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The Historian  By  cover art

The Historian

By: Elizabeth Kostova
Narrated by: Justine Eyre, Paul Michael
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Publisher's summary

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor", and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of: a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known, and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself, to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive.

What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed, and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign, and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.

©2005 Elizabeth Kostova. All Rights Reserved. (P)2005 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

  • 2006 Book Sense Book of the Year, Adult Fiction

"A bloodthirsty delight....Both literary and scary, this one is guaranteed to keep one reading into the wee hours." (Booklist)
"Along with all the fascinating historical information, there's also a mounting casualty count, and the big showdown amps up the drama by pulling at the heartstrings at the same time it revels in the gruesome. Exotic locales, tantalizing history, a family legacy and a love of the bloodthirsty: it's hard to imagine that readers won't be bitten, too." (Publishers Weekly)
"The Historian is artfully constructed and atmospheric." (Washington Post Book World)

Featured Article: The 25 Best Vampire Audiobooks to Suck You In


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What listeners say about The Historian

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

this version is really great

The Historian is one of my favorite books, and this audiobook is fantastic. I can easily distinguish between the characters and the pacing is perfect. The sound quality is great and I don't feel like I have to turn my speakers way up to understand the narrators. Highly recommended!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Treasure Hunt !

Granted, it started out a little slow, and if you are looking for horror a la Stephen King or Dean Koontz, you won't like it. If you liked the treasure hunt aspects of the Davinci Code, you'll love The Historian.

This story is intricate and has about 4 levels of stories within stories and some of it is very ancient, and I personally could not put it down (stop listening, rather). I have no idea whether any of it is accurate or is even supposed to be, but it is fiction and the author weaves a very good story. Not terribly frightening, but definitely eerie. I can see how others might find it too long, but I was sorry to see it end.

I would love to see more stories like this one, weaving ancient legends with historical events and secret societies leading into the modern.

The Historian kept my commute almost enjoyable for at least a few weeks!

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting twist to a classic tale but….

While the author has managed to create a unique variation on the Dracula story, her efforts to provide detail and colour to the story often overwhelm what would otherwise be a good story. Captivating plot development is frequently interrupted by irritatingly excessive descriptions of surroundings and character’s appearance. Her treatment of romance, especially since it is told from a male perspective, borders on downright silly. Try the abridged version

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

slow slow slow

I suspect if you're a committed vampireophile, my complaints about the pace of this book will not deter you. Skip the review. Enjoy the book. But for the rest of us, I'm afraid there's not as much here as one would hope. The author is incapable of writing a line of dialog without having a character think about it at some length. If you're hoping for a rapid exchange of ideas between characters, fast-paced conversation, find another book. These guys think too much -- presumably in case you're too dim to think for yourself. If something is horrible or awful, the writer does not trust us to see that for ourselves. She will tell us, showing no faith in her own descriptive powers. She will rarely skip an opportunity to remind us this is a baleful and wicked character we're pursuing, yet fails to create a portrait that fulfills her adjectives. All of the main male characters are interchangeable. Listen to the voices of Rossi and the father and tell me how to distinguish the two. To the book's credit: There's much original here. It paints some nice portraits of Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania during the Cold War. It may send you in pursuit of European monastaries. It will make you wonder about vampire lore and its pervasiveness. But as a bit of storytelling, it's not quite there.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

can't stop listening even at 2 a.m.

This book held me spellbound for hours every day that I listened to it. I was skeptical of all the
"vampire-hype" books- but this was a gorgeous aural surprise.
Characters were so well written and the journey of the book was truly gripping and well written!
Highly recommended by a friend- I will always heed her recommendations.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Prepare for boredom

This book starts interestingly enough, but the writer looses her handle on it quickly, and you're soon lost in nasty thicket of over-description (and it's close cousin, pointless detail). You get a fantastic sense of how tedious a graduate level thesis must be, but as a reader, is that really what you're looking for in a vampire story?

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unique take on a historic subject

I didn't know what to really expect. This was a great mix of history and fantasy. Lots of detail, but worth the entire read.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Historian, yes it is long, but I relished every minute of the story. I had this book in my wish list for a long time before I downloaded it, primarily because of the negative reviews. I am so happy that I finally decided to listen to it! Also the production is very well done and the narration is well done too.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

looooooong and detailed

This was a good read, just very long and very detailed. I think the abridged version would be a better selection to get to the point. If you were an art/history major this would be up your alley.
Would I read this again........NO!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good read

Excellent! Chilling and every thing I was hoping for out of this book.

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6 people found this helpful