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  • In 1972 Amsterdam, a sheltered, motherless teenager stumbles across an ancient book imprinted with a dragon and stuffed with 40-year-old, mysteriously addressed letters. Gradually, her father reveals the link between the book and various attempts to discover the tomb of the brutal warrior/ruler Vlad ... Continue

    In 1972 Amsterdam, a sheltered, motherless teenager stumbles across an ancient book imprinted with a dragon and stuffed with 40-year-old, mysteriously addressed letters. Gradually, her father reveals the link between the book and various attempts to discover the tomb of the brutal warrior/ruler Vlad Tepes, better known as Dracula. Those who choose to become part of the search generally end up paying with their careers and their lives. Despite these dire warnings, the nameless young woman finds herself compelled to discover who Dracula truly was...and whether he still exists today.

    

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• ― Lucca Ita said on May 18, 2009 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

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  • Utter Disappointment!

  • I was not thrilled with this book. I had heard so many good things about it. I tried once before to read it and thought maybe it just wasn't the time but the second time around was a chore as well. Maybe I am spoiled by the action/vampire books I have been reading. The plot was slow, the descrip ... Continue

    I was not thrilled with this book. I had heard so many good things about it. I tried once before to read it and thought maybe it just wasn't the time but the second time around was a chore as well. Maybe I am spoiled by the action/vampire books I have been reading. The plot was slow, the descriptions interminable, and the ending was a letdown. Would not recommend to anyone.

    

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• ― Bibliophile (jjordan) said on Mar 25, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • A bit well,eh?

  • This book was a bit overrated when I bought it. A friend told me it was really good and we usually have similar tastes, but this was completely forgettable.

    

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• ― michelleamanda said on Dec 28, 2008 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

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  • Given way too much detail then it really needs. The beginning was fairly interesting, but when I get to the middle of it, it turns out pretty dreadful with all the historical fact and details.

    

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• ― Ringo Kam said on Sep 28, 2008 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

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  • I usually do not like vampire stories, but this is a completely different kind. The historical and scholarly aspect is fascinating. Pick up this book if you are in the mood for something smart.

    

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• ― MoirneStark said on May 30, 2008 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

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  • creepy in an enjoyable way.

    

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• ― gg said on Apr 16, 2008 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

In this riveting debut novel, a young girl discovers her father's darkest secret and embarks on a harrowing journey across Europe to complete the quest he never could--the quest to find history's most legendary fiend: Dracula.

A brilliant literary novel as well as a breathtaking page-turner, THE HISTORIAN has already created an international frenzy. Set for publication in over 15 languages, this gripping tale is about to take the world by storm.- The most abundantly successful novels in recent years have mixed fact and fantasy, history and present, to pulse-pounding dramatic effect. THE HISTORIAN is sure to lure the same hordes of readers that snapped up the blockbuster hits "The Da Vinci Code, The Rule of Four and even the Harry Potter series.- This engrossing and expensive adventure is the culmination of 10 years of research and a lifetime of imagining--since Elizabeth Kostova's girlhood, when her father entertained her with stories of Dracula, she has envisioned the story that would become THE HISTORIAN and with her academic spirit and extraordinary talent, she's spun an intricate tale of sprawling mystery and suspense.- A blockbuster marketing and advertising plan, including a prepublication bookseller tour, a huge ad campaign and author tour, will make THE HISTORIAN the must-have summer read of 2005.“To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....”

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor,” and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of?a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known?and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself?to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive.

What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed?and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign?and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.

Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions?and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers?one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful?and utterly unforgettable.
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