Dan Simmons: All Dracula’s Children. Summary and analysis
In All Dracula’s Children, Harold Winston Palmer, an American executive, is part of an international delegation sent to Romania shortly after the fall of the Ceaușescu regime. Accompanied by local official Radu Fortuna, they travel through a country devastated by decades of repression, poverty, and state neglect. During their tour of hospitals, polluted villages, and overflowing orphanages, the visitors are confronted with horrific scenes: children sick with AIDS, inhumane living conditions, and the remnants of a brutal political regime. The narrative, seemingly sober and rational, becomes increasingly charged with symbolic tension until it reveals a darker dimension. Fortuna and Palmer belong to an ancient “vampiric family” that has survived by adapting to new forms of power. At the end of the journey, Palmer visits the mythical Dracula in Sighisoara, now a dying and decrepit old man, sick with AIDS, whom he recognizes as his “father.” Without surprise or rejection, he bids him farewell. Then, he finalizes the purchase of several local industries, thus sealing his role within a network that continues to operate silently while the old patriarch passes away on his deathbed.