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Eldren: The Book of the Dark
Summary
Two boys in the west of Scotland awaken an ancient vampire. And the only way to stop it is in the power of a book - a bible detailing the dark religion of the Eldren. But time is running out, and the sun is getting low.
Are you afraid of the dark?
You will be.
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What members say
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Spooky Mike
- 21-08-18
The Vampire's Book of the Dead
This was a great vampire tale. Felt more old school and darker than a lot of the more popular vampire stories we get today. I envisioned this in my head more like a Castlevania style vampire story versus the sparkly or even more modern gothic tales. The setting was perfect for a vampire tale and much better than a lot of mainstream settings. Full disclosure vampires are typically on the bottom of my monster lists but this one is well worth a listen. The characters are great and really do vampires justice. The bible parts were by far my favorite. Really neat addition to the story.
I will say this book has a lot going on and it is difficult to follow from time to time. I actually was afraid audible skipped around on me a bit. I will say if you can push through some of the more confusing parts the overall story is great. I enjoyed the whole feel of the book, but I think this is one that I would have understood better reading it myself versus listening to it read.
I really enjoyed the narrator’s accent. I really appreciate it when the narrator is from the same location where the book takes place. It really adds to the overall feel and helps me hear what the author had in their head. He does have a really heavy Scottish accent, so I can see where people not accustomed to that would have a hard time understanding. I thought of it as Robert the Bruce telling me the story. Again, really enjoyed it and look forward to more stories narrated by Chris.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Natalie @ ABookLoversLife
- 05-09-18
A good read.
I'm not too sure what to say about this as I'm still not too sure what I really thought of it!!! At times it felt all over the place, but I put that down to the multiple POVs we get, at others it was really good.
The overall plot was unique and I loved finding out about the vampires and seeing that they have both good and evil ones. I loved that they had their own Bible of sorts too and reading about Yoriah and Eriah! I also liked how the vampires were awoken in this century and how the virus spread. All of that was well written and developed and made for a great read and they were my favourite parts!
I didn't particularly connect with the characters though. Don't get me wrong, they were all well written and developed, but I just didn't care for any of them. I don't know if it was the fact that there were too many or what but I didn't really care what happened any of them.
Saying that though, I will definitely check out more from this author because I liked his world building and he has some really good sounding books out!! If there is a follow up to this I will also check it out as while I didn't love this, I still really enjoyed it.
Chris Barnes read this really well!! I loved that the author picked a Scottish narrator to read it seeing as it's set in Scotland, it just added that little extra to the story. Chris Barnes was clear and easy to understand and he had plenty of tones and voices for the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and look forward to him narrating more!!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Deedra
- 31-08-18
Eldren
This was a fantastic book to listen t!It s full of Vampiric 'history' nd a good story to boot.Chris Barnes does a fantastic job narrating,although I did have to back up a few times to understand the accent. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Al
- 14-08-18
Pretty good vampire novel
I kind of liked this. There were some great ideas, like vampires had their own version of the bible where they were the chosen ones, as long as they eschewed drinking blood. There were of course the troublesome element who fell in with Old Nick and became eeevvviiilll.
The story is set in a small Scottish town, and the characters fit the setting, if a wee bit stereotyped (it is a small town after all). It begins with a married couple discovering the burial place of the bloodsuckers, then later two kids looking for kicks accidentally wake up the vamps, who set about taking over the town. All the tropes are here - garlic, stakes and so forth - but in a nice touch, crosses don't work.There's some silly bits that are touched upon too, like the army coming to suppress the vamp uprising, having known about them all along, covering up other outbreaks.
The narrator was good, nice to hear a real "Scottish" accent on an audiobook, but I found at times I drifted when listening, as the material didn't always grab hold like audio needs to.
If you like vampy horror, you should probably check this out. Maybe I need to read it instead.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TU
- 22-08-18
Good vamp book
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
This was a fantastic vampire book. It had a real 80's movie feel to it, which I loved. I enjoyed the narration as well. All in all, this was a very enjoyable and engaging listen. I would highly recommend it for fans of the vampire genre.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shaithis
- 21-08-18
Story has bite
Great little vampire story set in a cute little scottish town. If you like vampire fiction you'll like this book. I did find the narrators accent a little thick and hard to understand at times but it lent a very authentic feel to the story.
I was given this book for free in return for an impartial review.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- AudioBook Reviewer
- 08-11-18
Monster Vampires in Scotland
This is an old-school vampire novel, reminiscent of ’30 Days of Night’ – where vampires are monsters rather than misunderstood romantic heroes and the only thing that can defeat them is ordinary people with nerves of steel.
The author creates a biblical backstory for the existence of these monsters, which was a take that I really enjoyed because it adds an ancient evil vibe to proceedings.
This story takes place in a small hamlet in Scotland, two young boys wake up something evil while they’re playing in the local haunted house one day and soon only a child, two primary school teachers, and an escaped killer can save their neighbours, and potentially the world.
There’s something about the grey, rainy setting that makes it perfect for the atmosphere of this novel. Everybody knows everybody, which makes it more sinister with every death and attack.
Chris Barnes did a great job narrating this book, it’s always good to have an authentic accent to the setting of the book and it’s so rare to actually hear a Scottish narrator! I felt like he could have differentiated a bit between the character voices, but otherwise no complaints.
This book wasn’t the best fit for me, I found my attention straying because I wasn’t able to connect with any of the characters. The chapters alternate between perspectives, some of which are more compelling than others but they switch too quickly to really bond with any one character which is essential for me to really get into a book.
I think that this would be a great book for fans of claustrophobic, classic horror – it reminded me of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, which was another book I didn’t particularly get on with despite my best efforts!
Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.
Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Victoria Haugen
- 02-09-18
COOL OLD SCHOOL VAMPIRE TALE
Very cool old-style vampire tale, really enjoyed it! The narration was awesome, really lent well to the story and gave it a great feel. Interesting religious tones, an original twist I liked (not that I'm the expert by far, mostly "original" to me :) ). For those of us who grew up in the 70's/80's, this book had a cool retro feel. That really made me love it, and I'd definitely listen to more from this author... and narrator! :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nomi
- 18-08-18
Story jumped around to much
The story jumped around so much it made it hard to follow or really get into it. I did end up enjoying it but not sure I’d recommend it. I’ve read better supernatural horror. Great narration however, the narrator kept me listening.
This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jason Begly
- 16-08-18
Eldren
Eldren was the best parts of my 80's vampire features. A lot of Fright Night, a dash of Lost Boys, some Salem's Lot... whatever, put it in there. Heck, I even felt a little Interview with a Vampire for some reason. The point is that I loved this story. And it was none of those movies/books. It was it's own journey and more. The ending tied it up enough for me to get hopeful for a return. This was the kind of story that started slow and I really thought that I would be writing a bad review at the end but it proved me wrong. Chris Barnes did a great job narrating this book and that played into it as well.
This book was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful