Vlad: The Last Confession

This had the potential to be excellent. But sadly missed the mark. Like so many others trying to capture the "real" Vlad Tepes, Humphreys has an epic failure in not knowing much about the Orthodox Church. The translation of Hagia Sophia is not St. Sophia. It's Holy Wisdom. Orthodox don't pray the Rosary, they use a Chotki, in Greek - Kombuskini. They don't use wafers, they use Prosphora. Leaven bread, baked with the image of the Lamb. Just one more thing the East and the West fought over. While churches in the area are Byzantine, they are NOT GREEK. They are Slavic. Their liturgy is in Old Church Slavonic.Humphreys doesn't even bother with the sheer devastation Vlad Tepes felt at the capture of Constantinople. What did the Muslims do there? Impaled the Christians. All of them. That's what he was avenging. Constantinople, formerly Byzantium, is the mother of the Byzantine Church - with all her Rites. That was a HUGE turning point in his life. Yet it barely gets mentioned.It was a fun read. He's an entertaining writer. But I found it difficult to take any of it as "researched" when he so glaringly dropped the ball on such a major component in the life of Vlad Tepes.

Humphreys' book is a fascinating portrayal of Vlad Dracula, the Prince of Wallachia. It is written as a narrative "confession" from Dracula's friend, lover, and confessor, those who knew him best. It doesn't touch on the fantasy of the vampire; rather, it discusses Dracula's ongoing battle with Mehmet, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.The book IS dark - there are lots of impalements, plenty of battles, and more than a few cringe-worthy scenes - but Humphreys does a great job of showing both sides of Vlad's character. It is left to the reader to decide whether Vlad was a hero or, as many seem to have labeled him, "the Devil's son."One factor that I found really interesting was the tie between the Carpathian region and the Middle East, and the ongoing struggles between them. I didn't realize how intense that fight was at the time, and how real the echoes of those struggles were for the current troubles in the region.Disclaimer here: I've met Humphreys and really learned a lot from him, and am proud to call him friend.Still, I find "Vlad" to be a well-written piece, especially for those interested in both the myth and the reality, or for anyone interested in stories that remind us that the history of the Crusades still echo today.

The author's considerable achievement here is to make a plausible character out of the widely known caricature of Vlad the Impaler. The brutality of his youthful hostage situation among the Turks and the omnipresent treachery and violence of his home region help to explain how he would find extremely vicious methods an effective strategy to subdue opponents and insure peace in his realm. Given his small realm, limited resources and his being surrounded by constant threats from greater powers, he had few alternatives. In this novel, one begins to understand Vlad and his approach -- no small accomplishment.That said, the novel has structural problems. The "confession" format is awkward throughout the novel. The novel begins quite slowly as this format is established, at times in ways confusing to the reader. Its best passages occur that format is absent and we follow the Vlad the hostage, warrior and politician. The romantic scenes are simply ponderous, add little impetus to the narrative, and can be skimmed with little loss to the reader.But to begin to understand why Vlad the Impaler behaved as he did, read this novel.

If you're looking for another Dracula-flies-through-the-night-to-seduce-women-and-drink-their-blood book, this is not it. If you're looking for historical fiction about a medieval prince, this is a great book. It's full of battles, politics, and romance. There are Crusaders, castles, Turks and actual historical events. Romanians consider Dracula a patriot and a bit of a hero, and it's this Vlad, not Bram Stoker's Dracula, that they have in mind.The book is set in Poenari Castle five years after Dracula's death. Count Horvathy, a Hungarian, has assembled the three people who knew Vlad's story best: Ion Tremblac, Vlad's childhood friend and right-hand man; Ilona, Vlad's one true love; and Vlad's confessor. The Count, like Vlad a member of the Order of the Dragon, has brought Cardinal Grimaldi to hear the three of them tell their tales in hopes that exposing the Church to Vlad's true story (rather than the rumors and myths spread by his enemies) will restore the honor of the Order of the Dragon.We don't hear Vlad's story in three separate voices; it's a seamless narration, and the reader is left to guess which of the narrators supplied what details.As another reviewer mentioned, the author takes liberties with actual events in the service of his story. Still, the average reader will learn something of the real Vlad Tepes, from his adolescence as a hostage to the Turkish Sultan to his family troubles to his three separate reigns to the cruel practices he employed to consolidate his power and impose order in his realm. As Vlad tries to repel the Turks and retake Constantinople for Christianity, hugely outnumbered and waiting for aid from the King of Hungary (who received massive payments from the Pope for his Crusade but diverted the funds to other uses), the pace of the story becomes almost frantic. The reader can feel Vlad's fury, fear and desperation.Humphreys is not on a par with Sharon Kay Penman, but he understands the uses of fiction to help us understand true events. This is an exciting book.

This book is brilliant it holds you to the end this is the first book I have read about the true vlad the impaler and it was interesting to read a different story about his life the cruelty and torture not only inflicted on him and his family he was by all means trying to save his country from the Muslim invader it was a cruel world then this book would interest anyone who wants to read about the true life of glad the crusader

Vlad: The Last Confession: n/a Vlad "The Impaler" - oh, how that name sends a shiver down everyone's spine. Most of us know that it's said that the Dracula tale is based on the story of Vlad, but, here, C.C.Humphreys has tried to show the story of Vlad, the man behind the legend not the man behind the Dracula tale.This is a vary well written book and, although fiction, is based on what few facts (rather than the fiction) which still exists about the man. This is less a story about the events and more a story about the man. Whilst there are some parts of the book that talk about his actions (such as the impalings), they are not dwelt upon and are certainly not described in ultimate, bloodthirsty detail. This enables the reader to focus on the person and the reasoning behind his deeds rather than the deeds themselves. Having said that, Humphreys in no way tries to excuse the actions but allows you, the reader, to make up your own mind.This is the second of Humphreys books I've read and in each case have found them absorbing reading.Excellent book, but not for fans of Dracula as, apart from references in the forward to the book, that name does not come up.Highly recommended Vlad: The Last Confession: n/a

You would be forgiven for thinking that a book entitled `Vlad - The Last Confession', and being about Dracula would be yet another vampire story. However, `Vlad - The Last Confession' is based upon the real Wallachian prince who lived during the middle of the 15th century and was the basis of Bram Stoker's `Dracula'. This, although a work of fiction, has enough historical fact interwoven to make for compulsive reading. Beginning when the prince is a sixteen-year-old hostage of the Turks, this tells the story of his rise to notoriety, betrayal and eventually his death(?). Along the way are numerous graphic descriptions of the horrors he visited not only on the Turks but also on those he loved. The only criticism is that sometimes the chapters jump a few years ahead, the longest being 13 years later. It would have been nice for a little more about those missing years. As I said, do not expect a tale about bloodsucking vampires, as you will not find any what so ever, indeed the `undead' are mentioned only twice and the word `Vampire' not at all. There is however, a nice mention of the name `Bathory'. Those who know their eastern European history will recognise the name in conjunction with Dracula as this was the surname of Elizabeth Bathory, better known as Countess Dracula, she who liked to bathe in the blood of virgins. A great novel, some may find the graphic scenes a little too strong, but you cannot really have a novel about Vlad the Impaler and then water it down, if anything C.C.Humphreys tells Vlad's story without judging him, leaving that to reader.

A truly brilliant read. I am a great fan of historical fiction, and this one ranks right up there with the best.I am also a fan of Bran Stokers book but don't buy this if you are after a Vampire story. Instead this tells the story of the real Vlad the Impaler, who he was, what he did and what shaped him to become the figure of legend that he is.It's a magnificent tale beautifully told of deeds great and terrible. At times I found myself literally wincing at the atrocities committed, but deep down I found myself sympathetic to the character of Vlad and longing for him to win out against the odds.In the end I definitely didn't want to finish it, and I am pretty sure this is one of those rare books that I will want to re-read in the future. Thank goodness I got the Kindle edition.Thoroughly recommended.

I was looking forward to this but sadly I've given up. I'm not a massive fan of historical fiction anyway but I thought this one might interest me, seeing as I like vlad the impaler.I understand that he fought in the name of Christianism but its just too overkill I'm the story. Constantly talking about god and following Allah. I just carried on switching off.Probably very good if you like that sort of thing, just not for me.