The Day Before the Twilight: A Better Vampire Novel We All Passed Up

Here at SparkNotes, we've been reading tons of awesome submissions from super Sparklers who can't wait to get on SparkLife! This post by Sparkler colin_loeffler is an interesting reflection on a non-Stephenie Meyer vampire novel (Who knew there was such a thing?). Enjoy!  —SparkNotes Editors.

Before the frenzy started by Twilight, there were already several books dealing with vampires. One such novel topped the New York Times Bestseller list. Despite it's media hype, the novel remains unknown to many.

I picked up Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian at a used book store (in the far back) because it was huge, looked boring, and I thought I could make a joke about it (“Who would want to read THIS?”). However, after reading the inside front cover of this book, I knew I was going to read all 600 pages and love it.

The novel is about an adolescent girl from Amsterdam who travels with her father. The story is about him trying to find the meaning behind a mysterious empty book, as well as a kidnapped professor. The rest of the book flips between what is happening to the girl and the stories that her father is telling her. (And for those of you who are Twilight-obsessed because of the love story, there are two different love stories in this novel as well.)

While this book is great, and a Count Dracula-type figure is involved, it's not for everyone. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:

-Exciting, suspenseful plot.

-This book is filled with the metaphor/literary connection stuff teachers love and it's very obvious. It's great as an independent choice novel.

-It offers a chance to apply all the history you wasted time learning.

-You will feel super accomplished when you are finished.

Cons:

-Even with an exciting plot, this book is still 600 pages long. That's gross no matter how you phrase it.

-It requires some background knowledge in history. (I kept SparkNotes and Wikipedia up when I read this book in case I got confused.)

-One of the love stories is completely predictable. Not as predictable as Edward and Bella, but how could ANYTHING else be that predictable.

-There are two very weird pages where the girl discusses being an adolescent. And she's not leaving out any of the details.

Despite these cons, I can only give my best recommendations to The Historian. A great book with a great plot. (Note: In case you were wondering I DID use this as an independent choice novel and got a 99 percent on my literary analysis paper! It works. I promise.)

Has anyone else read The Historian, or is Twilight the only vampire book for you?