Renfield: Slave of Dracula

by Barbara Hambly

An imaginative novel that puts a fresh and frightening new spin on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The servant Renfield was the most enigmatic character to stalk in the shadows of Dracula. Now he takes center stage in an ingenious re-imagining of Bram Stoker's classic novel that explores the chilling circumstances of his insane devotion to the Vampire Prince. An inmate of Rushbrook Aylum, the obsessive Renfield's personal mission is to hunt and kill Van Helsing and his companions, setting the stage for a battle between the living and the dead that takes him from Dracula's castle to the darkness of his own madness, and the truth of where it all began. Featuring characters and situations from Dracula, yet filled with new twists, Renfield is a rich, frightening, and astonishing alternate view of Stoker's legendary work.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Ebooks, Historical

306 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

aka Barbara Hamilton

Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.


"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly

Reviews

[Jennifer Mlynowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my reviews at http://jenchaosreviews.com


By Barbara Hambly

Penguin Group, October 2, 2007

332 Pages, Hardcover


Rating: 5 Stars

Hambly retells the chilling tale of Bram Stoker's most enigmatic character, Renfield, the faithful servant of Dracula. Eater of flies and spiders and whatever else should land in his cell at the asylum, he yearns to rejoin his daughter and wife while serving as a dutiful slave to his master Dracula. Escaping whenever he can, he scales the walls of the asylum to join his master at night only to be caught and brought back to his cell. Unfortunately, the madman's ravings become repetitive, tedious and improbable once certain truths about him are revealed. Though Renfield dies eventually at the hand of his employer in the original story by Bram Stoker, Hambly contrives a story that prolongs Renfield's involvement in an imaginative way to illustrate to the reader that a more exciting vampire story is unfolding outside of the asylum and the events of the novel.

REVIEW:

Poetic, Charming and dark, this story follows the life of a madman through the days in an asylum as he rants and raves about his master and other things. Meticulously accounting for all the "life" he captures and then eventually consumes, thinking that he can atone for something involving his wife and child, he pleads to his master to be set free to rejoin them ultimately. This book shows a side of the Dracula story that is in the original Bram Stoker classic. Although Renfield is in the original story, it was not known as to why he ended up going mad or why he ended up in the service of the vampire. This book answers that question. It does take some time getting there, but it does get there.

Also in the forefront of this novel is the story of the doctor that treated the poor madman. He was a hapless victim in a sense. An innocent bystander who had not had the feeling to turn the man away when he needed help. Back in those days, many went to sanitariums for many different things, so it was not uncommon to see madmen walk into asylums and never come out. Renfield was one of them. His ramblings are as fiction, and that as hallucination fits of hysteria and nothing to take seriously. His escapes were common and seen to be that as a madman's wanderings. They were able to catch him and bring him back each time.

The doctor befriends the famed Dr. Van Helsing when the friend of a woman he loves (but doesn't like him back) is in a questionable state. Barbara Hambly writes of a long journey, terrible illness and a fight of the girl's life.

Barbara Hambly is a beautiful storyteller; I have not seen many writers who can craft a tale with such skill as she.

WRITING:

The writing is exceptional. It's almost poetic and musical. She follows the same note as Bram Stoker to keep with the period, yet uses modern terms not to confuse the readers. It's important to note that she has written about vampires before. Therefore, she has an exceptional quality to her writing of the supernatural. I am always pleased to read her novels. It is not confusing like Neal Stephenson, and it is not jerky. It flows smoothly and weaves in and out so well the pages go by, and you never know what hit you.

The characters are well designed and drawn together that they seem to be real and three dimensional. They have separate voices and personalities that are definite and purposeful.
PLOT:

As the story unfolds, the plots begin to come clear. At first, they are an uncertain thing as there are so many factors at play as there seem to be many characters. However, about a quarter into the book, the plots begin to take form, as Renfield starts to do certain things in his cell it makes sense that there are goals for him other than merely serving a master and eating insects. He has thoughts and feelings outside that in which the master has planted in him.

The secondary plot focuses on the doctor and the girl's friend. The secondary plot becomes a storyline in and of itself. Renfield is partially a part of this storyline; and, it takes up the majority of the book.

This story ties in nicely in the end. It involves several characters, not all human, and Renfield does something to himself I never thought possible! With an ending that is so unpredictable, I was pleased that I had read this book.

WHAT I LIKED:

The book took an impossible turn towards the 75% mark involving Renfield and a non-human. I won't say whether it was his master or a subordinate. It took me by surprise, and I loved how the story went from there. It didn't make sense at first, but as the story went along, Ms. Hambly wrote it in such a way that sense was all it did have.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

His time in the asylum was too long. It dragged on forever. All the days on and on marking how many insects he had eaten, and it seemed pointless. I think there could have been more explanation or action than what had been going on.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

I liked this book as a Bram Stoker fan. I loved Dracula and was concerned that this book would not do Stoker's book any justice. To my surprise and amazement, it did. I was happy about that. The story was cold, dark and pleasing for a vampire fan without being gory, disgusting and altogether full of mayhem like many of the new day vampire stories are. This one was tasteful and full of intrigue and catching dialogue.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like most of the other reviews I am going to give this a low rating and say that this is nothing more than a rehash of the original Dracula novel set from Renfield's point of view. It offers nothing new and since most of us (hopefully) have read the original Dracula novel, this book was very tedious to read and extremely predictable.
I particularly didn't like the fact that she put Renfield on par with Dracula. No no no no no! Read your own title sweetie.

[Lín · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve loved vampires stories since I was kid. I’ve read as many as I could get my hands on (quite a few) and I can tell you, this is the book I’ve been waiting for - it makes Dracula a true horror story again!! My heart raced as I turned the pages! Dracula, here, is no suave, handsome Hammer hero - he is a monster. A loathsome creature that should be destroyed.

One of the most striking passages was, “Or perhaps, he thought, I am only mad. But mad or sane, it did not change what he knew to be facts, which others these days ignored, or walked in ignorance of.
That humankind was not alone upon the earth.”

Learning the true story of what Renfield went through was fascinating and heartbreaking. I could not put this book down!

Honestly, I want to know ever more now - as a good book should ‘leave hungry, when most it satisfies’. I would love to see a prequel, going more into Renfield’s life in India (should be quite a story there if what is hinted at on page 201 is any indication!). Or, a sequel to this one would be wonderful, too.

It’s one of the best vampire books I’ve ever read, and fits seamlessly into the original book’s narrative, if you choose to read them both together. (I was not a fan of the original novel, but this book is amazing!).

I admit, in my mind I saw the cast of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as this cast of characters - oh how I wish this would be filmed in that way!

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish that Goodreads allowed half-star ratings, because I would have given it 4 and 1/2. It deserves more than 4, but just misses the 5-mark of "Oh my god, this is one of the best books ever."

I have to hand it to Hambly, she certainly took on an enigmatic and difficult subject. In the original "Dracula," not much is said of Renfield, other than the fact that he eats insects and birds, that he tried to escape several times, and that he eventually tried to stop Dracula from doing something. Other than that, many holes are left in his story, his back story is never explained, and we are left assuming that he dies in the sanitarium. It's quite unnerving, also, in the original, that it is said that he explains several times to Dr. Seward why he does what he does, what with the eating of insects, but Bram Stoker never explains to us, the reader, and leaves no one in the dark about this except for us. You would figure WE'D be the most important part.

It's good to finally have this explained, along with his back story. This book is written quite like any other story, with a defined plot, a beginning, an end, etc. Through this, it deviates very much so from the original form of storytelling, but allows us to find out many things: Why Renfield "consumes lives," how he came to the madhouse, why he went mad, why he escapes several times, why he tried to stop Dracula, and what happens after Dracula dashes his brains upon the cell floor. You would think that this last part would be the end of the book, but it actually falls in the middle, with Hambly taking plenty of liberty in creating the entire story of what Renfield (spoiler alert) does when he becomes a vampire himself. Honestly, given his preoccupation with "the blood [being] the life," it seems like it would have so naturally happened.

There are many, many good things that Hambly has done with this book, aside from explaining the aforementioned unexplained from Bram Stoker's work. She does this explanation in a style of riveting storytelling, and so expertly weaves in and out of the original text that it seems hard to believe that the two stories were written over a hundred years apart. It seems actually far more likely that Hambly and Stoker were contemporaries and the labyrinth of unexplained events, dead ends, and plot holes that Stoker left were indeed meant for Hambly to fill in.

Another thing that she does is, while the original text is very black and white, wherein we are supposed to view vampires as the ultimate do-no-good evils of the world, through her writing we CANNOT help but feel sympathy and, almost root for one of the vampire wives. Nomie becomes both a hero and an antihero at the same time. I have to admit that my heart was pounding during the passage in which Van Helsing is killing off the wives, one by one, in anticipation and hope for her survival alone.

Speaking of Van Helsing, we see his dark secret brought to the forefront. (Spoiler alert): It is quite obvious through the small hints and allusions in the original text that Van Helsing has some sort of vampire envy. In "Renfield," we see just how deep this desire goes. From his blatant admissions of his fascination of what could be, and what it would be like to be a vampire, from the way he regards the changing Mina Harker, to his hesitation in killing Dracula's wives, finally culminating in the kiss the he and Nomie share. This passage is thought-provoking in particular, as given the explanation of why Nomie kissed him. Spoiler alert She alone of the wives survives.

Once again, I WISH that I could have given this book 4 and a half stars. It doesn't get 5, because I can't say I'll be talking about this book still in five years, or will bring myself to read it again, but it kept my undivided attention, sucked me in, and kept me up well into the wee hours of the morning. READ THIS BOOK.

[Tarl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I had read Dracula back in school and had enjoyed it. As soon as I started on the journey that was this book, I couldn't stop myself from turning each page and staying up long past when I should just to read one more page.
Hambly does a wonderful job fleshing out the character of Renfield. To the point where you understand why he went insane and why he chose to serve Dracula the way he did. The insights of his letters, mixed in with actual entries from the novel 'Dracula' make for a wonderful read. Hambly's ability to work with established characters and flesh them out without ruining the story of Dracula itself leaves me with a sense of awe. Her story isn't a replacement or over riding story, but rather an enrichment of an existing tale.
I highly recommend this book. More so if you enjoy vampire fiction as well as Dracula itself. The language is wonderfully written and the pace is well maintained except at one point, though it one quickly gets past it as it's near the climax of the story.
Renfield is a terrific book, one I will probably read again at some point.

[Viridian5 · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off, you better have read and remembered Bram Stoker's Dracula, or a lot of this will make no sense to you. Also, a lot of this is rendered in journals and letters, such as in Dracula, which has the same effect of distancing you from the events and people as it did in Dracula. Next, it mostly follows Renfield, who spend much of the time locked in a room in an insane asylum. Not much happens to him aside from his visions, which aren't terribly interesting. For much of the story the action happens offscreen (in Dracula) and you're left with a brief overview of the end of events.

Aside from a welcome broadening and deepening of Dracula's brides, you don't get a new look at the characters. Renfield has a backstory here, but you feel distanced from it. Hambly doesn't make the suitor-adventurers any more interesting than Stoker did, which seems wrong to me since they should have been cool in both. They certainly have the background to be potentially interesting.

I can understand that someone like Renfield would keep a record of things, but sometimes it seemed rather Bridget Jones's Diary to me, to the point where I expected something like this to eventually show up:
R.M.R's notes
12 August
14 flies, 5 spiders, 2 slugs (sugar-water dripped on sill)
v. good

Things get more better once Renfield gets his own adventures, but it takes forever to get there.

Most egregiously to me, this book doesn't give you much idea of what it's like to be a vampire. I know Barbara Hambly can write a good vampire story because I really enjoyed her Those Who Hunt the Night. Renfield: Slave of Dracula is neither a good book nor a good vampire book.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful take on the Dracula story, told from the POV of the character Renfield. Barbara Hambly expresses his character so perfectly that you actually feel for the poor man. A wonderful addition to the Dracula oeuvre.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renfield is mad. Locked up in Carfax Asylum, we hear through his letters to his wife of his growing fascination with a being he believes is Wotan, but is revealed as Dracula, the undead Transylvanian count.

Hambly has created a sympathetic narrator in her Renfield and the way she ties his story into the original 'Dracula' novel is excellent.

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pointless retelling of Bram Stoker's original. Don't bother. This is a rehash of Dracula, from Renfield's point of view. There is nothing new here. I suppose if you haven't read Dracula, you might enjoy it.

[Sarede Switzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't really get into it.

[Danny R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most boring retelling ever.

[E. D. Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd first come across this one some years ago, but hadn't read it until now. I thought that this was actually going to be a prequel to Dracula telling us how Renfield came to be Dracula's servant and how he ended up in the asylum, but that's not what this book was.
This book serves as a companion book with the original Dracula, telling about Renfield in the asylum, some of his feelings and past, goings on at the asylum, family drama, events from Dracula told from Renfield's (and a few others') POVs, and Renfield's person journey.
I actually liked this one, dispite some of the unfavourable reviews for this book, especially with the inclusion of Dracula's Brides and their little subplot.
For the most part, this book pairs rather well with the original Dracula, though it does deviate just a little in a few spots. Would definitely recommend it.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love retellings, and I've enjoyed the other Hambly books I've read, so this has been on my TBR for quite awhile. I admit, I didn't love the first half of this book ... it was a very slow burn, and since this is a retelling from Renfield's point of view, it's mostly him sitting in his asylum cell. Any "action" comes through either dreams, or complete POV shifts, which felt odd in a book that was supposed to from Renfield's POV. That said, I enjoyed the second half of the book much more. Hambly did a good job of adhering to the known plot points that had to be met, while still introducing new material.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. This probably deserves more stars than I am giving it, but I only barely enjoyed this account of Renfield's unseen actions during the course of Dracula. Hambly adopts the weaknesses of that novel, such as the atrocious rendering of accents, and loses the redeeming qualities, such as the advent of new technologies and their affect on society.

Hambly sticks closely to the events in Dracula, and, while this is admirable, it telegraphs plot twists fifty or more pages ahead of time. The reader can tell from the outset that Renfield is plotted parallel to Dracula, and that there are certain ways that the plot of Renfield must inevitably progress without countermanding Bram Stoker's plot.

I enjoyed reading this over the course of an evening, and was intrigued by how Hambly would pull off the twists as they came, and she does an adequate job. I found her prose a little purple, and the third-person narrative sections took some getting used to. If there were such a thing as a Halloween beach read, this would be a good one.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book since I had enjoyed Barbara Hambly's Star Wars novels when I was a teenager and practically everything dealing with Dracula is A-OK in my book, however, this one fell short. I felt this retelling of Bram Stoker's famous work didn't offer much in the way of new material. The fascinating, insect-eating character of Renfield has a highly predictable and just plain boring storyline. In short, this book had a lot of potential, but readers would be better off picking up the one and only original.

[Necol or Eli Dickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book started great but after the main renfield quest it got really dry and boring and I had a hard time wanting to read more. The last 1/4 of the book is basically them just traveling back and forth to different city's and countries and there isn't much interesting to read, more of "they were on a train, then at a hotel, then a boat" and it was all very dry and boring compared to the previous part of the book so I just gave up on it.

[Hilary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a Barbara Hambly fan, but I am not a fan of this book. Aside from the Bridget Jones-like recording of Renfield's diet -- X flies, X spiders, 1 prostitute -- I found little to amuse me.

[Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I am interested in seeing retelling of Dracula from different povs, such as Renfield. There are so many rich characters in the novel, and seeing their perspective could make things more interesting.

This particular story follows the same conventions as other Dracula retellings-meaning the author does everything possible to have a character which was not present for most of the novels main events able to see everything that happens, either via dreams or visions. It tries to do the epistolary motif which is just fine, but then it also just does regular third person narration. Do one or the other.

I would prefer if this novel stuck to maybe two perspectives instead of trying to add multiple. Renfields perspective in the asylum, waiting for Dracula's arrival, versus Seward struggling to understand his madness and connect it to the horrors in his life amongst his friends would make an excellent and eerie story on its own. It could display Renfield and Dracula's odd relationship (why he sought out Renfield in the first place, etc) while also having the other plot be Seward solving the mysteries of the vampire. But instead we still have to see everything going on in the original Dracula with no changes.

There is an attempt to change Renfields fate, I won't spoil it. I didn't enjoy that aspect of the novel. I did enjoy the creation of a wife and child for him though, whom he is writing letters to. And I really really enjoyed the concept of his in-laws trying to butt in to find his wife and child and not liking or trusting Renfield. I wish more was done with that little plot.

Ultimately, I just wanted something else from a story like this, but that doesn't make it bad! The writing was solid and it has some excellent ideas! I always encourage others to try Dracula retellings if they feel the original novel is too flat or stuffed for their taste.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the original Dracula, so I thought I'd give this a try. Hambly is definitely a skilled writer and captures the language and mood of the original. I didn't give it more stars because the first half of the book sticks so much to the original's storyline that I found myself wishing I were reading that one instead. Renfield is not a likeable or compelling character, either, so since I couldn't identify with him or sympathize with him, I didn't really care what happened to him in the parts that diverged from the original. Halfway through the book I found myself speed-reading, searching for a scene that would draw me in, and didn't find one. In spite of the fact that this book did not interest me as much as I hoped, I look forward to reading some of Hambly's other work.

[Mel Rivers · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars! Damn, that was an adventure! I went into this book with expectations and it far exceeded them. Though it was very different than what I was thinking. Really he was a slave to his insanity while stuck at the asylum. Renfield has an eclectic eating habit which he records throughout the story. It’s really just a tragic love story to which I don’t want to say more for fear of ruining it for a fellow reader, other than it is well worth the read. I was in tears there in the middle of the book… I liked that it had me asking where is this going? Just what happened? And really had me guessing/thinking throughout! I also enjoyed the multiple POVs from many of the characters. I felt like it kept true to Dracula.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is based on the character of Renfield in Bram Stoker's Dracula. This vampire story runs concurrent with Stoker's Dracula storyline and much of it overlaps. Though the author writes well, and I thought what she did with Renfield's story was interesting, the pacing of this story was way too slow. Hambley clearly did a lot of research on Dracula before writing this novel, and the reasons for Renfield's madness and why he is susceptible to Dracula and his wives fits well into the Dracula lexicon - but I wanted to like this book better than I did, and because of the pacing, I was just so glad when it was over.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but I couldn't get into this; DNF around 50-60 pages. Though it's supposed to be Dracula from Renfield's perspective, it spends a LOT of time in the other, regular-Dracula-protagonists' POVs, so it's more like Dracula with EXTRA Renfield (and a side-helping of Norse mythology from Renfield viewing Dracula as a parallel to Wagner's operas), and felt more like a slightly-altered rehash than like a new spin. Flipping ahead revealed nothing much new except bringing a hint of colonial India into the mix.
Alternates between several POVs and between narrative and epistolary telling.
Not my cup of tea.

[Jessica McGee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I honestly did. Unfortunately, I was extremely bored and disappointed. If you've read Bram Stoker's Dracula, there is absolutely no reason to read this. I was hoping that by being from Renfield's perspective, it might offer some information I didn't already have. There may have been a small handful of details you wouldn't have known otherwise. It took me much longer to finish this book than it should have given its less than 300 pages. Every time I picked it up, I started yawning uncontrollably and could only manage a couple chapters at a time. This is the pov no one asked for, and no one really needed. Super disappointed.

[Damean Mathews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this honestly felt like a chore or an obligation. I've always wanted to learn more of Renfield and who he was, how he got to be mad, etc. This book just didnt do it for me. I made through over 200 pages before I truly jusr could not care anymore. Hambly, somewhat cleverly, alters Renfield's original demise, and gives him some familial ties, but so much of the book is literally just rehashing Dracula from the room next door. I could get the same effect standing at the water cooler at work and letting someone tell me about the newest reality show. Not one I'll dive back into, or even feel regret about not finishing.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is looking to be the only spooky book I finish this spooky month this year. Oh well. This book wasn't too bad, but I'm not really sure if it's because of Hambly's storytelling or if it's because I really like Dracula. It was fun reading all of Hambly's headcanons about the characters of Stoker's novel.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to read next, but it probably won't be New Moon.

[Sonstepaul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book never seemed to know what it wanted to be. It starts off as an interesting parallel narrative to Dracula, before taking severe liberties. The twist is seen from far off and the last hundred pages are a story that may as well have no association with Dracula at all.

Hambly is a very capable writer but this isn’t a good introduction to her, I’m afraid. Perhaps her fans would forgive her, but as a Dracula fan first I was not a big fan of this book.

[¸.•*¨*•Gina *A Bookwyrm in Belgium*•*¨*•.¸ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on this much maligned servitor of Dracula. I enjoyed reading Barbara Hamby's version of the events from Dracula, but seen through Renfield and the Brides. The style of writing was sympathetic to the original work, although I wasn't completely convinced by the ending.

59 Fandoms Reading Challenge - a novel where a character is taken from another literary work.

[aether · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5 overall

really well written!! plot is to be expected as it is a retelling of dracula yet it offers a look into renfield as a character and his background, which i found interesting

it was enjoyable, only gave 3.5 stars because it became slow for me and i wished there was more done with this concept

[Lilies Remain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it was just so anticlimactic. I love the story of Dracula and enjoy being absorbed in that world, which is the main reason I read until the end. The idea of a story from Renfield's point of view sounds wonderful, however this story just fell flat for me.

[Trinity Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's not much new information presented here as far as the story of Dracula, and the things that are rehashed are not very interesting and, frankly, not very well written. I really wanted to like this book, but I did not in the end.