The Stress of Her Regard

There's a tense scene early on in Tim Powers' "The Stress of Her Regard" where Michael Crawford, a 19th century surgeon, is trapped inside an abandoned coach, and he likens the frayed fabric pressing against him to a growling dog's bristling hackles. That sense of impending dread - that disturbing discomfort is woven through every chapter of the novel, and it doesn't relent until the story comes to an end.

This is without a doubt one of the most terrifying and disturbing book I've read or listened to, and the vampires are only part of what makes it so scary. Yes, I said this book has vampires, and if you're one of those people who's wondered over the last few years why vampires aren't scary anymore, look no further. There is no sparkling here. They are more alien and monstrous as any vampires I've read or seen cinematically, and yet, through the characters eyes, we see the gravity of their allure, their intoxicating yet violent, jealous, sexuality.

More than vampires, this is a novel about vampirism and writing, and Powers features 19th century writers and poets like Percy Byshe Shelley, Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley, John Keats, and Lord Byron are just a few of the historical figures who play pivotal roles in this book. Byron is especially fun to see here, but Powers' portrayal of Percy Shelley is particularly gut-wrenching. I was shocked by how much empathy I felt for him.

Simon Vance is the gold standard of narrators, and his reading here is proof why. It would be easy to make the famous characters that populate this book feel either over-the-top or out of reach, but reading Powers prose, Vance caused the characters continue to feel larger than life, while being grounded and human.

The Stress of Her Regard is a terrifying and sensual novel about vampirism, muses, desire, regret, loss, and love. It's my new benchmark for scary vampire stories, and maybe just scary stories in general.

If you like your fantasy incredibly dark and challenging, don't miss out on it.

(I was thrilled to learn that Powers has "Hide Me Among the Graves" another book set in this world coming out early this year. I hope it comes to audio.)

There's a tense scene early on in Tim Powers' "The Stress of Her Regard" where Michael Crawford, a 19th century surgeon, is trapped inside an abandoned coach, and he likens the frayed fabric pressing against him to a growling dog's bristling hackles. That sense of impending dread - that disturbing discomfort is woven through every chapter of the novel, and it doesn't relent until the story comes to an end.

This is without a doubt one of the most terrifying and disturbing book I've read or listened to, and the vampires are only part of what makes it so scary. Yes, I said this book has vampires, and if you're one of those people who's wondered over the last few years why vampires aren't scary anymore, look no further. There is no sparkling here. They are more alien and monstrous as any vampires I've read or seen cinematically, and yet, through the characters eyes, we see the gravity of their allure, their intoxicating yet violent, jealous, sexuality.

More than vampires, this is a novel about vampirism and writing, and Powers features 19th century writers and poets like Percy Byshe Shelley, Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley, John Keats, and Lord Byron are just a few of the historical figures who play pivotal roles in this book. Byron is especially fun to see here, but Powers' portrayal of Percy Shelley is particularly gut-wrenching. I was shocked by how much empathy I felt for him.

Simon Vance is the gold standard of narrators, and his reading here is proof why. It would be easy to make the famous characters that populate this book feel either over-the-top or out of reach, but reading Powers prose, Vance caused the characters continue to feel larger than life, while being grounded and human.

The Stress of Her Regard is a terrifying and sensual novel about vampirism, muses, desire, regret, loss, and love. It's my new benchmark for scary vampire stories, and maybe just scary stories in general.

If you like your fantasy incredibly dark and challenging, don't miss out on it.

(I was thrilled to learn that Powers has "Hide Me Among the Graves" another book set in this world coming out early this year. I hope it comes to audio.)

I didn't read it in print. However, listening to a narrator as polished as Simon Vance brings an extra dimension to any book.

This narrative is so detailed that I might have scanned parts of it if I were reading it.

One wonders, however, if Mr. Vance needed to be debriefed about the fictional nature of vampires after he was done recording this work.

The power of this book is not so much in memorable moments, but rather the cumulative effect of the world that it creates.

And the title was so compelling that I had to try the book.

See answer to first question.

No movie could do this book justice.

It would take a BBC Masterpiece Theater miniseries like what they do with Dickens novels to tell this story on film.

This question and answer format is not helping me to describe the book.

This book is so very detailed that at times I wanted to stop listening. Having said that, I found myself determined to get to the end.
Without spoiling anything, what I discovered was a story that gradually grew into a much broader scope than I had imagined.
The fact that it is written in the style of the period in which it takes place makes the narrative both enfolding and dense.

There is a point about forty percent of the way through where the narrative comes to a climax and that could have been the end of the story, except for one loose thread which, if the protagonist were not such an incredibly decent, long-suffering victim-hero,could have been ignored. (Did you like that sentence? Then make a commitment to finishing this book!)

After that the story sort of noodles about for a little while, like a sailboat trying to come about with no wind to fill its sails. Then it takes off again and expands greatly, like putting up a spinnaker.

Eventually one wonders if Tim Powers doesn't know more about vampire lore than all other writers in the genre put together. One starts to dream of weird people-creatures that inhabit the sleeping world. DON'T invite them in!

The ending, however, is a sweet surprise. If you like to read at the level of Harry Potter, this book will be a challenge for you. But if you enjoyed a novel as long and complex as Ken Follett's "Pillars in the Earth" (for example), you will probably like this, unless you abhor the supernatural genre.

I am not a fan of vampire fiction myself. However the "proto-vampires" in "The Stress of Her Regard" are far more compelling that the garden variety blood-sucker. And I love stories that embed historical figures in fiction.

A wonderful and dark novel of a fictionalized Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats, and of the more completely fictional Michael Crawford, amidst a world of vampires and poetry. If I have any complaint at all about the audiobook, which I very, very much enjoyed, it is that the character of Mary Shelley, who (briefly) writes Frankenstein during the events of the book, is such an invisible character. Indeed, Percy Shelley (and perhaps even more so, Lord Byron) are larger-than-life characters here, but Mary shows almost no agency of her own amidst Percy's costly self-destructions. But through it all, Vance is magnificent, and I hope against hope that the recently released (in print) sequel, Hide Me Among the Graves, comes to audio under Vance's narration. 4.5 stars.

Not bad, I was surprised but had to pay close attention or would get lost in its many different paths. I have never read anything from Tim Powers and never read poetry from the gentleman in the story unless forced to do so in high school, but I want to look them up and read their work and know more about them. I know this was a fictional book but now I'm thoroughly interested in the characters which were real once upon a time. Simon Vance was excellent, I hope to hear him narrate many more books. I have read numerous books with vampires, but this one took a twist on the notorious night creatures and turned it into a whole new perspective. Bravo!!!

Tim Powers has this belief that if he writes historical fiction, it has to be supremely accurate with no liberties taken with the known facts. From there, the story behind the story can unfold. In his case, it's typically a supernatural story to explain mortal events. One of the hallmarks of Powers' writing is to make you totally believe it. The more absurd it is, the more you will believe.

The characters are completely engaging, and if you don't know know more about the likes of Byron, Shelley, Keating, and Polidori, you'll want to by the time you get to the end of this novel. These characters and their companion, the main character Michael Crawford, are all too human, making the dread of their circumstances feel visceral. The story is told in the same fashion as it would be had it been written in their time, but with a modern awareness of how to make the macabre truly spooky for even the most seasoned veteran of horror. The result is a vampire story that's not a vampire story, and yet is truly the mother of all vampire stories. It's the kind of story that, while you're reading it, you just feel is twisted and wretched and just guilty fun in a lot of wrong ways. Then when you think about it later, you start connecting dots from things you've read, just as the characters do, and the little voice in the back of your head starts asking, "what if?" It's also the kind of story that's so imaginative that it you'll probably just want to shake your head sadly at most of the other vampire novels in release today.

As narrator, Simon Vance has been one of my favorites, having heard him on the James Bond series and the Master and Commander series. He lends a quiet sophistication and sympathy to characters that are truly beyond either one, which only adds to the verisimilitude. His style isn't over the top like some narrators, in that his performance services the story first and foremost.

The stress of her regard is not your typical vampire novel, it's not your typical anything. Like anything Tim Powers writes it begins in left field and goes from there.

This one requires your attention, but it is worth the effort.

I may, the narrator was decent, the story is not your typical vampire/horror genre, and the definitely convoluted with the stories of Shelley, Byron and Crawford.

The take on "vampires" was quite different than what you normally encounter in the genre. It was also neat to see how historical figures were an integral part of the storyline

No, I had to break this up into chunks, since it was difficult to listen to all at once. Towards the end, it became so convoluted and fantastical, I was waiting for it to end.

It was a delight to me to find an audio book that brought together three of my favorite elements - historical fiction, a "spooky story," and Simon Vance's narration. I began listening with high expectations and was not at all disappointed!

"The Stress of Her Regard" is a re-imagining of known historical events with a secret back story of supernatural involvement that provides alternate explanations for the events of the time. I am reminded of O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" series, for the historical setting, and of Stoker's "Dracula" for the supernatural back story.

I like Simon Vance's steady narration. I like the clear articulation of words and phrases, and I like the voice characterizations. His narration never detracts or distracts from the story.

It was a very long book. It would have been impossible for me to listen to it in all one sitting. Nor would I have wanted to. I like a book that gives the reader or listener material to reflect on, as this one did. It would have been short changing to rush the experience.

I wanted to like this book - the premise was interesting and I like well-done historical pastiche. But Powers doesn't seem to think that having vampires are interesting enough. They have to also be snakes. Winged snakes. Oh, and also stones. And maybe something else. And maybe they have powers in certain instances or maybe they don't. I couldn't latch on to the mythology or make any sense of it, and as a result, after 8 hours of listening and seeing that I had another 8 hours (the book sort of re-sets in the middle and it almost seemed like it was going to be the same 8 hours, but with minor variations), I was done.