The Historian

By: Elizabeth Kostova

Narrated by: Justine Eyre, Paul Michael

Length: 26 hrs and 6 mins

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)

Dracula, done a new way.

Where does The Historian rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

While I widely love ANYTHING to do with Dracula I found that the story line had a lot of build with far to little pay off. Don't get me wrong, the story has all the fantastic detail and elaborate lines one would expect, but by the end of it you wish you had more, like eating a steak with wonderful flavor, only to find that it did little more than tease your pallet and appetite.

What about Justine Eyre and Paul Michael ’s performance did you like?

Justine Eyre is by far one of my favorite voice actors for audible books. She did a stunning job. Paul Michael, while I am unfamiliar with his other works, did a good job as well.

Not as good or as creepy as I hoped...

What did you like best about The Historian? What did you like least?

I think the best thing about this is the writing, in a way--Kostova has a way with description and the plot of the story could be really engaging. My biggest problem with it was that the detailed descriptions and exposition were hard to make it through; I found myself easily distracted while listening--I'd zone out and come back to realize I'd missed 20 minutes and have to rewind and figure out what was going on. This is one of those books that I think would be much easier for me in paper format--the plot just doesn't unfold quickly enough to keep me engaged in audio format.

Would you ever listen to anything by Elizabeth Kostova again?

I would give her another try because I think it was a creative approach to a vampire story (and that's in short supply these days). I would definitely try her books in hard copy and will probably find The Historian in print form to read.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I give the narrator credit for slogging through...

Do you think The Historian needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No; I rather dislike sequels in general.

Good but dragged

By the time I was 25 I'd read all a non historian could read on dear old Vlad. So the historical stuff I was already keen to, but the story woven around it was intriguing and kept it interesting. Awesome narration too. The problem is that it dragged terribly and toward the end the highly educated characters became pretty dense in connecting the dots. By the time I found out all I wanted to know and thought the book was done I saw there were 3 more chapters to go. Oh no! I'm there now and planning on playing it at double speed to finish as fast as I can because I am bored but want to know how it ends.

Just toooooo long

The performance of this audiobook is fantastic and the story premise is really interesting, but it is so long its like being stuck in a loop. Over and over they repeat and review the same information. So much explaining of everything. The story loses momentum over and over again because there is just too much exposition. I get that this is historical fiction and learning the history in this book is fascinating, but it reads more like a college thesis at times than a novel. Just too long. You could fast forward through about 1/3 of the middle and barely miss any plot.

Excellent story telling

The readers really brought this complex tale to life. The voices were great, the emotions perfect for when emotions were needed. Amazing job with an amazing performance!

Interesting premise, well worth the listen

As several other reviews here have stated, you need patience to listen through this one, but, as everyone else has stated, it is well worth the wait.

The reading by both a female and male narrator is excellent and helps you keep track of who is doing the storytelling. (I highly recommend "Time Traveler's Wife" if you liked this as well.)

Both narrators do an excellent job of reading with the proper inflections, tones, and accents required by the text.

Although long and drawn out, The Historian is a richly descriptive tale delivering beautiful details for the mind's eye.

history is a passionate lover

Wondrous and jam packed with obscure historical references and geographic locations, the book continues to unravel deceptively through its climax.

Slow Listen

Over 15 hours of listening before Dracula actually enters the novel. This book had the potential for greatness, but too little Dracula, and way too late.

One of My Favorites

The Historian is one of my favorite novels. I first read it when it was newly released and I have read it multiple times since then. Last year, I joined Audible and discovered the audiobook version. Since getting the audiobook, I have listened to it 2-3 times. The narration is great; my only complaint is that I imagined Helen's voice to be a bit more forceful than portrayed by the narrator, but it was by no means something that affected my overall experience. I have recommended The Historian to a few of my friends who are fans of Dracula with the caveat that The Historian, in my opinion, is not so much horror fiction, but rather historical fiction with vampires thrown in. Vampires are not what make this book one of my favorites. The way the author can conjure up images of places and weave so much history into the story is what captivates me every time I read it. I want to go to the places in this book to see and experience them for myself. I want to learn more about the historical events and people detailed in this book. I describe it to my friends who are interested that the the journey is more important and more rewarding than the destination because the ending is a bit of a let down.

LIKE A MOTH TO A FLAME

THIS BOOK DRAWS YOU IN AND NEVER LETS YOU DOWN! It has a fabulous well thought out mystery.....great characters and enough of a spooky edge to keep you looking in the rear view mirror . I can't wait for her next book.