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    The Historian
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    The Historian
    Unavailable
    The Historian
    Audiobook (abridged)11 hours

    The Historian

    Written by Elizabeth Kostova

    Narrated by Joanne Whalley, Robin Atkin Downes, Jim Ward and

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, THE HISTORIAN is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled listeners around the world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 1, 2005
    ISBN9781594832406
    Unavailable
    The Historian
    Author

    Elizabeth Kostova

    MARY SHELLEY was born in London in 1797, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, famous radical writers of the day. In 1814 she met and soon fell in love with the then-unknown Percy Bysshe Shelley. In December 1816, after Shelley's first wife committed suicide, Mary and Percy married. They lived in Italy from 1818 until 1822, when Shelley drowned, whereupon Mary returned to London to live as a professional writer of novels, stories, and essays until her death in 1851. GUILLERMO DEL TORO is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, and designer. He both cofounded the Guadalajara International Film Festival and formed his own production company—the Tequila Gang. However, he is most recognized for his Academy Award-winning film, Pan’s Labyrinth, and the Hellboy film franchise. He has received Nebula and Hugo awards, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, and is an avid collector and student of arcane memorabilia and weird fiction. ELIZABETH KOSTOVA is the author of the bestselling novel The Historian. She graduated from Yale and holds an MFA from the University of Michigan.

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    Reviews for The Historian

    3.5/5

    6,572 ratings483 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Excellent!
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. It's a nice continuation of Dracula.
    • 2/5
      This book had a lot of potential. It just fell really flat for me. The premise was interesting and it started off fine. The narrator switched between father and daughter points of view. But, as the father's story was developing, the daughter would pop up to remind you she existed, then disappeared again. It was more of a distraction than anything else. The author had one of the greatest villains to work with and the "horror" she came up with was, well, not very horrifying. And the ending was a let down.
    • 4/5
      I must confess to a strong subjective bias with this book. It is the most recent of the books my husband and I have read to one another, so my love of our bonding and tradition may have transferred onto the story.Regardless, its lovely prose contributed to an atmosphere which was dark and mysterious in an elegant old-fashioned way. The meticulously researched history and rich description gave it a sense of reality despite it existing in the vampire genre. One could almost believe.The love story I could have lived without, but it was tolerable and only caused eye-rolling two or three times.
    • 4/5
      Well written, interesting perspective on Vlad the Impaler. Good research into the history of that part of the world.
    • 5/5
      Very well done
    • 4/5
      Modern day version of Dracula
    • 5/5
      LOVED it. Really, I can't say more than that for now, but I did truly love it!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! After reading Stoker's Dracula in college, I really discovered a curious interest in stories about Dracula or anything similar. This book did not disappoint in that regard. Not only was there a well-developed storyline with interesting characters that I could become invested in, but the historical aspects of Vlad the Impaler were also well-embedded throughout the story. This is the type of historical fiction/mythical tale that I love to read about. Highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      Took me a *long* time to finish, but it was so meticulously written that I think the time spent was well worth it. The story was engaging, the writing, as I've said, was meticulous and very descriptive. One the whole a rewarding experience -- and about as diametrically opposed to Twilight as a book about vampires can possibly be. It's a serious book with almost scholarly aspirations.
    • 4/5
      I'm really not into vampires. That said, I thought the story was fascinating. I like the history behind the vampire legends.
    • 4/5
      I just finished my second read of The Historian. It is longer than I remembered. Like, a lot longer. I found myself skimming toward the end just because I wasn't interested in reading every minute detail of every facial expression and setting. BUT, it's still a riveting read with loads of beautiful scenery, history, anthropology, and, of course, vampires. I now want to reread Dracula while on a train to tour the old libraries of Europe. If you're into that sorta thing, I would definitely recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      fascinating, if long winded. makes me want to read more about Eastern European history.
    • 3/5
      This book, a literary adventure tale about the Dracula legend is notable for its stylistically appropriate storytelling. The young narrator writes as if she were a character in a Victorian novel. Well read and solitary, looking for insight into her father and her dead Hungarian mother, she follows up on overheard conversations, archival research, and clues from her father's past to chase down the influence of the Dracula legend in her family history. Set in England, America, Spain, France, Hungary and other European locales, this is a book that travels well.
    • 1/5
      I've heard so many good things about this book, but it just wasn't my cup or tea...or blood. Time to move onto something I actually want to pick up and read.
    • 4/5
      A bit complicated with the different narrations, but I enjoyed reading it, found it interesting and a different 'take' on the vampire legend. And while I normally wouldn't read a book involving vampires, I am glad I did this one.
    • 1/5
      Heavy to read as information unfolds from experiences of daughter and father
    • 1/5
      Boring, badly written, boring, contrived, and er, boring.
    • 5/5
      Great historical dracula fiction.
    • 5/5
      Excellent Read! Hard to put down.
    • 3/5
      Whew! I finally finished this book. It took an extremely long time for me to get through. Overall I liked the book. The descriptions were extraordinary. The details helped to create a mood and an atmosphere appropriate for the title. I learned a lot about techniques of research and historical study. It takes a special person to go to those lengths to find the truth, if the truth can be found from very old texts and records. However, I became weary of the intricate details towards the end and I just wanted to find out what happened to all of the characters. Some of the weaving back and forth past and present was tiresome for me. The ending was satisfying and didn't hold any surprises. The epilogue was somewhat unnecessary, I thought.
    • 4/5
      The amount of research put into this book is astounding. It's richly detailed, innovative, spellbinding, and truly chilling. It's like "The Davinci Code" meets "Dracula" full of historical twists, research, and bone chilling intrigue. It's denseness can be a little intimidating but once you get passed that it's impossible not to be hooked. The story goes back and forth between a young girl's journey to find her father and learn about his past and the father's actual account of what happened. It weaves together beautifully as they search for the real life Dracula through libraries, museums, foreign cities, and old research. Wonderfully written and imagined.
    • 4/5
      Absolutely amazing....
    • 5/5
      Excellent - an enjoyable adventure. Keeps you going all the way to the end.
    • 5/5
      Phenomenal.
    • 4/5
      As how I don't usually enjoy this genre, I was pleasantly surprised. Well written, good characters, ending was a bit contrived, but all in all an enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      This was one of the most exciting books I've ever read. I got completely swept up in the story, on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. It's a very long book and I was simultaneously wondering how I could handle not knowing how it was going to end for such a long time and not wanting it to be over. The characters were fully-formed and interesting, but what really drove the book was the exciting action.I thought it had a pretty much perfect ending, but then it had an epilogue that I thought fucked it up, so that was my only criticism of the book. But other than that I completely loved it.
    • 5/5
      this is one of the best fiction books i read in a long time. It is very well written, and it is suspenseful. the book is long and dense, but you will enjoy every word.
    • 5/5
      Just read this book again after a couple of years and still loved it. One of my favorites!
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to love The Historian, but I couldn't. It's a 400-page story shoved into a 642 page book. Plus, it meandered.This book has everything; intrigue, romance, books, mystery, bad guys, good guys, folklore, and vampires. Plus historians following the research trail of Vlad Dracula to find his final resting place and kill him really truly this time we mean it dead. There was just too much of it. Too many points of view, too many improbable coincidences, and the vampire himself who is luring historians to him so they can catalogue his vast library of first editions dating back 500 years. It should have been wonderful but it wasn't.