Incarnation by Emma Cornwall

Synopsis: Lucy Weston tracks down the novelist Bram Stoker in her search to reveal the dark force who made her a vampire--and regain her humanity in the process.In the steampunk world of Victorian London, Lucy Weston, a character in "Dracula," seeks out Bram Stoker to discover why he deliberately lied about her in his popular novel. With Stoker's reluctant help, she tracks the creature who transformed her from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme. Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy battles her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she makes a choice that illuminates for her--and for us--the true nature of what it means to be human.

review: I was completely carried away by this new story. Emma Cornwall had some fabulous ideas. When I Read the summary I confess that I didn’t expect to have a novel like this one. I thought I would have a lot of references in relation to Dracula which was ultimately not really the case. But we have however many references in relation to the Arthurian story which was a complete surprise. It’s finally this that will lead the story throughout the book. Of course everything is questioned and the author brings her own ideas to this mythical legend.

Overnight, Lucy Weston finds herself in the skin of a vampire, something she didn’t think possible. But the strangest fact is that nobody is there to help her understand her condition, nor guide her in this new life. And it's with difficulty that we discover this young woman so different from others, who enters in a world she does not know anything about. And so many new elements and characters will then appear to us. Our young heroine will be hosted by Lady Blanche, an ancient vampire whose we instantly mistrust. I must say that we quickly feel that she wants something from her and she just waits for the right time to implement her plan. With the help of two other characters: Felix and Marco, Lucy will understand the true nature of people who lives with her.

I was immediately intrigued by Marco. We don’t know what he wants; what he is and if he is trying to manipulate our new vampire. But as the story progresses, we realize that there are many things we didn’t know. Everything we learn changes our judgment about this man and his motives. I think we understand pretty quickly the reasons of his behavior when we get into the story, but we remain intrigued by his origins, his family and I confess that I would love to learn more about him.

Emma Cornwall introduces us many characters that we don’t really know and we remain curious about their histories. And what about Mordred? This character we’re searching throughout the novel? This is a character that I can’t really place, even at the end of the book and I think it'll take more than that for it to be the case. It’s quite hard to tell if he's a nice vampire or if he finally has a darker and manipulative side. He hides his feelings well and perfectly controls what he presents to the others. I think I'll stop there; I have too many things to say about the characters, especially about our dear writer, Bram Stoker. It was a real pleasure to have met him here.

This book was a very nice surprise and I admit that now that it’s finished, I want to learn more about everything. Many tracks were opened here and we now expect to learn the following events. In fact, I'm sure they will be rich in emotion.