Lord of the Dead: The Secret History of Byron

Rating:
Summary: Started Out Ok, But Grew Tedious
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: Lord of the Dead is an interesting, fictional view of vampires and temptation which focuses on the imaginary life of the famous poet, Lord Byron. As soon as you delve into the book, you are taken into fairly present-day London with a girl named Rebecca. She speaks to a man, interested in the keys that he holds to a tomb. Mainly after some manuscripts that might be found in the tomb, which may hold information about her mother, Rebecca finally is given the keys by the man, and off she goes to the tomb. What she finds in the tomb is more than she expected, though: Lord Byron himself. After asking if perhaps he knows something as to what happened to her mother, Rebecca is then told the story of his life. He retells his life from top to bottom, speaking of how he and his cohort, Hobhouse, roam the lands of Europe, running into unusual people and trying to find the answers to Byron's many questions. What he doesn't realize is that what he has become destroys those that he is closest to.
Wonderfully written, Lord of the Dead makes for a good read, chock-full of unexpected twists and turns in the plot line as well as highly-detailed scenes which makes the story come to life. Truly an interesting page-turner with unusual scenarios and characters, the book is mainly recommended for those who enjoy adventure and action, as well as tales of vampires and fans of Lord Byron himself.

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing, with a little let down at the end
Review: This book is the best I have read in years I am always looking for something new I am a Stephen King fan and I picked this book one day because I have read all of Kings works and you can't put it down I have read it three times you learn something new everytime!

Rating:
Summary: Vampire, Byron Style
Review: This was a rather tedious book with little captivating appeal. It gives the account of Lord Byron, ala Interview with the Vampire, and his travels throughout various European countries, 'finding himself'. I thought the writing was disjointed as it didn't seem to flow well. The biggest question I found myself constantly asking was "Who cares?". Although Lord Byron is now celebrity status, I never felt drawn or attached to any of the characters to really cared what happened to them.

For those people who are fans of Lord Byron, I suspect you probably will like the book and find it entertaining. Maybe that was the whole point and I just missed it. However, for the rest of us, this was just a ho-hum kind of tale.

Rating:
Summary: My Kind of Vampire
Review: Well, being a huge Anne Rice fan and waiting for some new material to be released, I am always on the look out for something similar. In the past I have been dissappointed as well as bored to tears. This book I heard of from my friends English Professor, so I ordered it. I was so impressed with Holland's style and it flowed beautifully to my taste in wording. Byron could make anyone fall in love with him, fact or fiction. I am in the process of reading more of Holland's books, but I strongly reccomend this novel if you enjoy the darker side if literature, erotic and beautiful and still deliciously terrifying!

My one pick is that in hindsight, the beginning was a bit slow compared to the terrific ending, but making for a steep climax, so beware heh!