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A review by juliannos
I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod
4.0
TL;DR: Short, but fun and interesting read. Great for those interested in Curse of Strahd or the Ravenloft setting in D&D, but is also a good read for those not into playing tabletop. A good, solid vampire story.
My reasoning for wanting to read this book is due to the fact that I am currently running the Curse of Strahd campaign for my friends and wanted to dig a little deeper into the lore surrounding the main villain of the story - Strahd von Zarovich. Much of his story and the surrounding setting is heavily inspired and, at times, stolen from Stoker's Dracula. So, of course, I was going to love it.
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But, it's actually a decent vampire story. Considering it's an adaptation of the original campaign from the early 1990s and published in 1993, I had... low expectations to say the least. Color me surprised when I found myself enthralled and actually caring about the story, even though it's one I know well. It doesn't go too heavy into the details of the world, instead focusing on Strahd's character - his motivations, his thoughts, and his actions. It asks a simple question for its reader: is Strahd a villain because he's a vampire or is he a villain because of his innate nature? And, perhaps most interestingly, it asks if his vampirism reveal new aspects of himself that did not exist before or does it merely give him permission to act in the terrible ways he always wanted to?
It is also worth noting that it is never written as if Strahd himself thinks he is the villain in his story but he is still a being of terror in his world. I've long been frustrated with the lack of scary vampires in fiction. They are a quintessential part of gothic romance, but it leaned more towards romance than gothic in recent years. I, Strahd is not a romantic book, nor is Strahd supposed to be a romantic hero, even if he thinks of himself as one. He is scary and possessive and vicious, while also being calculated and intelligent. While not the villain in his own story, it's easy to step back and see how he would be one to those around him.
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If you like vampire stories or character studies, I would recommend this book, even if you're not into Dungeons & Dragons. It's a fairly light read (I finished in about 5 hours of total read time, according to my kindle) so it doesn't demand much of your time. Good for a dark and stormy night.
My reasoning for wanting to read this book is due to the fact that I am currently running the Curse of Strahd campaign for my friends and wanted to dig a little deeper into the lore surrounding the main villain of the story - Strahd von Zarovich. Much of his story and the surrounding setting is heavily inspired and, at times, stolen from Stoker's Dracula. So, of course, I was going to love it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But, it's actually a decent vampire story. Considering it's an adaptation of the original campaign from the early 1990s and published in 1993, I had... low expectations to say the least. Color me surprised when I found myself enthralled and actually caring about the story, even though it's one I know well. It doesn't go too heavy into the details of the world, instead focusing on Strahd's character - his motivations, his thoughts, and his actions. It asks a simple question for its reader: is Strahd a villain because he's a vampire or is he a villain because of his innate nature? And, perhaps most interestingly, it asks if his vampirism reveal new aspects of himself that did not exist before or does it merely give him permission to act in the terrible ways he always wanted to?
It is also worth noting that it is never written as if Strahd himself thinks he is the villain in his story but he is still a being of terror in his world. I've long been frustrated with the lack of scary vampires in fiction. They are a quintessential part of gothic romance, but it leaned more towards romance than gothic in recent years. I, Strahd is not a romantic book, nor is Strahd supposed to be a romantic hero, even if he thinks of himself as one. He is scary and possessive and vicious, while also being calculated and intelligent. While not the villain in his own story, it's easy to step back and see how he would be one to those around him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you like vampire stories or character studies, I would recommend this book, even if you're not into Dungeons & Dragons. It's a fairly light read (I finished in about 5 hours of total read time, according to my kindle) so it doesn't demand much of your time. Good for a dark and stormy night.