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    Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron
    Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron
    Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron

    Written by Tom Holland

    Narrated by Richard E Grant

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Famed nineteenth-century poet and rake Lord Byron travels to Greece and becomes the world’s most formidable vampire—entering a dark, intoxicating world of ancient arts and scorching excesses of evil—in this offbeat book by the author of Slave of My Thirst.

    Traveling in the mountains of Greece, Byron falls under the spell of a mysterious fugitive slave, whose pale, slim body arouses his lust. Utterly entranced, his fate is sealed. The supreme sensualist embarks on a life of adventure—that of the world's most formidable vampire.

    Chosen to enjoy powers beyond those any vampire has ever known, Byron enters a dark, intoxicating world of long-lost secrets, ancient arts, and scorching excesses of evil. He drinks deeply of terror and sex. But his diversions, delicious and cruel, are also his torment: an all-consuming thirst damning all those he loves...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 1, 1996
    ISBN9780743549790
    Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron
    Author

    Tom Holland

    Tom Holland is the author of a range of books on ancient and early medieval history. He has translated Herodotus and Suetonius, presented TV documentaries on subjects ranging from dinosaurs to the Islamic State, and been described by The Times as 'a leading English cricketer'.

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    Reviews for Lord of the Dead the Secret History of Byron

    3.5/5

    114 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The story in this book follows the famed nineteenth-century poet, Lord Byron’s life as a vampire. Byron tells his story to an unsuspecting Rebecca Carville, revealing details from the past and, soon enough, a surprise about the present. This was one of my favorite books as a teen. I loved it so much that I bought a second copy, hoping to find someone to share it with.In my opinion, this book is even better than Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, one of the most acclaimed books in the same genre. And, after reading this book, research on the life of Lord Byron might make you wonder.
    • 2/5
      It's a less interesting Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
    • 4/5
      A well thought out, well-written fabulous blend of fact and fiction, but as one character tells the story to another, I felt distanced from the action. The strange circumstances which take Byron to visit the ancient castle are all too reminiscent of the most famous vampire, with, for several pages, Byron taking on a similar role to that of Jonathan Harker, and Vakhel Pasha, that of Dracula. There were parts I found absorbing, other areas where my attention wandered. The creatures that occupy the castle give the classic Igor competition. Still, overall it’s an excellent work with ideas both incredible and ludicrous, often hallucinatory. I came to love the book, though some of my feelings remain ambiguous.
    • 3/5
      An intriguing premise - Lord Byron's life history seems to lend itself to the gothic and the heroic - but delivered in a ponderous style. A descendent of Byron visits his London home in the 'modern day', looking for a second copy of his memoirs, but comes face to face with her undead ancestor instead. Byron then spends what must be a geological age, judging on how long it took me to read the novel, telling her of his life, death and immortality. All of the key historical places and personalities are featured - Greece, London, Venice, Caro Lamb and Lady Melbourne, Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin, Doctor Polidori - but with a strangely fitting darker twist. While visiting Greece with Hobhouse, Byron is killed by the lord of the vampires - and I do hate these grand societies and hierarchies that writers impose on what are supposed to be solitary creatures of the night - for trying to free a beautiful slave. He struggles, then learns to embrace this morbid afterlife, but is never entirely easy with the price - he must kill to survive, and drink the 'blood of his blood' to gain eternal youth. The best part of the story comes when Byron returns to London and meets Caro Lamb, she who famously said that the libertine poet was 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. Well, now she has reason to complain! Another amusing deviation is Caro's mother-in-law, Lady Melbourne, who is also a vampire, but has been slowly ageing since refusing to drink the blood of her children. She and a fictional character, witty sixteenth century roue Lovelace, are Byron's mentors, attempting to educate him in the ways of the undead and lure him deeper into hell. Byron meets Percy Shelley, and desperately wants to 'convert' his fellow poet, but Shelley resists - and instead of living forever with Byron, chooses to drown when his yacht sinks. (I was fascinated, and a little disgusted, to learn that Byron did actually witness the cremation of Shelley's bloated corpse on the beach, and that Shelley's heart was saved from the embers.) Holland's interweaving of fact and fiction is brilliantly done, a serious version of the many 'mash-up' parallel novels on the market at the moment, which combine classic works with vampires, zombies and other monsters. I knew little of Byron's life before reading this macabre interpretation, but my knowledge of the real man's character will probably be forever shaded by supernatural suspicions now! The bookending of Byron's tale with the flimsy device of a questing, modern relation was unnecessary, and the pacing is very slow throughout, but I learned a lot about Byron - who actually died in Greece in 1824 - and also enjoyed the vampire mythology.Recommended to fans of Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
    • 4/5
      Lord Byron was - and is - a vampire. He's still around. And he's prepared to pour out his life story to a young woman who's stumbled across - or perhaps been led into - his secret.THE VAMPYRE begins fairly slowly. Holland introduces the framing story and gets the ball rolling with a trip to Greece and an encounter with a mysterious individual. There are some hardcore shades of DRACULA in this segment, and they made it tough for me to commit to the book. I've tried to read DRACULA three times, at last count, and I've failed miserably every time. I also found that my own sparse knowledge of this period of Byron's life made it tough for me to become involved with what was going on. It was readable, but I wasn't really engaged.But I still loved the premise of THE VAMPYRE, so I kept at it. I'm glad I did. The book didn't entirely live up to the high expectations I had going in, but it was still a damned good read.Once Byron has been vamped, Holland moves into territory that I, at least, was more comfortable with. I loved revisiting these familiar events from a vampiric perspective. I had an absolute blast with it. The book practically seemed to read itself. I'd pick it up and find that I'd devoured thirty or forty pages without realizing it.It's the style, really, that carried me on through. Holland does a wonderful job of recreating the feel of a Gothic novel. It gave me the same feeling in the back of my throat as I always get from the darker sort of late eighteenth/early nineteenth century literature. It's just steeped in chilling elegance. It's beautiful. It's dark. It's a bit creepy. And as self-possessed as Byron is, there's still this whole big world going on in the background. I couldn't get enough of it.I did feel, however, that it wasn't as emotionally satisfying as it could've been. As engaged as I was, I still didn't become emotionally involved. I also felt that the ending was a little off; despite the frenetic pace, it almost felt anticlimactic after everything that had come before.Overall, though, this was a great read. I had a lot of fun with it, and I'd certainly recommend it.(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).
    • 3/5
      One of two very cleverly done vampire books. Two of my favorites actually. He manages to combine some notable people and fictional characters in history in a totally believable way and also creates more of a place for John Polidori than he usually manages to have. It was well done, richly textured and I might have to read one again today now that I am talking about it.

      :)
    • 3/5
      What a tasty idea, to have Lord Byron starring as a vampire! The fame of the handsome Romantic poet's passion of love and life combine with a vampire's naughty and dangerous side.