Eldren: The Book of the Dark

By: William Meikle

Narrated by: Chris Barnes

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Two boys in the west of Scotland awaken an ancient vampire. And the only way to stop it is in the power of a book - a bible detailing the dark religion of the Eldren. But time is running out, and the sun is getting low.

Are you afraid of the dark?

You will be.

©2014 William Meikle (P)2018 Gryphonwood Press

Vampires...

I am a big fan of William Meikle and the narrator Chris Barnes as well. I am unfortunately not a very big fan of vampire stories.

There’s plenty of action here but the whole vampire backstory didn’t work for me and I didn’t gel with any of the characters. I pretty much was wanting them all to die horribly.

There are plenty of other very good Meikles out there, this one just wasn’t for me.

*I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the publisher and have voluntarily provided this honest review.

Wonderful story and narration

This was a great vampire story, made all the better by the fantastic narration of Chris Barnes. I cannot get enough of listening to that man speak. Hugely enjoyable!

I received a promotional copy of this book for free at my request, but this review is totally voluntary.

A good read.

I'm not too sure what to say about this as I'm still not too sure what I really thought of it!!! At times it felt all over the place, but I put that down to the multiple POVs we get, at others it was really good.

The overall plot was unique and I loved finding out about the vampires and seeing that they have both good and evil ones. I loved that they had their own Bible of sorts too and reading about Yoriah and Eriah! I also liked how the vampires were awoken in this century and how the virus spread. All of that was well written and developed and made for a great read and they were my favourite parts!

I didn't particularly connect with the characters though. Don't get me wrong, they were all well written and developed, but I just didn't care for any of them. I don't know if it was the fact that there were too many or what but I didn't really care what happened any of them.

Saying that though, I will definitely check out more from this author because I liked his world building and he has some really good sounding books out!! If there is a follow up to this I will also check it out as while I didn't love this, I still really enjoyed it.

Chris Barnes read this really well!! I loved that the author picked a Scottish narrator to read it seeing as it's set in Scotland, it just added that little extra to the story. Chris Barnes was clear and easy to understand and he had plenty of tones and voices for the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and look forward to him narrating more!!

Story has bite

Great little vampire story set in a cute little scottish town. If you like vampire fiction you'll like this book. I did find the narrators accent a little thick and hard to understand at times but it lent a very authentic feel to the story.

I was given this book for free in return for an impartial review.

COOL OLD SCHOOL VAMPIRE TALE

Very cool old-style vampire tale, really enjoyed it! The narration was awesome, really lent well to the story and gave it a great feel. Interesting religious tones, an original twist I liked (not that I'm the expert by far, mostly "original" to me :) ). For those of us who grew up in the 70's/80's, this book had a cool retro feel. That really made me love it, and I'd definitely listen to more from this author... and narrator! :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Love at first bite!

WOW! What a great listen! The story was unique and not just your average run of the mill vampire story. William Meikle created some amazing characters with good depth that make the story nothing less than captivating. I found myself listening at every opportunity. I love his writing style! The point of view changes frequently but does not make the story hard to follow. Without spoilers, the twist and turns caught me off guard and I really enjoyed the alternate bible passages as they gave the book a very unique depth others often lack. From the beginning, Chris Barnes's narration was absolutely amazing. I can’t imagine anyone else doing this book. Do what you have to do, but don’t let this book pass by. Even though this book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review, my review is honest and from the heart!

Great Vampire Take!

I had already read this book, but just finished listening to the audiobook. What a wonderful experience it was to hear it read in such a beautiful accent!
This is an excellent addition to the vampire folklore, especially the creation story for the species. This story had some badass vampires, and it was interesting to see the hierarchy between them all. There was also an excellent slayer, complete with a crossbow, as well as the strong humans involved. This was a dark story that kept me reading to the conclusion.

Fangs and Bagpipes!?!

Ok, no bagpipes here, but there is a genuine Scottish narrator who sounds like he's wearing a kilt as he weaves this tale. Honestly, Barnes is bangin'. He nails the mood and the characters. I'd almost say he's the best thing about the book, but the story is great too!

Seriously, the story is way not what you would expect. There is a vampiric bible that you'll actually care about. The whole story is disturbing and sucks you in. If you like vampires, but not trash like Salem's Lot/Jerusalem's Lot, then this book is true enough to the mythos but different enough to make it stand out when compared to other blood-sucker books.

Pretty good vampire novel

I kind of liked this. There were some great ideas, like vampires had their own version of the bible where they were the chosen ones, as long as they eschewed drinking blood. There were of course the troublesome element who fell in with Old Nick and became eeevvviiilll.

The story is set in a small Scottish town, and the characters fit the setting, if a wee bit stereotyped (it is a small town after all). It begins with a married couple discovering the burial place of the bloodsuckers, then later two kids looking for kicks accidentally wake up the vamps, who set about taking over the town. All the tropes are here - garlic, stakes and so forth - but in a nice touch, crosses don't work.There's some silly bits that are touched upon too, like the army coming to suppress the vamp uprising, having known about them all along, covering up other outbreaks.

The narrator was good, nice to hear a real "Scottish" accent on an audiobook, but I found at times I drifted when listening, as the material didn't always grab hold like audio needs to.

If you like vampy horror, you should probably check this out. Maybe I need to read it instead.

Good vamp book

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was a fantastic vampire book. It had a real 80's movie feel to it, which I loved. I enjoyed the narration as well. All in all, this was a very enjoyable and engaging listen. I would highly recommend it for fans of the vampire genre.