fill in the plot enough. All in all, I didn't find the story too bad -- although Saberhagen did tend to describe the actual beheadings (up to and including why a decapitated body doesn't appear to have any neck) in perhaps a bit too much detail. But then again, since the story is supposed to be written by Vlad Dracula (and who am I to say it wasn't?) I suppose gory details are to be expected. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for another installment in this series. And equally hopefully, the next tale will regain the "sharpness" of some of the older works.

Rating:
Summary: Saberhagen Writes Excellantly!
Review: I have read and re-read all of Saberhagen's books in the Dracula series, and this book, along with exceptional The Dracula Tapes, are easily my favorites. Saberhagen brilliantly paints a truly loathsome character in Radu, Vlad Dracula's sadistic little brother. But one HAS TO READ *ALL* THE BOOKS IN THE SERIES TO GET THE FULL ENJOYMENT FROM THIS NOVEL! It stands alone, as a great novel, but, trust me, you'll understand more if you've read the other books in the series. It may not be the most well-edited book, but it is full of well-researched history, as are the other novels in this series, and a delightful humor.

Saberhagen weaves all sorts of figures in history into this novel, such as the Marquis de Sade, a "friend" of Radu, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. This is a enchanting and innovative tale, particularly how they manage to save the Philip Radcliffe in the time of the French Revolution. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone that loves history, or even vampires. And read the other books in The Dracula Series, too, including the soon-to-come A Coldness in the Blood!

Rating:
Summary: Longwinded
Review: I loved the "Dracula Tapes" take on the vampire legend. Book #2 was slightly interesting. The series have rapidly detiriorated since them however. This is a longwinded novel, badly written, badly edited, with the characters that are impossible to care about. It is hard to follow the plot in its full if you do not have the background in the past books. I am severely disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: An exercise in name-dropping
Review: I think this series is deteriorating a bit. I quite enjoyed the earlier books that I've read, but this one lacks something. As usually happens, the modern-day tie-in to the historical story is dull and practically pointless. The rest of the book is fairly good. I fail to see, though, why Saberhagen feels his books are incomplete without at least one famous historical character popping up. Dracula does fine on his own!

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Summary: And I thought Anne Rice's new stuff was bad...
Review: I, too, was intrigued by the idea of a vampire story set amongst one of my favorite historical periods, the French Revolution. What I got was a very poorly plotted story full of inconsequential characters that doesn't really start to get anywhere until exactly halfway through when we are finally introduced to the character whose actions are the very reason this story is happening in the first place. Historical personages are thrown in so half assed I almost feel embarrased for them. I haven't read any of Saberhagen's other Dracula books, and I'm sorry to say I'm in no great hurry to do so.

Rating:
Summary: He just doesn't seem to get anywhere...
Review: Including this one, I've read three of Saberhagen's Dracula books, waiting for some moment when I feel as if the series (or just one of the individual books) has achieved some kind of point or relevance. Hasn't happened.

Saberhagen's writing is sluggish, heavy on irrelevant action (or rather non-action), without offering much of interest in return. Though he previously managed an almost engaging Sherlock Holmes, his characters here are paper-thin, and some lapse at times into fairly unsavory behavior.

Technically he's not a bad writer, but I have a feeling as if he's been persisting for years in a subject that is out of his element. There are far more intuitive and capable writers of vampire fiction, especially when it comes to "good" vampires. (I highly recommend P. N. Elrod as one who excels in the field.)

Another, personal issue. I happen to enjoy well-written vampire protagonists as much as anyone--but I'm a big fan of Bram Stoker's vampire hunter Van Helsing, and when modern authors base their works on Stoker's, I'm always dismayed to find that character maligned. Saberhagen has had a habit of doing so... though admittedly no worse than many other writers who romanticize vampires.

At any rate, this is probably the last of Saberhagen's books that I'm going to bother with.

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Summary: Different type of book.
Review: Philip and June Radcliffe are kidnapped on their honeymoon. They were confrined and told it was for their own protection that they were kidnapped. Their captor called himself Mister Graves. He, and a young woman, were vampires.

Of course, Philip and June do not believe them. Slowly, however, they find out all they have been told is true. These vampires WERE protecting them...from Mister Graves's brother.

Philip Radcliffe was named after his ancestor, who was the bastart don of Benjamin Franklin. Mister Graves was as close to death as a vampire could be, thanks to his brother, Radu. The Philip of long ago had saved the life of Mister Graves. This earned him and his descendants Radu's hatred.

Mister Graves had vowed to save Philip and June from Radu who planned to behead them with a guillotine and drink their blood.

Rating:
Summary: A confusing disappointment
Review: The first book of Saberhagen's Dracula series, _The Dracula Tapes_, was a great read; the tale of Dracula, lifted from Bram Stoker's famous book, as told by the Count himself, and oh, had he been misunderstood. Further books on the series never quite lived up to the first one, but were reasonably good reads...

Until this one. "A Sharpness on the Neck" is very disappointing. The premise itself is on par with other books on the series: bound by his honor, Vlad Dracula must protect a descendant of a friend from a murderous vampire, Vlad's brother Radu. In the process, the descendant is introduced to the world of vampires, and we are to get to know some other part of Vlad's story; this time, the period in the final decades of the eighteenth century, during the French Revolution, and more specifically, the Terror.

Unfortunately, the book never quite lives up to the reasonable premise. The narration bounces back and forth between first person and third person, often without the benefit of a break to indicate a change has occurred. Although some characters are meant to be in disguise, their right name pops back and forth at inopportune moments. The narration is overly confusing, the plotting badly done. Having spent some time in the previous books on the series "explaining" that the invitation requirement for a vampire to enter a dwelling has more to do with a psychological hangup on Vlad's part than the nature of vampirism, this is entirely discarded in this book in favor of the traditional meaning.

The book is unpolished, rushed, and poorly written.

It seems that the book is merely an excuse for Saberhagen to make inside jokes and references to other classic literature and history about the period. Percy Blakeney (better known as The Scarlet Pimpernel) makes a useless background appearance. So do the main characters from Dickens' _A Tale of Two Cities_. Superfluous references to a young Auguste Dupin, Madame Toussaud, and others, pepper the book. But rather than being clever, they are tiresome, cumbersome, and silly. Not recommended.