Dracula Unbound

by Brian W. Aldiss

In the barren dust of the far future, the sun leaks energy in a darkening sky and the only remaining humans are imprisoned by spectral bloodthirsty beings. Back in the brilliant Utah sunlight of 1999, two ancient graves yield evidence that a species of human coexisted with the dinosaurs. Linking these scenarios is impetuous inventor, Joe Bodenland, who has just created a time machine that manipulates time to disperse of hazardous waste.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Vampires, Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Novels

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Pseudonyms: Jael Cracken, Peter Pica, John Runciman, C.C. Shackleton, Arch Mendicant, & "Doc" Peristyle.

Brian Wilson Aldiss was one of the most important voices in science fiction writing today. He wrote his first novel while working as a bookseller in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he wrote his first work of science fiction and soon gained international recognition. Adored for his innovative literary techniques, evocative plots and irresistible characters, he became a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 1999.
Brian Aldiss died on August 19, 2017, just after celebrating his 92nd birthday with his family and closest friends.

Brian W. Aldiss Group on Good Reads

Reviews

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esta novela es una secuela de 'Frankenstein desencadenado'; aunque no es una secuela propiamente dicha porque el único personaje en común es Joe Bodenland. En este caso, Aldiss homenajea a Bram Stoker y a 'Drácula', pero no le sale tan bien como en 'Frankenstein desencadenado'.

La historia de 'Drácula desencadenado' es delirante hasta decir basta. Los Voladores, los esbirros de Drácula, recorren el tiempo y la historia a sus anchas. Tienen agentes en cualquier época y pueden saciar su sed de sangre con cualquiera. Además, viven miles de años en el futuro. Después tenemos a Bodenland, en el año 1999, que realiza un descubrimiento en el desierto de Utah: dos cuerpos que vivieron hace 65 millones de años, algo completamente imposible. Al mismo tiempo, por el desierto cruza una extraña luz, como un tren, con no-muertos en su interior. Se trata de un tren que viaja en el tiempo. Bodenland ya tiene una nueva misión: hacerse con el tren, ver dónde conduce, y acabar con Drácula y todos los vampiros. Para ello contará con ayuda, por supuesto, y qué mejor que le creador del mito, el propio Stoker.

La novela es bastante imaginativa, pero no está muy bien estructurada. Aparte de algunas escenas, apenas me ha dejado huella.

[Dimitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many of us, I'm fascinated by the figure of the vampire, cloaked with sensuality and primal violence. Even if I have to admit that I'm not a great lover of Stoker's book.
Through the years I'd chances to read many books dedicated to vampires, some are masterpieces (I think about Kalogridis' Diaries of the Family Dracul), some enjoyable (Anita Blake's series) some really deplorable (only one word : sparkling...) till this book by Aldiss.
Aldiss here explain an alternative theory about the existence of the anthropomorphic long-toothed being, but this time is a believable theory, with some logics that out of the plot itself... I risk more : this ad-hoc theory could be believable even in our reality!

The characters are well delineated, even if sometimes a bit over the edge, and the plot is engaging (some down sometimes, but not big deals).
A book to read both for vampires lovers than for sci-fi's.

[Aracne Mileto · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Abandonado al 30%

[Steve Goble · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this Brian W. Aldiss story as my Halloween read this year. Yes, I started it before Halloween and just finished it. That’s more a reflection of the wee amount of reading time I have these days than it is of the book. Even so, the book did not wow me.

It should have wowed me. Dracula. Time travel. Hadrosaurs and pterodactyls. Weird alien races. A super weapon. Bram Stoker being a bit creepy and weird. Narrow escapes. Close calls.

In other words, there was plenty here to make for a rip-roaring bit of escapist fiction. Except, it didn’t.

Maybe it was the characters. With the exception of Bram Stoker and a lunatic, they were mostly flat. That includes Dracula himself.

None of the characters ever seemed to really react in any plausible way to all the weird stuff happening to them. They almost seemed to take in stride things that should have driven them bat-shit.

So, while it was entertaining enough to keep me going it was, ultimately, a disappointment.

I think I would have liked this better if Aldiss had handed the idea to Stephen King.

[Rhys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aldiss is one of my favourite writers and I really wanted to love this. But I can only give it three stars. It is Aldiss, so it is packed full of ideas, many of which are great, but the prose is very slack. I had a suspicion that Aldiss was weary when writing this book. I am sure I am wrong about this, but that is how it feels. There are some astonishingly clunky passages here (and this is from a writer known for his superbly crafted paragraphs) and very unconvincing characterisation and a bizarre tendency for the story to drift off into superfluous asides, despite the fact that the action generally pelts along at an absurdly fast pace (the scene with the knighting of Sir Henry Irving is almost surreally pointless). The end result is odd and not in a good way. The main character, Bodenland, is so colourless he is just an oft-repeated word and nothing more. The supporting cast are just as feeble.

A shame, but there it is. This won't put me off reading the two other books in his 'Monster Trilogy' (Frankenstein Unbound and Moreau's Other Island) but I'm in no great rush to get stuck into them. I wll almost certainly read Aldiss again soon, but it will be something like Last Orders or Barefoot in the Head, both of which I feel certain I will adore.

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante, molto interessante.
Vampiri, viaggi nel tempo con relativi paradossi temporali.
Però qualcosa non funziona, ancora non ho capito cosa.
Peccato.
Aldiss in qualche modo non riesce mai a soddisfarmi a pieno.

[Eloi Puig · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ressenya en català:

http://www.elkraken.com/R-dracula%20d...

Reseña en castellano:

http://www.elkraken.com/Esp/R-dracula...

[DrCrower Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pesar de que su último tercio tiene bastante brío, esta aventurilla "pulp" de Aldiss (que nunca he logrado que me volviera a gustar tanto como cuando lo descubrí en la primera recopilación de relatos que le dedicó Edhasa) deja bastante que desear. Acercarse a él como historia apócrifa de Drácula como era mi intención es bastante absurdo ya que la criatura que aparece tiene una relación tangencial con el personaje de la novela (se supone que es la criatura que inspirará a Stoker). La aparición de su creador tampoco parece especialmente cuidada y los detalles biográficos parecen succionados de manera un tanto facilona de cualquier libro sobre su figura. Ignoro si como secuela de "Frankenstein Unbound" funciona mejor (no he leído el libro y la simpática adaptación de Corman la vi ya hace demasiados años), pero los personajes principales tampoco son especialmente atractivos. Todo está diseñado excesivamente "pret a porter" y algunas decisiones resultan un tanto estúpidas (¿Por qué no viajar en el tiempo para evitar que muera Cliff del mismo modo que Joe hace con Mina?). No todo es desechable, algunas apreciaciones sobre el mito del vampirismo (como los motivos por los que les aterra la luz o la cruz) son interesantes. Pero en conjunto, la verdad, no es gran cosa.

[Antonio Rosato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho riletto questo romanzo dopo ben 26 anni: lo comprai, la prima volta, nel "lontano" 1993 per passare il tempo durante un turno di guardia del servizio militare. E dopo tanti anni ho rivissuto le stesse sensazioni, le stesse emozioni... e gli stessi dubbi!
La storia è piacevole ed è scritta molto bene, la lettura scorre via in un niente. Tutti i personaggi ed i luoghi sono descritti in maniera quasi maniacale. La trama è spettacolare e molto coinvolgente, un vero e proprio susseguirsi di emozioni. Però, c'è da dire che Brian Aldiss ha messo troppa carne al fuoco: viaggi nel tempo, vampiri che viaggiano in treno, paradossi temporali e, addirittura, Bram Stoker che usa una carta di credito del XX secolo è davvero troppo! Inoltre, alcune parti del libro mi sono sembrate alquanto ostiche: mi riferisco ai passaggi in cui si parla di scienza e fisica quantistica, due materie che, per il sottoscritto, sono sempre state "incomprensibili" durante gli anni di scuola superiore.
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]

[Eli Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could be worse; I appreciate that the story is hilariously elaborate-- whereas someone else might've stuck to the basics for a time-traveling-vampire-hunters story, Aldiss threw in feuding archeologists and nuclear waste disposal inventions and ghost trains and three different kinds of vampire and a ruined Earth at the end of time. It's just horribly written, with characters out of an R-rated Tom Swift knockoff. Since it's a sequel to a book that Roger Corman made a movie of, I suspect this one was meant as more of a quick treatment for a second movie.

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

A time-travel story with s twist, set in 1999 Dallas and Utah, 1896 England, and a dying Earth in 2599, this excellent novel is probably not as good as some of Grand Master Aldiss' earlier works, but I recommend it for the blend of horror and fantasy.

[Steve Shilstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a 194 page synopsis of a 1000 page novel.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHAT did I just read?

[Don Massi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had meant to read Brian Aldiss for some time now, he's one of the great science fiction writers I haven't read. So glad I decided to start with "Dracula Unbound". I usually don't like a story that uses science or pseudoscience to explain away the supernatural. But Aldiss does it so eloquently, Dracula's origins, powers, motivations, all with a more natural explanation. What Aldiss does is make Dracula just as mysterious, just as awe inspiring, just as evil as the supernatural version. Aldiss's Dracula is a true monster in this story, fiendish, inhuman and powerful.
I thought the characters were interesting, especially Bram Stoker, I thought that was a neat touch.
This story also dealt with time travel which I think was very well done, although I couldn't quite figure out some of the time paradoxes....but this only added to the mystery, the sense of menace.
Yes, I really, really liked this novel, and I'll be reading more Brian Aldiss very soon.

[Peter Birdsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freewheeling, wildly imaginative, more than slightly incomprehensible.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond tedious. Aldiss' use of language is excellent, as usual. The story never gets off the ground, however.

[Nuffy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A snippet of the review from The Guardian: "Whatever else Aldiss may be, predictable he is not."

Well, it's easy to be unpredictable when your characters don't act like people, when no one reacts the way a logical person reacts, when the characters do what they do because that's what the plot needs them to. A ghost train whisks by without any explanation: obviously the next course of action is to try to board it without any preliminary investigation. Let's bring the newlywed couple who are about to go on their honeymoon to this archaeological dig that they really don't have any interest in; seems reasonable. That newlywed couple will then spend the whole book fighting, but their fights are crazy inconsistent and they flip flop which side they're on each argument. Several horrific things happen, and the characters just brush it off; gotta move on to the next scene. Keep the plot moving guys.

The plot moves so quickly from scene to scene, there's no opportunity for anything that happens to really settle, to have any impact, and the progression makes absolutely no sense. And since the characters aren't feeling anything, the reader can't either. And for a story about time travel, not a lot of play is done with the time travel element. Time may be wibbly wobbly, but it's not in Aldiss's story. The plot goes from A to B to C, and so on, M to N...back to M, but not farther, to N to O to P to O...to P to Q, etc.

If I finish a book, I usually give at least 2 stars; 3 generally means, "this was a book that was fine." But I just can't give this more than 1 star. The story was drab, the characters were unbelievable even as cardboard cutouts, there was no play with time travel fun (which was the main reason I kept reading; what kind of time travel doesn't include some kind of twisty element??).

The one positive: I like this world's vampire lore/history...

[Gian Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll make this brief, and spoiler-less.

This book has got some good ideas.
Distant plot points intertwine almost smoothly in coherent pseudo-scientifical theories, which, when explained, make for some of the most exciting scenes in the book.

In fact, the concepts behind the plot are so intriguing, after at first appearing as haphazard, that they almost convinced me to give this title 4 stars.

Alas, I could not.
I have been displeased by how the author has often decided to put a lot of emotional luggage at stake and then plain ignore the due emotional developments his characters should have had.

When I started reading this, I was like "oh boy, the stereotypes", but then, some smooth writing made me think that they were authentic, flawed characters, who had to go through very difficult situations. Except they then really just 'murica it all up, as if nothing happened.

The last twenty pages or so are plain terrible, as if the author got bored and decided it was time to wrap the story up.

It is a pity, because I found this to be one of the most interesting vampire portrayal (as a species) I have ever read.

Still worth a read if you are fan of such sub-genres.

[Simon Langley-Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the very far future the Sun is dying and on Earth the last remaining humans are being farmed by the Fleet Ones; vampires who subsist on human blood. Meanwhile in 1999 the inventor Joe
Bodenland has created a machine to dispose of toxic waste by freezing it in time. The story draws the two positions together with the discovery of a grave which apparently contains humans dating back to the Cretaceous period and Bodenland finds himself confronting Count Dracula in a fight to save humanity.
I bought this bound up with the rest of the Aldiss Monster Trilogy some time ago and hadn't got round to reading it. I am an Aldiss fan and was looking forward to discovering some books I hadn't read. These books are Aldiss's reimagining of three classic horror novels of the Victorian/Edwardian era- Dracula, Frankenstein and The Island of Doctor Moreau. What a disappointment. Dracula Unbound was twaddle. A time story with vampires thrown in and serious plot holes. It didn't work at all and I am not looking forward to reading the others.

[7thTrooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alltså, jag har gillat i alla fall en del av det jag läst från Aldiss innan, men det här var bara sorgligt. Rent av komiskt, ibland. Det finns en scen med en vampyr värd Nile City. Det räcker tydligen med ett par tunga stövlar och en ihoprullad tidning för att döda dem.
Intrigen är altför komplicerad, osammanhängande och knappt möjlig att hänga med i, då karaktärer ofta bara kommer på saker eller gör saker utan förklaring vare sig före, medans, eller efter. Något om tidsresor och vampyrer och Libyen, anno 2599. Nämnda karaktärer är dessutom tunna och huvudkaraktären genomgående dryg och arrogant.
Det enda värt att nämnas i positiv anda är att språket bitvis är riktigt bra, men i och med hur uselt allt annat är så väger det inte upp.

[Debra Omiatek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time Travelling Dracula

An interesting twist to the story of Dracula. The combination of a time travelling train used by Dracula and other Undead to enslave mankind, with the writer who created Dracula and the scientist who discovers time travel joining forces to defeat the vampires. The story is good but the jumps to different times in the same chapter are at first a little difficult to to piece together. After reading a few chapters it is easier to maintain a perspective on the storylines. Further on, the action and previous background make it really easy to follow the timelines and anticipate the next set of character interactions to occur. A book worth reading.

[Peveril · Rating 2 out of 5]

First read. Having noted his passing I wanted to read something by Aldiss, who I hadn't read since my youth, and bought this ebook, title familiar but not read before. Perhaps I could have chosen better. It felt poirly constructed, much older than its copyright date - not in a positive sense - and I couldn't say I either admired or enjoyed it. I waded through it.
Back to my current Dickens .. .

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this is a very cheesy, dumb book from the prehistoric period of scifi. But! It's not *all* bad. Unless you want realistic depictions of women that are a bit more than 'blood sucking vampire bitch', in which case... sorry. The horrifying future, the version of vampirism, and the first half of the plot are all quite good. The writing is a bit wooden and clunky at some points, but it's short enough that this is a forgivable sin.

[Landon · Rating 2 out of 5]

audiobook review.
A completely overstuffed mishmash of circumstance & happenstance, scenography & philosophy.
Borderline incoherent for much of its length, the author does tie up just about every loose end by the time it wraps up. Probably the most interesting aspect is Aldiss inventing an origin for vampires.

Stoker's presence in the novel is ridiculous throughout, but that's the game.

Narrator was just fine, nice & smooth.

[B Mc Cann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitely won't be reading this again found myself page counting to the end never a good sign, it sounded great to begin with time travel ,Dracula, Bram Stoker aldiss even did research for this but wasn't a good story at all .
I'm quite surprised because I liked non stop by the same author but this I dunno .
Thankfully it's a short book.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Interesting

It started slow and wordy but slowly built up.
A fun read.
As mentioned in previous reviews, it does read like a screenplay. More development would have been appreciated.

[edward goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read!

A great book.I have been a Dracula fan for as long as remenber.The book was interesting in that the author was involved in the story.I'll say no more about that.All i can day is i think that most people will find it of intetest.

[Raquel Santos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como amante do Drácula, achei que este livro me apelaria mais, mas é demasiado ficção científica, género que não é o meu preferido.
Achei ainda mais fraco que o antecessor na série, sobre o Frankenstein. Não lerei o terceiro.

[Tony Calder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is Aldiss retelling, or rather reimagining, Stoker's Dracula. It is a pretty big change to change a gothic novel into a science fiction setting. Aldiss does a pretty good job, although the ending gets a little convoluted - as can happen with time travel.

[A.P. Rajshekhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5