Customer Reviews

Lord Of The Dead

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I would like to distance myself from all of the negative criticisms of this novel; as valid as they may truly be.

I am not a 'reader' in the sense of actually liking to pick up a book and read it as a source of leisure and entertainment and even when it does happen, I am rarely if at all convinced that what I was reading was indeed a good use of my time. But, one day I bought a lot of vampire novels to read to pass the time at work. All of which were terribly written, full of cliches, gory descriptions and dull charactors. All except this one.

The book starts off with Ms. Rebecca Carville, a strong willed young woman who conives her way into aquiring the keys to the Chapel of St. Jude, which has been locked and forbidden to be entered by anyone for many years. She hopes to uncover the truth of what happened to her Mother, who disappeared when Rebecca was only 4 years old. Despite frantic warnings not to enter the chapel, Rebecca desends into the shadowy depths only to find herself in the prescence of powerful and radiantly beautiful vampire,Lord Byron.
From that point on, the point of view is shifted from 3rd person to 1st, as Lord Byron tells Rebecca the story of how he came to be who he is today. Living the life of a monk whose greatest pleasure is the sin of eating pork, The 21 year old Lord Byron becomes bored with his life and sets out traveling the east with his friend, Hobhouse.
While in Greece, they accidentally are led to off course to Aheron, which is known as "The gateway to Hell". Entranced by a mysterious stranger, Byron decides to continue to Aheron while Hobhouse returns to Greece. He falls in love with a beautiful slave named Haidee who has been enslaved by The power Pasha, the dread-lord of the Aheron. The Pasha is quite taken by Byron from the start and wants Lord Byron to be his heir. While staying at the Pasha's palace, Byron is visited in his dreams by the Pasha, who tempts him with hidden truths and ideals and immortality. It isn't long before Byron finds himself being treated like a slave; his mind clouded by vivid dreams, and strange marks and bruises appearing daily all over his body.
But in their love stems hope and Byron and Haidee plot their escape. Will they make it safely out of Aheron? Sadly the end is only the beginning.

As a vardoulacha( vampire ), Byron drowns himself in the dark side of life { ie: Booze, sex, and more sex, and not to mention a little murder through draining of blood but ONLY for necessity. } He relishes in the pleasures and powers that he now posesses, but soon realizes that the benefits will never outway the downfalls of his state. He has to drink blood or he will shrivel up and feel agonizing pain but never die, in order to maintain his youth he must drink the blood of someone who shares his blood, and the greatest curse of all; that he will forever damn everyone he loves.

I think what it is that I like so much about this book as opposed to other books of the genre is how You first get to relate to Byron as the flawed, but heroic and good-hearted human being. Instead of just having him swoop down from the darkness as this vile, evil-spirited heartless creature. Byron has a very strong sense of conscience, even when he begins to distance himself from the life he once lived and accepts a life of terror, murder, and the curses he will always posess, through it all he always maintains a very mortal conscience that is always evident by everything he does. It's very sad to watch the events unfold, the regret he feels for what he can no longer control. This will please many with it's blending of Horror, Science Fiction,and Adventure with an interesting mix of romance and melancholy. Very well done. Worth more than just one read.

I know virtually nothing about Lord Byron, except that he was a 19th-century English poet, so I can't say how accurate "Lord of the Dead" is in regard to certain parts of his life shown in here. But Byron fans should like this one since he's cast as the main character--as a vampire, of all things--narrating his past to his single captive audience, Rebecca Carville. His existence in "Lord of the Dead" basically consists of him traveling all over Europe, which does become monotonous after awhile. Yet it's in Greece, where he's traveling with his companion Hobhouse, that he is unwillingly turned into a vampire by Vakhel Pasha. Byron also happens to be in love with the Pasha's young runaway slave, Haidee, which is part of the reason why he kills the Pasha and then escapes the rabid village with her--only to face tragedy a short time later.

The book started out ok, so I was a little confused by all of the low reviews; however, as I continued reading, I understood why. After the first couple chapters, the book seems to fizzle out, especially after Byron kills the Pasha for the first time (yes, he has to attempt this more than once; I guess some people don't understand the meaning of "immortality.") Then comes Byron's internal struggle with his new existence--as well as his acquaintance with other fellow vampires--which doesn't really add anything new to the vampire myth. I wondered exactly how Rebecca could sit there and listen for all 341 pages and not become bored herself. About 100 pages could have been removed from "Lord of the Dead" and it wouldn't have harmed the story a bit; in fact, it would have probably improved it.

And like a few reviewers before me, I did notice some similarities between Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire" (because of how the book's told in story form) and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (when Byron is brought to Vakhel Pasha's dark, mountainous castle). And like in most vampire novels, there's blood-drinking and casual sex (as expected with the notorious Byron) in this one as well, though it's relatively reserved for the most part, except for a few scenes that involve things like meat hooks, homosexuality, and incest--but none of them were very erotic or exciting, in my opinion. In summary: This isn't a book I'd necessarily recommend, unless you're a really big fan of Lord Byron and vampires.

The premise of the novel is certainly entertaining -- take a Romantic poet, one famous for his debauchery, and make him a vampire. While we're at it, why not introduce a few other historical (literary) personages who are also vampires?

Unfortunately, that's about as far as the book goes. There's plenty of sex and violence -- with Byron, what else would you expect? -- but the novel is little more than a retelling of Byron's historical life through the lens of vampirism: when he was in Italy and Greece he was apparently not only having sex with everything that moved, but also drinking blood continually. An amusing thought, perhaps, but little more than that.

What the novel really needs is to go beyond this concept and add a plot beyond its idea that Byron is a vampire. Without that, the characters are flat -- with no plot, there's no real way for them to develop -- and the reader is left wondering, "And, why do I care about any of this?" If you want a quick read with a few literary references and a healthy helping of sex, this is your book. If you want a vampire novel that is more than that, I suggest that you look elsewhere.

I picked up this audiobook because I very much enjoyed Holland's non-fiction book about the end of the Roman Republic. I am not particularly a fan of vampire books nor of Lord Byron.

The abridgement of the book contributed to my enjoyment, I am sure. There were many long stretches that were so bloated by flowery speeches, especially in the first hour or so of the audiobook, that I probably would have bailed on an unabridged version of the book. However, the last two hours were so interesting and so well-performed by Richard E. Grant that I had to bump the score up to 4 stars.

The running time of the abridged audiobook is about 3 hours.

Everyone keeps comparing this book to Interview with a Vampire. Sure, it has a similar framing to it, but it is wonderful because of its connection to Byron. It is pretty much a novelization of the Giaour and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and an incredibly romantic version at that. If you are a fan of Byron's poetry, you will enjoy this book. I think the Giaour and Manfred are some of the most (R)romantic pieces ever written, and this book plays off of them very well.

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to to-date.
Tom Holland's story is compelling. Getting Richard E. Grant to narrate it was a stroke of genius - he manages to bring each and every character in the novel to life - fires the listener's imagination! Have recommended this item to many friends.

Things in the current world we live in was changed in my eyes after I read this book. This has to be the best book that I have ever read, Tom Holland has truelly mesmorized me with his outstanding writing skills, and how well he touches into the realm of the vampire. When reading this book, I felt things that I have never felt, felt like I was in Byron's shoes, living his life...it was truelly a great feeling.

I'm only 13 years old but this book really...got to me. I've read all sorts of books, but this one really tops my list. From beginning to end it was; scary, thrilling, suspenseful, and altogether excellent. I recommend to anyone willing to to definatley read this book if your into Vampires or the work of Lord Byron himself. I loved it and I think many others will too.

My first vampire book. Definately not my last. Solid writing, excellent prose, and plenty of ghastly horror. The first few pages a slow, but then it history of a vampire in fast forward.

The premise of Byron scholar Tom Holland's first novel is that the Romantic poet became a vampire during a trip to Greece with his friend J.C. Hobhouse in 1810, after meeting the mysterious and evil Turkish lord Vakhel Pasha. Byron's story is related by the poet himself, framed within the modern-day search of one of his descendants, Rebecca Ruthven, for his lost memoirs. The author demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the life and works of his subject, using documented facts and quotes from the writings of Byron and his associates to give weight to the story's theme. The story is somewhat weakened by the use of the frame format and the first-person narration, as the character of Rebecca is never fully developed and, although she appears early in the book as a protagonist, her ultimate role is merely that of listener. Fans of Byron and the other Romantics should find this approach intriguing, but might also want to read "The Stress of Her Regard" by Tim Powers, which is considerably more bizarre