Children of the Night

By: Dan Simmons

Narrated by: George Ralph

In a desolate orphanage in what remains of post-Communist Romania, a desperately ill infant is given the wrong blood transfusion - and flourishes when he's supposed to die. The discovery of his unique immune system may hold the key to the long-awaited cure for cancer and AIDS.

For a dedicated American doctor, he promises the medical breakthrough of a lifetime, as well as a very special love she's never been able to find. But he also conceals a shockingly intimate link to a clan of vampires and their legendary leader - the fiend the world calls Vlad Dracula, who, for centuries, has triumphed over countless rival tyrants, including death itself.

©2008 Dan Simmons (P)2008 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Count Dracula kicks off the coffin lid again in this updated vampire tale....the book offers a mesmerizing tour through the ghostly, gray tatters of Romania." (Publishers Weekly)
"Neatly ties the vampire legend into political history to create a new and clever twist to the idea of the vampire's craving for blood." (Library Journal)
"Toothsomely well written." (Kirkus Reviews)

Eh

Couldn't get into the narration. I tried, I really did but if it doesn't click then I'm done

Good Enough

Good story - worth a listen. The narrator could be better, but doesn't qualify as 'bad'. The story can be a little drawn out in areas, but a good, fairly 'traditional' vampire story.

the story was good interesting characters

was good but spoiler. I wish luchan survived there was a lot of Romanian words I learned a good deal of it. some parts were hard to picture the details very descriptive. I didn't like her x husband not surviving. I wish it gave more detail about them at the end but overl was a really good book. I should give it 4 stars but I'm picky if it give 4 that can mean 4.5. it's close to 4. the performance was very well done

Historical Fiction at its best

The amount of historical context presented in this book is staggering and wonderful. What a fantastic work. I loved it from start to finish. The end is predictable but still a good time.

Seamless narration

If you can get through the mind numbingly brutal and despairing first few chapters which detail a trip to post revolution Romania by a cadre of wealthy industrialists, medicos and religious leaders the listener will be rewarded with an intriguingly 'modern' and unique twist on the legend of Dracula. While some of the science seems a bit stale and dated (considering the publication date of this novel that's actually impressive as one would think it would have grown trite by now) and some of the later plot twists are somewhat obvious. Nonetheless Simmons does an excellent job of creating a what if world wherein Vampires are very real and so is the son of the dragon. Now if only Summer of Night were brought to audio :)