false 10692 42 In this riveting debut of breathtaking scope, a young girl discovers her father's darkest secret and embarks on a harrowing journey across Europe to complete the quest he never could -- to find history's most legendary fiend: Dracula. When a motherless American girl living in Europe finds a medieval book and a package of letters, all addressed ominously to "My dear and unfortunate successor..." she begins to unravel a thread that leads back to her father's past, his mentor's career, and an evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright: a hunt that nearly brought her father to ruin and may have claimed the life of his adviser and dear friend, history professor Bartholomew Rossi. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler, the historical Dracula, have to do with the 20th century? Is it possible that Dracula has lived on in the modern world? And why have a select few historians risked reputation, sanity, and even their lives to learn the answer? So begins an epic journey to unlock the secrets of the strange medieval book, an adventure that will carry our heroine across Europe and into the past -- not only to the times of Vlad's heinous reign, but to the days when her mother was alive and her father was still a vibrant young scholar. In the end, she uncovers the startling fate of Rossi, and comes face to face with the definition of evil-- to find, ultimately, that good may not always triumph. 3061272 book 2005 The Historian total:23866|5:5729|4:8418|3:6116|2:2479|1:1125| 23866 86745 33276 5010 1 34 false true Tue Jul 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 12:56:59 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 01 18:44:20 -0700 2009 The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, and its detailed Vlad the Impaler research, I�...more...]]> 4 49 false false Mon May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon May 19 08:36:30 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 08:38:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 36 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 07 17:26:24 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 24 22:50:39 -0800 2007
I think I read some review here on GoodReads that called this a book to be conquered. You know, one where after a time you feel so invested th...more...]]> 1 30 false false Sun Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 15:42:13 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 16:06:33 -0700 2008
It starts out well; very interesting and s...more...]]> 2 15 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Jan 11 12:51:39 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 12:52:30 -0800 2008
By Elizabeth Kostova


Kostova received two million dollars for this debut novel, an almost unheard of sum for an unknown writer, but I’m sure it went a long way in reimbursing her expenses for the research that would have been required to write The Historian. ...more...]]> 1 14 false false Mon Mar 24 20:32:12 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 09:56:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 15 false false Thu Oct 18 11:20:36 -0700 2007 Fri Feb 08 10:27:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 11 false false Wed Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 22:55:25 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 15 13:18:46 -0700 2008 The Historian?

I was filled with passive-voiced dread as the link was clicked by me. I was horrified to read:

xdragonlady's review:...more...]]> 3 10 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 15:05:35 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 15:18:04 -0700 2008
So first, a disclosure: I actually received a free used copy of Elizabeth Kostova's 2005 m...more...]]> 4 7 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 02 11:06:34 -0700 2007 Thu Mar 06 23:04:06 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 8 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 10:54:27 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 10:54:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 9 false false Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Jun 22 02:08:53 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 23 14:51:24 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 6 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Sep 20 22:43:22 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 18 17:43:01 -0700 2008 love vampire stories, and I loved Dracula, with its long expository letters and journal entries. I love the idea of historians being drafted by Dracula. But I didn't love this book.
Why? Well, let me tell you:
1)I was annoyed by t...more...]]> 3 6 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 10 20:03:58 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 07:29:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 7 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 16 11:33:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 19:53:47 -0700 2007
It strikes me that scholars and graduate students (even sexier!) are now the go-to heroes for this continuing genre of suspenseful historical/mystery/magic quests. Da Vinci Code b...more...]]> 1 6 false false Tue Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 19 09:21:38 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 06:28:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 4 false false Fri Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Feb 20 12:31:59 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 12:34:21 -0800 2008
...more...]]> 4 6 false false Sat Mar 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 07 18:42:28 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 22 17:36:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Jun 12 11:46:46 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 11:46:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 3 false false Wed May 28 07:39:22 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 07:38:01 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 07:39:22 -0700 2008
On second thought..they don't. Let me describe the ways this book sucked.

First off, it sucked because it COULD have been a brilliant book....its IN there...somewhere in the 642 pages. I would ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=10692