I love vampires. I do not wish to see them in person, but I love to read about them, especially in fiction books. I always am fascinated when authors try to twist the story of the vampire and relate them to ordinary, mortal people like ourselves.
In The Historian, a young English girl discovers an old book of her father’s with a wood carving of a dragon on the cover and several letters addressed to “my dear and unfortunate successor”. When she confronts him about it, her father begins telling her about his quest during his university days for the legend of Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula, and how these things seem to be connected to this cruel ruler. He investigated the legend when he discovered that his professor, who did the same thing 20 years earlier, as a student, has suddenly disappeared.
The professor’s disappearance led him to meet his professor’s illegitimate daughter, Helen, who helped him discover and find out the truth about Vlad the Impaler. They journeyed to Budapest and Istanbul, hoping to find more answers, and met other experts who also wanted to know more about Dracula.
Despite the historical inaccuracies, Kostova delivers a book that will inspire you to learn more about Dracula yourself and, at the same time, scared to find out more. You want to put down the book because you’re scared Dracula will just pop out of the book and haunt you in your waking moments. But at the same time, you turn the page eagerly every time, desperate to find out what will happen next.
The Historian is a great book about history and legends. But at the same time, you have to read it at your own risk. Because your sanity will really depend on it.
LOL @ your sanity will really depend on it. Its the same with Stephen King’s Salem’s lot. After reading that book, when I was in my early 20′s I used to have these imaginations that the vampire was peeping through my bedroom window. This happened for two good weeks!!!