The Historian

I LOVED this book. It is chock full of historical detail, which, I believe, took the author years to research. The multi narrator format took a little getting used to. I wasn't crazy about Joanne Whaley's voice; it grates on me. It's worth persevering, though.
A few pointers:

*If you're looking for a "vampire" book, beware. The book is more focused on the history and activity of Dracula than on a bloodsucking rampage.

*If you are bored by detailed descriptions of places and history, you probably want to read the abridged or skip the book altogether.

*If you have difficulty understanding foreign accents, beware. There are many nationalities depicted in the book.

*If you're expecting an action-packed plot twister, this isn't your book.

*This book was made to be savored, not gulped down.

This is a pretty good story with a wonderful, complex setting and one of the best narrations I've ever heard.

The story begins slow and hokie, with an uninteresting mystery concerning blank books, and while the characters and the mystery develop and become both enchanting and entrancing, the central hokiness of the premise is hard to set aside. That's why I rated four instead of five stars. The story fulfills enough other promises to transcend those flaws, though.

The charming characters and epic mystery drive this book through incredible settings, each recreated with an intimate feel that makes you overlook the unlikely justifications for getting you there. The language and scholarship is stately and impressive, yet you feel the cushions in the Turkish parlor as one character sinks into them with the relish of a homesick traveler. From American university libraries to churches in isolated villages in Cold War Bulgaria, each place, each era, each character feels genuine. You will at times wonder how the author knows something, how long she must have lived, where all she must have traveled.

And the narrators are some of the best I've heard. They recreate a range of accents and character from Scottish to Romanian, yet they master each, almost as actors interpreting a script.

All in all, this is a wonderful listen, and I've been scouring Audible since hearing it trying to find something that comes close. Easily my favorite Audible purchase. If you are looking for a great epic with strong settings and characters and an interesting tale that rises above its simple plot, give this one a listen. It will immerse you in a world that will be hard to leave once the story ends.

The Historian has exactly enough action to keep you interested, exactly enough detail to make it rich, good, solid writing and a complicated and well-developed plot. It's interesting in the beginning and becomes enthralling as it progresses. The readers are great. This book is really worth your time. LIstening to it certainly made painless the mindless labor which of necessity occupied my body while my mind was wandering with the characters.

When I bought this book I was very sceptical. The story of Dracula has been told and re-told, filmed and re-filmed over and over. What would be left to tell? Well, this book for instance. It tells the old bloodsucker's story in a more modern content and with well developed characters. Even the character of Dracula becomes more complex and interesting than the well-known movie vampire. The alternation of readers/actors between a male and female voice makes it a way better than average listening experience. Even though it is a rather long book it never becomes boring. I will try to read more books from the author.

Could not put it down, listened every chance I had, on my Zen at work, driving, eating, where ever! Not too long or laborious as some of the reviews say. It all had to be said to understand the work, without all the descriptions it would have been hard to see the places in your mind. I hope her next is just as good. I will keep this one. In a few years may read again.

As a general rule I like long audiobooks, but I've never had to rewind a book as often as this one. There are long pauses in the action while things are explained (one key piece of information comes in the form of a scholarly paper). My mind would wander and I'd have to go back to see if I had missed anything. I also found that at those times my disbelief clicked in--...but how did he ...? Even though some seemingly extraneous details turn out to be relevant, a good edit could have sustained the action without sacrificing important information.

I also have mixed feelings about the narration. Having two readers works well, but the woman's attempt at an English accent is excrutiating.

While I generally believe details to a large degree build the realism and believability of a story, this one got to be tediously detailed at times. And the depiction of the vampire, which started out scary finally became so hokey it was laughable. So I give it a three. But its non-linear construction is engaging and the characters are compelling and sympathetic. I would recommend it as an interesting, though flawed, literary work.

Great narration, great(er) story. I hope the author writes more, my only disappointment was in finishing this one and finding out this is the only book she has listed. I've been a audible member for 3 years and this is my favorite book so far. (I missed a lot of subway announcements, train stops, beggars, thieves, and co-workers due to my inability to pull out my headphones ).

Another entry in the genre I like to call "DaVinci Code-esque" in which a nerdy researcher-university type gets caught up in international intrigue while following a variety of research clues that make some nefarious person want to kill them. Throw in the Dracula legend and you have The Historian. Not as frenetically paced as other novels in the genre, it managed to include enough details of vampire lore without leeching the life out of the story and enough details about the characters' inner lives to make it more than a typical adventure story.

The author is good enough to be able to move her plot between several timeframes decades apart without making the book hopelessly complicated. This sometimes overused device works well here to maintain suspense and drip clues to the reader drop by bloody drop.

I enjoyed my audiobook version since I didn't have to carry around this 700+ page behemoth, just load it onto my phone and listen to the wonderful narrators as I took my morning exercise walks through the woods.

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!