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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9781402236976
ISBN: 1402236972
Label: Sourcebooks Landmark
Manufacturer: Sourcebooks Landmark
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: August 11, 2009
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Studio: Sourcebooks Landmark
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Product Description:
Sourcebooks Landmark, the leading publisher of Jane Austen-related fiction, is excited to announce a major release: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by international bestselling author Amanda Grange.
Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy's Diary, gives us something completely newa delightfully thrilling, paranormal Pride and Prejudice sequel, full of danger, darkness and deep romantic love
Amanda Grange's style and wit bring readers back to Jane Austen's timeless storytelling, but always from a very unique and unusual perspective, and now Grange is back with an exciting and completely new take on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.
(20090626)
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Honestly, I blame Stephenie Meyer for the existence of this book. For some reason, people are equating her sparkly vampire romance novel "Twilight" to the classic, understated novel of manners, "Pride and Prejudice."
So you can probably guess the entire point of "Mr Darcy, Vampyre" -- to portray the first months of the Darcy marriage, in which Mr. Darcy spontaneously morphs from a happy and contented man into... Edward Cullen. Amanda Grange admittedly does her best to stick to Jane Austen's style and manners, but these characters are definitely not hers -- and the meandering, increasingly surreal plot ended up just giving me a headache.
After their double wedding with Jane and Bingley, Lizzie and Darcy's planned wedding tour of the Lake District is cancelled -- Darcy wants to show Lizzie the continent. So Lizzie is whisked off to post-Revolutionary France, and finds herself mingling with Darcy's seductive, glamorous French relatives and friends. And despite a brief attack from Lady Catherine, she and Darcy head off into the deep forests of the Alps to see another old relative of his, Count Polidori (oooo, a homage).
Unsurprisingly, Lizzie suspects that something weird is up with her beloved Darcy, especially since he hasn't turned up in the bedroom at all. And apparently the rioting villagers trying to kill Darcy and all his friends'n'family hasn't clued her in that these people aren't just aristocrats. As their wedding tour of Europe continues into other ancient cities and palaces, Lizzie begins to suspect (about time!) that there's something weird up with her husband. Apparently she hasn't noticed the title of the book.
For the record, I'm not opposed to the idea of giving supernatural twists to old stories -- in fact, it seems like a cool idea if done well (and "Jane Eyre" seems like the perfect chance). The problem is that rather than trying to make "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" stand on its own, Amanda Grange tries to turn it into a sort of Regency-era "Twilight" -- there's a lot of Darcy valiantly rejecting Lizzie's sexual advances, being moody and Byronic, and dazzling her with his wealth and glamorous vampire buddies.
I'll admit, Grange's writing style is very lovely, full of lush descriptions of Parisian fashions, Alpine forests and ancient Venetian splendor . The problem is that she wraps this lovely prose around a nonexistent plot -- Lizzie and Darcy just meander around Europe, having humorless small talk and chitchatting with random friendly vampires who all think Lizzie is just awesome. Attempts to spice the plot up are downright surreal -- hello, random pitchfork-waving villagers and sea pirates! You arrived just in time!
And these aren't Austen's Lizzie and Darcy -- Lizzie is suddenly overanxious and passive, just going along with everything Darcy does because she Wuvs Him So. She's also dense as a brick -- it's glaringly obvious from the first few chapters that Darcy is a vampire (albeit a daywalking one), yet it takes most of the book for Lizzie to develop even vague suspicions. And Darcy has suddenly become all weird, with lots of bipolar mood swings, fits of jealousy and a tendency to talk only obliquely about his life.
And they also do absurd stuff that no Regency couple would do -- I can excuse Darcy by virtue of his vampirism, but Lizzie? They practically have neck-nipping sex in the middle of a lake while skinny-dipping, and she doesn't show a blush of embarrassment when his AUNT shows up. They even have a squabble with Lady Catherine while stark naked. Yes, I am serious.
"Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" might have been a decent twist on the usual "Pride and Prejudice" sequels if done right, but Amanda Grange wastes all that potential on ridiculous characterizations and a deadweight plot.
Rating:  -
This is a great book however it is not all about vampires. It does do a great job of allowing the reader to understand their live after marriage and after Pride and Prejudice. Overall great book! I enjoyed it and couldnt put it down.
Rating: -
Surprisingly decent! I admit I was rather skeptical of the content, especially with the rash of "Twilight" fans taking pen to paper as of late, but Grange largely avoids those particular pitfalls. Taking an older view of vampires, Grange manages to blend the events in Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" without having to explain away Darcy's appearance in sunlight, his ability to be married in a church, his partaking of food and beverage, and a few other similar issues. And rest assured, he does not sparkle! Though to be honest, he's not particularly vampiric, either, save a lust for Elizabeth's blood that could be easily mistaken for a lust of a more basic sort.
There's little explanation of why Elizabeth views Darcy's condition as a curse, especially given how mildly it impacts his life. A vampire's only true hardship seems to be eternal life - watching those they love grow old and die while they themselves stay youthful - but give how many other vampires seem around and about, it appears as though only a peer-group change would be needed to rectify the situation. And Elizabeth herself never considers turning, even to dismiss it, which seems like a rather large gap in logic. Like other aspects of the novel, it could have been thought though a little more by the author, since it certainly occurs to the reader. Who wouldn't want to live a life of eternal youth and endless riches?
To which I must also add, Darcy's wealth as portrayed may rival the Queen's. I assume this is meant to be a result of his long life, but given he's lived less than 200 years, it nevertheless seems extreme.
The ending is the weakest plot point of the novel, descending a bit into an Indiana Jones-like adventure in the last thirty or so pages. It also cuts against vampire lore by, pardon the spoiler, allowing Darcy to regain his humanity. More importantly, it seems rather out of place and out of pace with the rest of the work.
With all these negatives, Grange's novel is still superior to the vast majority of the other Pride and Prejudice continuations, vampires or no. The characters keep the bulk of their integrity intact, with only minor slips into emotionalism, and the writing is solid. I would recommend this novel exclusively to those who enjoy Pride and Prejudice adaptations and continuations.
Rating: -
Reeeaaallly bad. Absolutely the thinnest, flimsiest plot imaginable. None of Austen's charm or wit, none of the mystery or romance of a half-way decent vampire story. The plot consists mainly of Darcy hauling Elizabeth around Europe meeting 'mysterious' friends and family, her being slightly uneasy but ultimately clueless. Darcy's one of those tortured, self-loathing vampires, who married Elizabeth but can't bear to inflict his curse upon her. After he saves her in the end from some even worse baddies they find a way to solve everything so unique and compelling that I can't bear to give it away with a spoiler. Elizabeth doesn't figure out what's going on with him until second-to-last chapter, whereupon her reaction (and the reader's)isn't so much acceptance as stupor, since at this point nothing makes any sense at all.
In short, less an Austen-vampire mash up, with everyone so out of character, more like a P&P Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Rating: -
I knew when I saw this book I HAD to read it. After losing a few contests in an attempt to win a copy, I was wondering how I would ever get this book! The husband and I bought a house a few months back and vowed to cut our extra expenses. To my surprise, he came home a couple of week ago with this book and The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith. Woo Hoo! He DOES love me!
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre picks up where Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudiceleaves off, that is, if Mr. Darcy was a vampyre (yes with a y See below). Amanda Grange, in my opinion, does a good job capturing the essence of Austen's writing. It didn't take anything away from the original story, but added a twist. Being a vampyre does explain a few thing about Mr. Darcy. I didn't have as hard of a time adding this to the list as I did Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Something about taking the original novel and adding zombies just seemed wrong to me. I haven't read it yet, but I changed my mind and added it when I saw several guys reading it. If zombies can make men read Austen, I've got to give it a try. I have not read any of Grange's other novels which are tie-ins to other Austen novels, but I have read several good reviews.
In addition, the descriptive nature of the writing really takes you into the story. I think Grange has done well in capturing the spirit of Elizabeth Bennet especially. Overall the book was really good. There were only a few things that I wasn't particularly fond of. First, there is reference to bats in association with the vampyres. For me, turning into a bat, just is really cheesy. Now, I must say, it never says anyone actually turns into a bat, but it is implied. Second, the ending seemed a little rushed and frantic in comparison with the slow, smooth nature of the rest of the book. It was so descriptive and flowing and then the end came and I was disappointed in how quickly it was over. I would say those things are minimal in the scheme of things. The ending, while quick, fit into an Austen-style writing. By that, I mean it fit into Austen's style of writing. I went back and forth on my star rating and went with 3.5 stars in the end. I thought of giving it a 4, but even though I decided I wanted to read Grange's other Austen-inspired novels after reading this, there were a few plot-holes and I think the 3.5 is more accurate. Don't get me wrong, 3.5 is a GOOD rating from me. It still means I liked it!!!!
I've been intrigued for a while now as to why sometimes it's vampYre and sometimes it's vampIre. I've done a bit of limited research and from what I can tell, it's mostly creative license. The french spelling is `vampyre', and in german it is `vampir'. It seems the English word `vampire' comes from a combination of different backgrounds. So, whether it be `vampyres' or `vampires' they are still bloodsucking creatures of the night and make for a mighty good read!
I really did enjoy this book and I am SO glad I read it for the Everything Austen Challenge at Stephanie's Written Word!
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