The Stress of Her Regard

By: Tim Powers

Narrated by: Simon Vance

When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee, not only to prove his innocence but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes.

Told in the guise of a secret history, this tale of passion and terror brilliantly evokes the 19th century. The chilling horror and adventure blend to create a riveting romantic fantasy.

©1989 Tim Powers (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

One of my favorites

Powers is a master at his craft. the narrator is very proficient. a great experience..

wierd and wonderful

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.

Everything is Connecterd

Would you listen to The Stress of Her Regard again? Why?

I think I will listen to this again later. It has a lot of richness and nuance.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stress of Her Regard?

Hard to pick just one. I love the way it ties EVERYTHING into the vampires, from hypothetical science to folkloric esoterica. Christianity. Norse theology. Silicon-based life-forms. DNA. Greek Mythology. Wedding customs. Italian cuisine. Romantic poetry. EVERYTHING is connected to vampirism.

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

Hard to say. I only notice the reader when the reading voice is very, very good or very, very bad.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This certainly got me hooked and I kept on reading.

Any additional comments?

The characters surprise me, and this is a great exploration of the vampire mythos. Mix of a well-thought-out take and some so-old-its-new stuff. The lore is amazing. Read this if you are a fan of vampires OR a fan of the romantic poets, or both.

OMG Romantic poets and vampires.

Engrossing and terrifying. Such a complex story. Requires a lot of attention. A favourite of mine. Maybe Power's best and that's very good.

Wonderfully dark novel of fictional Romantic poets

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.