The Scholar's Tale by Reggie Oliver (The Dracula Papers: Book 1)

9/10

So, I’ve read Sookie Stackhouse, and I’ve read the Twilight Saga, I watched Buffy, Being Human, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. While I honestly admit to enjoying them, (except the Twilight movies, seriously people) It seems that the market is becoming oversaturated with angst-ridden, over-sexed vampires, and there’s only so much crazy eyed Vampness a girl can take (yes, Damon Salvatore, I mean you). So, let’s get back to where it all started. Old school Gothic tales set during the early years of everyone’s favourite Vampire, Count Dracula. This is a chunky book, 470 pages to be precise, and I was a little daunted at first, but, from the moment I started reading I literally could not put the book down.

We start with a fictional introduction by Reggie Oliver where we learn he has discovered papers which belonged to Van Helsing, containing information about the life of Count Dracula, we then have a brief foreward by Dr. Abraham Van Helsing himself, before diving straight in to the story which is told by Martin Bellorius, whom we learn was a tutor in Transylvania during the early days of Prince Vladmir whom eventually became Count Dracula. Sorry to disappoint anybody expecting macabre tales of bloodsucking and crucifixes, but there’s none of it here, well, at least not in this volume, however, we learn at the end of the book there are another three volumes to come. Bellorius weaves his tales of 16th century Eastern Europe so brilliantly and eloquently I felt like I was there, some of the stories are hilarious, others disturbing, but it’s a brilliant balance and author Reggie Oliver has well and truly surpassed all my expectations.

So, if you’re a fan of the new wave of Vampires or if you prefer your Vamp tales filled with folklore and intrigue then pick up a copy, it doesn’t disappoint, and is the best book I’ve read in months, I can’t wait for the next instalment to discover what’s next for Vlad on his road to becoming the scariest mythological creature of all time.